"20/20 Hindsight": 2008-2009 Evaluations
"20/20 Hindsight": Tips from former IFPers
What
things do you wish you had brought with you?
What things could you just as well have left at
home?
How was the work ambiance? What are
the particular dress codes, working language(s), and office hours at the
organization?
What restaurants would
you especially recommend? Why?
What did you find
especially interesting or fun to visit?
Any other advice to share with future students?
What things do you wish you had brought with
you?
- Computer
- Rain Gear
- Comfortable Shoes to “trash”
- Galoshes
- Cardigans/light sweaters
- An account with HSBC
- Casual Clothes
- Sheets
- Pillow
- Hoodie
- Rain boots
- Less luggage.
- I wished I had brought an umbrella, sun block and
a hat because
What things could you just as well have left at home?
- Office clothes
- Warm pants
- Dress clothes
- Curling Iron
- Long pants
- Nice Shoes
- Warm Clothes
- Heavy rain coat
- Any cold weather clothing since it is so hot in
HK.
- Business – type clothing.
- The professional work clothes because I was surprised to see that the dress code is rather casual when working for an NGO in Hong Kong
What restaurants would you especially recommend? Why?
·
The tea house in
·
Cannuck (modern Canadian
cuisine) on
·
Dan Ryan’s Bar and
Grill:
to have a taste of American food when and if you miss it.
·
In Central, Maxim’s at City
Hall has good, traditional-style dim sum (but make sure to go before
·
Wagyu is a fun, good and
cheap restaurant.
·
At the top of Lan Kwai Fong, there are several good and cheap Vietnamese,
Thai and Malaysian restaurants. The Fringe Club, which houses shows, poetry
readings, etc. also has a nice rooftop open-air bar.
·
In
·
In TST, Lo Chiu Vietnamese
Restaurant is really good and cheap.
·
Also, Joyce Is Not Here on
Peel off
·
There are some very cheap and good Chinese restaurants just off of the
Prince Edward
·
I only ate at very local restaurants in Mongkok and I have no idea what
their English names are.
·
There is a little local place directly off of the East Mong Kok stop on
the East Rail. I forget the name, but it’s a little black and white restaurant
on the right hand side on
·
There is a Vietnames place in Wan Chai- don’t know the name. It’s
really cheap and good- most places are not cheap in HK.
·
I don’t have a specific
restaurant in mind, but in Mongkok there are these buildings that look just
like an office building, but they actually have different restaurants inside.
You just have to go exploring. Dim Sum places in
What did you find especially interesting or fun to visit?
·
Go in parks, or covered
areas
(i.e. HSBC main building, path to Mid-Levels escalators) on a Sunday. All the
domestic workers are sitting on the ground in small groups, eating Filipino
food, playing cards, talking etc…It’s a good way to realize how many domestic
workers there are in HK.
·
The Peak: great view of HK (if
the weather is clear). Even though the Peak is very touristy I do think it is
worth visiting.
·
Sai Kung: ferry ride is
beautiful, hour hike to get to an almost private beach. Beautiful scenery,
perfect water, little restaurants with cheap and good food (and beer). One of
the most beautiful beaches I ever say in my life.
·
I really enjoyed visiting the Big
Buddha and Monastery on
·
Sai Kung was great. Do go on
the beach trip and have dinner at one of the many seafood restaurants
afterwards. Also Sheung Wan is an
interesting area to explore. In a city that in many respects is so westernized,
Sheung Wan gives you a sense of how middle income Chinese really live.
·
A Muslim mosque and
Hindu temples however, they are not sightseeing places and therefore it is not easy
to visit unless you know somebody. But it was quite interesting for me.
·
Silver Mine Beach, although not as nice
as Sai Kung, is easier to get to and still very nice (on
·
Tai Long Wan and Sai
Kung, Macau, Repulse Bay, Avenue of the Stars, all the museums, food, food,
food.
·
Lamma Island and Sai
Kung
were by far my favorite places to visit. The beaches in Sai Kung, and the seafood restaurants
by the pier were heavenly.
·
I
enjoyed being able to go into mainland
Was there anything in particular which helped you to get oriented, to
get around, or to get through daily life?
·
Looking for addresses on Google Map: if you zoom enough you can see
which exit of the subway you should take. I almost never got lost that way!
·
The Lonely Planet Guide to Hong Kong and
·
Keeping enough money on the Octopus card so you can buy water or Kleenex
or whatever you need in a 7-Eleven or Circle K store even if you don’t have
change.
