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Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,175 posts, read 13,455,286 times
Reputation: 19472
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterfall8324
NYC doesn't have much public support in the country or the state. Most governors of New York State focus more on upper-state investment (as can be seen in all the ads come from there).
Honestly, I don't see much of a bright future for the city, it is aging just like most north eastern cities. Yhe future of America is down south and out west.
The NYC Subway is now securing more funding but it has had serious under investment since the 1990's.
The NYC Subway was actually very good during the 1990's but since then Mayors divereted money and the system ran in to increasing debt.
Hopefully things can now start to improve again, however the city has allowed it's self to fall behind it's competitors in rthis area.
Is HK actually that bad?? - also, why did you rate Paris above London when the tube is better than the metro
Yes it is that bad.
London underground is better than Paris metro but at least the latter is reasonably priced so Paris metro > London underground.
Quote:
It’s bad to him, but great to many others. He really doesn’t like East Asian cities save for maybe Japanese ones. It’s an ongoing thing for him.
Almost everyone here dislikes Hong Kong (as a tourist destination) so it's not my thing. It was even on the news. There is nothing that is so unique about Hong Kong that can't be achieved here.
Hiking? The mountains in Taiwan are comparable to Alps, they tower Hong Kong's highest peak by three or fourfold easily, so no one's gonna go there for those hills. Besides I don't hike.
Food? It's subjective. I think the Cantonese food here is good enough, and much much cheaper.
Shopping? Maybe in the aughts. There's pretty much zero international brand that only has stores in Hong Kong but not in Taipei. Japan is far better for shopping. Besides I don't even like shopping.
High rises? If you're into those good for you, I don't gaf about skyscrapers.
Monuments? #kissbye.
Conclusion: Hong Kong has zero appeal to me.
Last edited by Greysholic; 06-11-2018 at 02:17 PM..
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,175 posts, read 13,455,286 times
Reputation: 19472
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greysholic
Yes it is that bad.
London underground is better than Paris metro but at least the latter is reasonably priced so Paris metro > London underground.
In terms of regional rail commuters, London is expensive, but so are many other cities.
In terms of the tube and more especially visitors to the city, an Oyster card caps your travel within Zones, and you can travel as much as you want within Central London and even to places such as Canary Wharf knowing the maximum daily cap for zones 1 & 2 is £6.80.
£6.80 for unlimted travel within zones 1 & 2 (covering all of Central London and indeed much more) is not that bad and there has been a fare freeze in recent years, which will continue to be fronzen until at least 2020.
Been to all five places and lived in one of them. Major biases in play to me are 1. Language (I operate in English) and 2. Climate
1. Hong Kong
Spent half a year here. It's the only hot climate city in this comparison which immensely appeals to me personally. Very dense commercial activity with overwhelming amounts of food options that range from dirt cheap and great to astronomical ($$$$) and sublime. Extremely efficient public transit and everywhere is well-connected. Of course, I quite like the expat presence and ubiquity of English in the CBD - friends have lived here for 10 years without learning Chinese. Fading in significance but still Asia's prime economic gateway to the western world. Beautiful night skyline along Victoria harbor, just watching the lights dazzle with the warm moist air in a t-shirt and jogging pants... amazing. Decent human rights and personal freedoms compared to the mainland. Extreme levels of income inequality and limited housing stock work against it. I’d visit many times a year if I could but might not be the place to live for me.
2. London
To me, still the premiere World’s city. Highly diverse, fairly clean, plenty to see, do, eat and drink. Incredibly well balanced for me in terms of food, culture, livability, transportation and world significance. Would move there in a heartbeat if everything aligned for career and family.
3. Tokyo
Overwhelming stimulation, and overwhelmingly clean. Lights and sounds everywhere. Incredible food, though I am partial to Japanese food. Somewhat confusing transit system even if highly connected. Relatively low level of English understanding. Some incredible distinct neighborhoods. Cool representation of modern technology in many areas.
4. NYC
Hub of American/Western culture and appeal and quite possibly the world’s #1 global city, but I find it a bit overrated to me personally. Maybe it’s because I had spent the majority of my life in North America, but NYC is just (for me), a bigger version of Toronto. A bit more of everything – more food, street culture, fashion, attractions - but nothing really specific or distinct that stands out to me. I’d live here without a problem, but I never daydream about going here.
5. Paris
The most overrated city of all, IMO. Spent nearly two weeks here on the advice of travel blogs and word of mouth recommendations and found myself bored to tears by day 7 and spent the remainder reading at a café… which I suppose is very Parisian but not how I’d recommend allocating limited vacation days. I find it extremely dirty for a “World class” city, much moreso than Hong Kong, Tokyo or NYC. Automatic rifles in airports, dog feces on every street, unsanitary looking Seine river and I’m really not a fan of French haute cuisine. Significant cultural value to the world but very, very low on my list of global alpha cities.
I'm still getting used to Tokyo, it is a different beast altogether than London in most aspects, especially social. I love it though, roughly about on equal terms with how much I love London.
So I'd say:
1A. London
1B. Tokyo
2. Hong Kong
Those 3 would be my only selections among these 5 city options. These 3 are the ones that I have interest in.
