7] Make sure you have a photocopy of your passport (the main page with your picture, name, info, passport# & signature), keep one in your hotel room and the other with you. this is in case you loose one. Generally u keep the real passport in a safe at the hotel/hostel and walk with the photocopy. If there's no safe, you can either hide it in your locked bag or carry it with you.
1] foam earplugs and eye mask. This will help u sleep on the plane as well as in your hotel in Hong Kong, both places can be noisy as hell.
2] travel light, HK will be like August in Ottawa. 1 check in bag, 1 carry on bag.
3] In the Carry on, have 1 change of cloths in case your check in gets lost (worst case is u buy new cloths in HK which is dead cheap). Carry on bag should have all valuables that you can't afford to lose, this includes all electronics including chargers etc. Those are tough to replace.
4] there are trade offs between isle and window seat. ISLE is easer to get to bathroom, get up to streach your legs (15hr flight can b brutal) BUT is tough to sleep cause peeps will hit u as they pass and peeps seating in your row will bugu to leave. WINDOW is easier to sleep cause you can put your head aginst the wall and no one bugs you BUT tough to get out. You decide and try check in on the web and chose your seat.
5] HK is heading into monsoon season, a tiny umbrella might be good but can get that their too.
6] Make sure you DO NOT site in the row just in front of an exit row, your seat will NOT recline, pure torture on a long flight!! For example if exit row is 14, do not get seated in row 13. Also do not sit in last row, again, will not recline.
8] Get little locks for your bags so no one can get into your stuff at the hostel.
9] Before you leave the hostel to go out, get a card from the hostel with it's name and address on it (english & chinese) so in case you get lost (or a bad situation) you can just jump in a cab and show the card to the driver. All the cabs are red.
10]Watch out for strangers with stories that try to gain your trust like a woman talking to you and they relatives in Canada etc. then they try to convince you to go somewhere with them. Keep it simple with strangers, don't get in a vehicle together and always meet in a very public place by your own transport (do not try to save $) and don't take opened drinks etc. HK is very safe but there is also some sinister crap too and as a young female you are a primary target. It's very very unlikely anything will arise but if it does, be cool and keep it simple.
11] Due to the 911 security BS, you cannot bring on large bottles of liquid or cream/lotion in your carry on. Only small bottles are allowed like 33ml or somthing (size of a chapstick thing). You must put the larger bottles in your checkin and also wrap them in a plastic bag in case they leak (pressure change).
12] you infact will need 3 bags, 1 to check in, 1 to carry on (knap sack or duffle bag size) and 1 as a small day bag when u r walking around (store that in your check in).
13] U don't need to bring 2 weeks of cloths, you can bring 1 week's worth and have it washed. In HK i had a small suitecase full of laundry cleaned and folded for 10$! I don't get it when a 500 sqft apartment in the same area goes for 1 Mill$ but who am i to argue with a good deal.
14] HK is a shopping freakin mecca, tones of cool stuff for dirt cheap (10$ items that may cost u 50 to 100$ back home). Lots of unique stuff too. cloths, gadgets, bags, electronics etc. So i even pack less and end up buy cloths there.
17] BRING your cell phone and charger, it should work in HK so you can text, this is THE BEST way to keep in touch so we can split up, change meet times, recovery from getting lost etc.
15] It will be warm there so don't bring a heavy coat. bring layers like shirt, thin sweater, thin jacket.
16] Bring your layers on the plane because sometimes it gets crazy cold and you don't want to get a chill and get sick (disaster on the way in). Better to be to warm and peal a layer off. Bring a hat or hood, that saved my a** a number of times.
Wadi Community Member 
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