·
Everita, a good map and the
·
Figuring out the subway system , which is fairly easy, is key to getting
around. OH! And the program supervisor, with the help from the
coordinator at the Hong Kong America Center, emailed all of us a map back to
our dorms, which was so easy to show to cab drivers, instead of confusing them
and then yourself. The map was in Cantonese.
·
The public transportation system is so easy to use that I didn’t have a
single problem.
·
The subway system really was great – knowing that was helpful. I
carried a subway map in my purse and the address of the dorm written in
Cantonese (characters). That was especially helpful for cab drivers, who
primarily did not speak English. Having smaller bills was always better
than trying to get larger ones broken. The octopus card was golden.
Getting a local cell phone with a prepaid sim card proved to be invaluable.
·
Would have been good to
have some sort of buddy who lives in HK in the beginning to show me cheap
places to eat and hang out.
·
The subway plans, which can be obtained at any
·
An open mind and the
people I met in
What advice would you give to students who are planning to travel to
other locations during the Program?
·
I think it’s hard to travel out of HK during the program, the weekends
are short and rest is needed. Never count on waking up early on a Saturday
morning naturally, you need to force yourself if you want to travel around.
·
I didn’t get to go to mainland
·
It was difficult to travel to
·
Macau was interesting and I did not have time to visit however I believe
mainland
·
If you really want to work, and work hard, come to
·
If you’re going to spend over $1,000 on a plane ticket to
·
N/A? I guess just be sure you have all your basic simpler
necessities, pack lightly, make sure someone knows where you are or are going
to be in case you get lost or something happens.
·
Have patience things likely won't work out as
planned so keep and open mind and take things as they come.
·
Phillipines!
·
Just be prepared for demanding experience.
·
Multiple entry visa to
How much money would you recommend that future students bring to cover
living expenses? How much for travel?
·
I guess to have enough to cover living expenses and enjoy more touristy
activities etc…students should take around $2000.
I cannot recommend any amount for travel because I didn’t travel myself.
·
Hong Kong is quite expensive, so plan on spending about what you would
spend in
·
My flight cost $1300 and my living expenses probably averaged about $250 a week.
·
I do not know depending on how often you eat out and what kind of foods
you like to eat.
·
Our living expenses were covered by the non refundable fee. If you would
like to get your own apartment, you can for $1400 USD. If you eat locally you can spend $10-$15 USD on three
meals a day. If you like to eat western food, expect to pay more than in the
·
This IFP is very, very expensive. I can only share how much I spent:
o Roundtrip flight: $1292
(from
o Withdrawals from HSBC
and grocery charges: $2654
o Other charges for
shopping, etc., are not included so I would say reasonably, expect to pay
altogether $6,000.
·
I had about US$2000 in my
account when I went and tried to live as frugally as possible, found the
cheaper local restaurants, etc. For two months, including local travel, I
probably spent about US$1500-1800 or
so.
·
Same as NYC
·
A lot! HK is expensive! Too expensive. I had close to $6,000 and that worked alright.
·
I would say living expenses range around $1,000-2,000 for two months, but this depends on what you will be
doing in HK because you can find cheap food, but nightlife is same as New York
and there is tons of places to shop, so that can also affect your budget.
·
As for travel, it depends on
where you are going, but generally taking the ferry, bus or train to the nearby
islands or even to
Any other advice to share with future students?
·
Do not wait for the rain to stop to go outside and visit things, you end
up not doing anything. Of course walking around when it’s raining is not very
pleasant, but in our case it almost didn’t stop for a month, I miss some
opportunities waiting for the sun.
·
Go with an open mind, and soak it all up like a sponge! The time flies
by, so try to take advantage of as much as you can. Your experience will pretty
much be what you make of it.
·
I loved the Insight Fleximap. Walk and don’t
be afraid of getting lost. I found people to be helpful even if they spoke
little English.
·
Make sure the roommate you pick has similar sleeping habits to yourself,
and cleanliness standards. Not a problem for me, but caused a lot of friction
for others.
·
Open an account at HSBC before going. The extra charges really add up.
·
I lived with my best friend so it was great, but choose your roommate wisely.
If you aren’t getting what you want out of your NGO or
·
Internet in
the dorms is via Ethernet and is not free. (We were under the impression
it would be free and wireless) The gym facilities also not free. Just a
couple things to keep in mind. You can find plug adaptors for really
cheap in the cafeteria on campus. Make
sure you have a clear idea what the dress code is for your internship – but
still take at least one nice outfit just in case. Get out and explore
and be adventurous and see as much as you can.
·
Just try to
see the positive side in everything you are experiencing.
·
I think it was helpful
for me to adapt to