Arriving at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

Having lunch

My dad and I went to first canteen we can find to have our lunch. We were hungry by the time we reached HKUST. We went to LG1 Canteen and had roasted duck rice with bean curd. (More about the food options in campus at a later post.)

Getting to the hall

To get to the hall area, you'll need to take lift 10-11 down to LG5 (LG5 is different from L5). Turn left and exit from the lift lobby after coming out of the lift. You should see the link bridge on your left. Follow the link bridge and the signs to go to your respective hall.

Registration time! 

As it's the first day of registration into the hall, the registration only starts after 2pm. I was assigned hall 1, which I felt was a terrible hall for the first few hours there. More about that in a later post too...Approach the hall attendant at the Ground level of the assigned hall. The hall attendant wasn't fluent in either English or Mandarin. Therefore, be prepared for some communication frustration. What you basically need to do is to fill up some forms, and take the inventory checklist and go to your room to ensure all the items are in order. By the way, the air-con is free for ISP Students.

Settling down

The room was decently clean but I decided to wipe the cupboard, tabletop, and shelves before unpacking my stuff on them. Note that pillow, blanket, and bed sheet are not provided.

Arriving at Hong Kong

• Visited 1010 store to get my mobile sim card

I bought the $100 csl. All-in-one Prepaid SIM Card from the 1010 store at the airport and activated the 30-day (300MB) package data pass. Since HKUST provides free WiFi, I don't see the need to get use much data.

More details about the SIM Card >

• Getting the Octopus Card

Since we are no longer entitled to the student Octopus Card, I bought the Octopus Card from the Airport. I highly recommend that you get it here, even if you're taking the cab to HKUST. Besides using it for the public transport, it can also be used at most stores around HKUST and Hong Kong. If you are on a support Android, you can download the Octopus Card app to view your transaction history. Octopus Card has tremendously aid me in my expenses management.

• Taking public bus followed by cab

To cut cost, I took the public bus service A29 to Po Lum Station, which is the terminating stop for the bus. Above the Po Lum Bus Station is the Metro City Plaza (more about the mall in a later post).

I then took a cab from outside Po Lum MTR Station to HKUST. As most of the cab drivers do not understand English (or even Mandarin!), it's recommended to tell the driver "Four Gay Dye Hawk" (Shorten Cantonese term for HKUST). Many had made the mistake of instructing the driver to HKUST and ended up at Hong Kong University instead. The cab ride costed me HK$60.