I share more or less the same POV than Greysholic, Tokyo first, Hong Kong last one by light years, I'm indifferent to the trio L-P-NYC (no surprises there, qualities and default for each but their own atmosphere and aura).
My experience in HK was pathetic. Transportation are good in the city that's the only good point I found. I travelled there with 4 friends and we shared the same POV. We left with Air Asia from Busan SK, it was so cheap
We had -if I remember- 4 or 5 days there, and it was way too much. We had a bnb in Yau Ma Tei (something like this: https://www.google.fr/maps/@22.30679...7i13312!8i6656 ) and prices were simply awfull for a city that is really dirty, cockroaches land. The bnb prices... well, we laughed
Financial district was dead at night as expected, so watching the light show of buildings near the water with a tsingtao was nice but that's all.
Bar disctrict is litteraly USA 51st state, no HK people only foreigners, expensive, nothing special at all. We didn't have the moral for nightclubs at this point.
Little train that climbs to see the city from the top was nice... but a forest of buildings doesn't appeal me that much.. We went outside of the city to see the big Buddha, fun as a tourist but not worth the time spent in the bus when you discover it was just build -1993- so nothing historical.
Yau Ma Tei market was the land of chinoiseries, at least you can negociate price a little lol.. I prefer internet to find a phone cover.
And so on...
I never had a worse trip in my life than HK...
Well to me, HK is a joke, only there because the chinese finance transit through this city, and for many, finance = economy ...I recommend to everyone to spend their money somewhere else, Japan and Korea ahead :X
Last edited by Pokitobounto; 06-13-2018 at 12:12 AM..
In terms of regional rail commuters, London is expensive, but so are many other cities.
In terms of the tube and more especially visitors to the city, an Oyster card caps your travel within Zones, and you can travel as much as you want within Central London and even to places such as Canary Wharf knowing the maximum daily cap for zones 1 & 2 is £6.80.
£6.80 for unlimted travel within zones 1 & 2 (covering all of Central London and indeed much more) is not that bad and there has been a fare freeze in recent years, which will continue to be fronzen until at least 2020.
Following the downfall of GBP the rates are less extreme now (though that doesn't really make any difference to the locals). Even with the Oyster card, before the Brexit referendum, the rates of London underground were outrageous. A ride in Paris for example is merely 1,90 EUR and the monthly pass is half the price.
The regional trains are even more ridiculous. A round trip to Windsor or Cambridge cost up to 50 pounds whereas a round trip from Paris to Fontainebleau is not even 30 euros, the distance nearly identical. In the Netherlands you can travel from Amsterdam to the German border with like 20 euros. Now if this was Switzerland it might make more sense as the income is significantly higher than any other European country, but that is not the case for the UK. It is no wonder that the Brits complain about their transport so much. It's just not reasonable.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,175 posts, read 13,455,286 times
Reputation: 19472
8
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greysholic
Following the downfall of GBP the rates are less extreme now (though that doesn't really make any difference to the locals). Even with the Oyster card, before the Brexit referendum, the rates of London underground were outrageous. A ride in Paris for example is merely 1,90 EUR and the monthly pass is half the price.
The regional trains are even more ridiculous. A round trip to Windsor or Cambridge cost up to 50 pounds whereas a round trip from Paris to Fontainebleau is not even 30 euros, the distance nearly identical. In the Netherlands you can travel from Amsterdam to the German border with like 20 euros. Now if this was Switzerland it might make more sense as the income is significantly higher than any other European country, but that is not the case for the UK. It is no wonder that the Brits complain about their transport so much. It's just not reasonable.
The UK Rail pricing system is currently being overhauled.
As for the London Underground, it really depends on the length of a journey, when you travel and other factors, however the price cap system and current fare freeze coupled with the exchange rates are all welcome news for visitors to the city.
It also should be noted that London also has a very good bus system which is cheaper to use than the Underground.
A lot of London's transport is increasingly 24 hour with nigh buses, night tubes and night overground services.
The regional trains are even more ridiculous. A round trip to Windsor or Cambridge cost up to 50 pounds whereas a round trip from Paris to Fontainebleau is not even 30 euros, the distance nearly identical. In the Netherlands you can travel from Amsterdam to the German border with like 20 euros. Now if this was Switzerland it might make more sense as the income is significantly higher than any other European country, but that is not the case for the UK. It is no wonder that the Brits complain about their transport so much. It's just not reasonable.
50 quid for round-trip to Windsor or Cambridge?? Really?
I've been to both places a few times now and I don't remember ever paying 50 quid for round-trip to either place, even when buying tickets on the same day of travel.
Also, you can get 1/3 off if you have a National Railcard, which you can buy for cheap.
I've only been to Hong Kong and New York, and I preferred NY, but then IMO the only other city that could rival NY in my mind is London, which I'm long overdue to see. Hong Kong is an amazing city, though, but I'm sort of biased with NY because of how famous it is.
This is my view as well.
Out of them all I would have to say New York first because I've never been there secondly because it to be a vibrant and amazing city. I have been to London only once but that was in the mid 1980's (with my young children, a lot of preparation and work) and I would choose to see it again after New York. The rest as follows regarding my interest and impression of them.
New York
London
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Paris
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