Small Conveniences

Some people say that Hong Kong is one of the most convenient places in the world to live. As a newcomer, I don’t yet see it that way. Sure, it’s a convenient location for traveling to places like Thailand and Malaysia, but to do something as simple as buying a new toaster can take hours…and that assumes that you find exactly what you want at the first store you visit and you don’t comparison shop.

I have become far less picky and more willing to pay a premium price just to get a purchase over with – I can justify just about any “excess” spending by calculating all the time and effort it will take to find a lower priced alternative.

That being said, there ARE some conveniences here that amaze us. The first is a remarkable little thing called an Octopus card:


This card functions like a debit card and can be used for buses, mini-buses, and the train system. Virtually all parking meters and parking garages take the Octopus card. We love it because it frees us from carrying loads of change around or worrying about having exact change (required on buses). It can also be used at places like drugstores, fast-food restaurants, and convenience stores.

Speaking of convenience stores, 7-Eleven is everywhere in Hong Kong – there is at least one 7-Eleven store on just about every major street. The shops are tiny, but they pack in most of the typical convenience store merchandise (sadly, they do not carry Diet Dr. Pepper). Here’s the store we most often visit in Stanley Market:

But, 7-Eleven in Hong Kong provides more than just junk food. More important to us, we can pay our phone bill (which always comes practically the day it’s due) and put more money on our Octopus cards there. Very handy!

Finally, since most people here use public transportation to get around, home delivery is a big deal. You can have groceries and bottled water delivered to your doorstep, usually for no charge with a fairly low minimum purchase. Other delivery is generally really, really cheap – we had a mattress top delivered from IKEA and it cost a whopping $8 US dollars.

You can even have McDonald’s delivered 24 hours a day. We don’t use McDelivery, but a lot of other people must - you’d be amazed how many guys on scooters are zipping around delivering Big Macs all day, every day. Crazy!