Question for people from (or familiar with) Hong Kong..

[bonez318ti]

I need to go to Hong Kong for a week in mid July for personal reasons and will be staying at a friends house. Unfortunately I'm also taking the MCATs in August.

Are there any recommended places where I can go to study? (I won't be able to study at my friends place, and although I am taking Kaplan, I've already verified that I won't be able to use their HK facility in Central)

I just need a comfortable, somewhat quiet place (or very loud) indoors where I can work for maybe 5 or 6 hours at a stretch and they wont get too pissed off, perhaps with an electrical outlet for my laptop.

I'm looking for something like HK's version of 'Starbucks' or 'Barnes and Noble'.. where they dont care if you just sit there all day.. from my previous experience, Chinese folks aren't quite as lenient if you are sitting there taking up valuable space and not ordering anything..

Thanks

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[panda]

There are starbucks in hk now. Maybe only a few, and I don't know where.

You may also try McDonald's...but it can get really crowded and noisy depending on which branch and what time you go.

For both places, I'd say you have to order something at first, then you can stay there for a couple of hours. Not sure if they don't mind your electrical outlet though (can't you just use a charged battery?).

The best place is probably a library??? You can't eat in there, but there should be plenty restaurants nearby when you get hungry.

 

[NDESTRUKT]

going to HK eh? i'm sure you can find a reading room type place - and yes there are starbucks there now. i would prefer a library at a local school/university. just sneak food in the bag like all of us did or do in college.

pardon the analness of the asian culture, it's reverse culture shock for me.

 

[jubileE]

Sad to tell you, I doubt there is a HK Starbucks version. However, what I have been doing whenever I want to study outside of the house is just go to my cousin's summer school and asked some super-nice teachers/staff to allocate me to a room. But, if you can bare the sun and humidity there, I would definitely suggest you to sit around and study in the public parks.

 

[bonez318ti]

Thanks for your quick replies.

How are the public/university libraries there? Are they all open to the public(do you need to show ID's)? Where are they located? I don't mind libraries, I don't need to have food... Id rather have a non distracting place to study. btw.. I think I will be staying in either in 'cheung gwun o' or out near 'tuen mun' if that helps you guys think of anything nearby that would be suitable.

Since there are apparently Starbucks in HK now, anyone know if they are as lenient there as they are in the US about people hanging out there for long periods. (to be sure, no matter where I go, I will order something.. but I would probably nurse what I order for a couple of hours)

 

[blueberry]

try going to a public library---you won't need to show ID there. I'm not faimlar with the area you're staying in, but there is at least one public library in new teritories, and a few in kowloon (mong kok). You won't be able to get a study room w/o an ID but at lesat you can sit in the general reading area. As for university libraries, you'll need a university ID from what I've heard. But you can always try to say that you're a student from the US, show your US univ. ID, and see if they'll let you in. I won't study at mcdonald's if I were you, that's rather distracting. just my opinion.

I don't know about the starbucks but there are some "tea resturants" if you know what I"m talking about (you know, regular cheap places for afternoon tea). Those places are usually pretty lenient about you staying for a long time unless there are a lot of people waiting for a seat. But yeah, those places probably won't have convenient places for you to plug in your laptop. But if you don't care about eating, I still say public library will be a better choice. And, I'm sure there are some university hang out places where people go to study. There is one university quite near where you live. Why don't you ask your friend who lives there?