Aqualung Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 Just looked on Skyscanner for a possible side trip to either Hong Kong or Manila. 3 or 4 nights maximum. Cost of flights are relatively cheap to both places and I'm in Thailand from the 15 th January until the 16th February. My reasons for looking are... Hong Kong looks amazing and although I'm far from a foodie, I love cantonese food. Can it be bought there? Would have the tw with me. As for manila.... Is it worth the hassle for the sake of 3 or 4 nights? The wife wouldn't travel with me but 2 Swedish friends. For me it's just to tick off a new country but for those guys its to get a minimal feel for the place as it seems that is their plan "B" if things go wrong when they retire to Thailand. I know 4 nights max isn't enough and manila isn't the best place to make a judgement but any advice from you fellas would be appreciated greatly. Thanks.
Yessongs Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 Steve, go to page 2 of the advanced section and look at my TR from Hong Kong from March 25th....the food and the overall HK experience is pretty good.....don't want to knock Manila, have not been there in years but... 3
fforest Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 I am glad Yessongs enjoyed his trip to Hong Kong....And Let me say my following commits are just my opinion. I have been to Hong Kong twice in my life....Both times for about 3 days... And in a nut shell I Hated Hated that place both times..... If your looking for a exotic laid back SE Asian vibe...Forget it.....Hong Kong is like Hamster cage (and a small one at that} Packed with Hamsters all running around busy with business and making money.....The word soulless would work nicely here.... I could go on and on about why I hate Hong Kong....But I think you get the idea.... But if you do go there, riding on the subway is a must....Its so massive and trippy its like some thing right out of a Science fiction movie... 1
biggles Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 2 hours ago, fforest said: I am glad Yessongs enjoyed his trip to Hong Kong....And Let me say my following commits are just my opinion. I have been to Hong Kong twice in my life....Both times for about 3 days... And in a nut shell I Hated Hated that place both times..... If your looking for a exotic laid back SE Asian vibe...Forget it.....Hong Kong is like Hamster cage (and a small one at that} We live in the Philippines, my partner of 13 years has businesses (3) in Manila and I hate the place. Traffic is terrible and public transport, atrocious and dirty. There is nothing exotic about Manila, or a SE Asian vibe for that matter. BGC and Makati have a definite Western feel and most of the rest is a long way from exotic. Now HKK is one of our favourite places, been 5 times. Yes, it has no SE Asian vibe but it's different and exciting and local food is great. Transport is clean, punctual and cheap. Stay a week and enjoy it all. 5 1
Lemondropkid Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 (edited) 5 hours ago, Aqualung said: Hong Kong looks amazing Yep No contest, everything Biggles say above re Manila, plus the food is dire and expensive. Parts of the city are far from safe, the bars I went in were pretty poor and the service diabolical. I've done around 10 trips to HK mostly holiday but sometimes on business. Airport is excellent, public transport into to city smooth, food superb, bars and varied, so much to do to boot. Plenty of decent bars or cocktail spots after a hard day to relax too Edited October 20, 2025 by Lemondropkid 2 1
Horizondave Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 Hong Kong for sure. Manila is a shit hole, just a transit point for getting out of there to more entertaining areas of the country. It has bars, it has hotels but it is nowhere in the league of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has so much to offer for a few days. 1 2
redwood13 Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 I've been to both places once, so my expert advice is HK. Chinese NY is Feb. 17 to Mar 3, so you'd be ok there. 1 1
Butch Posted October 20, 2025 Posted October 20, 2025 3 hours ago, biggles said: We live in the Philippines, my partner of 13 years has businesses (3) in Manila and I hate the place. Traffic is terrible and public transport, atrocious and dirty. There is nothing exotic about Manila, or a SE Asian vibe for that matter. BGC and Makati have a definite Western feel and most of the rest is a long way from exotic. Now HKK is one of our favourite places, been 5 times. Yes, it has no SE Asian vibe but it's different and exciting and local food is great. Transport is clean, punctual and cheap. Stay a week and enjoy it all. Agree with this 100%. HK is miles better for a 3 day stopover. In Manila Traffic is horrific and worse towards Xmas, BGC and Makati and MOA all very busy and rammed at weekends or religious times. Polluted, grimy, not exactly safe for foreigners in some areas of Pasay certainly. As @biggles rightly said, public transport is unreliable, taxis are scam artists, there is Grab but again that's hit and miss. Nothing to see in Manila really apart from Rizal park, maybe a trip to Corregidor if you can fit it in, Fort Santiago and Manila Cathedral. Makati is expensive for food, Greenbelt has a smattering of half decent restaurants. P4P in Burgos but it's slightly dicey at night (In my opinion only) same goes for Mabini and Del Pilar. Not much over in Quezon either. We live in Manila on the outskirts (well, they were provincial areas back in 2000 when we got the house but now classed as part of Metro apparently) and when I'm there, after the first couple of weeks, we then load up the Fortuner and head off to Bicol for a while. 3
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