My First Time on Public Transportation

I guess it wasn't my FIRST time on Public Transportation as I have ridden CyRide once or twice and been in a cab, but never really on a train or a city bus from what I can remember.

After my first full day at work, my boss took me on the train to go out to eat at Dan Ryan's Steakhouse. It was a good distance away and the train ride was interesting, but it let me see all different parts of Hong Kong.

First off, I had to get an Octopus Card. It is the same size as a credit card but has no magnetic strip on it. You can put money on it then you just press the card to a reader and it will somehow read your card. I don't even need to take it out of my wallet to have it read it, just as long as it gets close to the reader. So after I got my card I had to try and follow my boss through a crazy labyrinth of little shops and escalators and a whole mess of people. It is really good that I am taller than most people around here so it makes following people much easier.

After we got to the train platform we checked in to First Class. It was about $1.50 HKD more (remember 1 USD = 7.78 HKD) and we got a seat and a bit more room than in other cabins. There are only certain times you want to travel first class because there are only so many seats and you aren't always guaranteed a seat if you pay for it. I only travel first class when the stations aren't too busy.

The train ride wasn't too bad. It was a bit bumpy at times and the stopping and going and changing directions almost made me sick. However, we were on the train for about 30 minutes before reaching our destination. We went in to the mall ate, and came back. The train was much busier on the way back and there was standing room only. The big similarity about the trains here and CyRide at school is that they try to see how many people they can get on a train. They will just pack themselves in there and then you sometimes have to fight your way out.

Since my first trip on the train, I have had many more and have figured out how to read the maps and how to take what train to get to where I need to be. Before I arrived, I looked at a MTR (Mass Transit Rail) map and it made no sense to me. However, I feel pretty comfortable taking a train to get to where I need to go.

The bus system out here is a bit more complicated for me. Some bus signs are only in Chinese, some buses only go one way, some buses only run for the morning, so you have to take a different colored bus in the afternoon, some buses will stop wherever and some buses you have to get picked up at a bus stop. I am still trying to figure the bus system out.

The mini buses, which are the most plentiful out here, are quite handy for short distances I have found out. I normally only travel mini bus with my friend who can read Chinese which makes it a lot easier. However, they didn't take my height in to consideration when building the buses. The roof, at best, is maybe only 5'10" and the door is probably less than 5' so I have to bend over quite a bit to get out of them.
Inside a mini bus

Traveling by train and bus is very cheap. I can get on a bus for ~$4 HKD and it depends where you are going on the train as to how much it costs, but it is very cheap as well. Taxis are a bit more and they start out at ~14.50 HKD ($1.86 USD). However, if you are patient, it is easy to travel out here. It's not as convenient as jumping in my truck at home and going wherever I want, but it still gets me where I want to go and sure beats walking in this hot humid weather.