What is an octopus card

I know one of my big questions when I was moving was "what is an octopus card?"

An octopus card is your ticket around the city.

Public transportation wise you can use it for pretty much anything besides taxis. It is a small card, not unlike a credit card, that you add money to.

This money will pay for your fairs on trams, trains, buses, ferries, MTR, and minibuses.

At least for MTR fair it also costs a couple HKD less to pay with octopus card rather than single ticket journey cards.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL

It is true that for the most part I use my octopus card to pay for my transportation, but you can also use it in some shops (most notably 7/11 and grocery stores).

Octopus card is super useful and I have it with me all the time.

It will cost you HKD150 to start with, but that includes HKD100 already added on your account. You can get back the HKD50 deposit if you return the card when you are done in Hong Kong.

Overall? octopus cards are super useful and should be one of the first things you get when you arrive in Hong Kong.

Do you have questions about life in Hong Kong? Post a comment and I'll do my best to answer your question

A typical day

As I am living and working in hong kong you may be wondering "what does a day in the life look like, how is it different from the USA?"

My day starts off waking up when it is about dinner time where I am from. I eat oatmeal if I wake up on time or I might go down to the Mariner's Club restaurant for breakfast (usually fried noodles, toast, yogurt, and some fruit).

Then as I leave I have a couple of options. The first and my preferred is to take the star ferry first thing. This option takes a little longer but is much cheaper and I get to have a nice walk outside before going to the office.

My second option is to take the MTR (subway) Tsuen Wan line two stops in to Central Hong Kong. This way is faster by about 15 minutes and requires less walking, but usually its very crowded when Im going to work and its about HKD7 more expensive.

When I get to the office I usually start by checking my email and seeing if I have anything on my desk to take care of first thing, I might interview a client or prepare a statement, more likely I will look for files or input data. I also am also working on project and event managment for our fundraisers and our upcoming brand refresh.

My favorite thing to do after work is on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I travel to Causeway Bay to play rugby with Happy Valley. It is by luck (and providence of Catherine's good connections) that I found such a wonderful team to play with and improve my game.

Afterwords I might go get food at a local place nearby and then I take the MTR home (island line to tsuen wan line) and then I finally collapse on my bed.

Do you have any questions about what its like in Hong Kong? Post a comment and I'll do my best