General Max Posted January 15, 2013 Author #26 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I'm not in either of those places enough to get irritated by them, but the London HOHOs (which are the specific target of my signature) constitute a serious obstruction in the way of Londoners' lives. They are some of the most selfishly driven and delay causing vehicles on London's roads. We live near Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and there is year round traffic to beat the band. We put up with it for the simple reason that most of the traffic are the tourists in their rental cars and vans. Some of these tourists are from the UK. We have come to accept it because they are bringing money to our country which provides for local jobs and of course, taxes to local governments. Please accept the local HOHOs because they are filled with tourists that are bringing money to the UK for workers and the local London government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted January 15, 2013 #27 Share Posted January 15, 2013 We have come to accept it because they are bringing money to our country which provides for local jobs and of course, taxes to local governments. Please accept the local HOHOs because they are filled with tourists that are bringing money to the UK for workers and the local London government.Orlando is not London. A wide economic analysis strongly suggests that tourists probably do not earn London any money overall, because the tourists cost Londoners as much money as they actually bring to London. So no, there is no particular economic reason why Londoners should pander to tourists. In any event, there are plenty of ways in which tourists can get around London - even by road, and even by bus - without having to resort to the particularly odious device of the HOHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 15, 2013 Author #28 Share Posted January 15, 2013 So no, there is no particular economic reason why Londoners should pander to tourists. I agree. We have been to London 3 times and to Australia once. The Australians appreciate us American tourists and we will go back again and bring our American dollars. I believe Sydney also has HOHO buses but we didn't ride them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 16, 2013 Author #29 Share Posted January 16, 2013 We are looking for another couple to join us on Thursday, January 24th in Kowloon for a cross-border trip to Shenzhen. I have a guide, driver and vehicle reserved for the 8 hour tour. As this will be a trip into Mainland China, the required Chinese visa is needed for American, Canadian and Brits. The trip is $410 total and is through http://www.toursbylocals.com and our guide will be Jacky W who is a Kowloon resident. We will dpeart our hotel in Kowloon near the Star ferry terminal and pick you up at your hotel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted January 16, 2013 #30 Share Posted January 16, 2013 ... we will go back again and bring our American dollars.Is there something special about American dollars? I thought they weren't even worth that much any more. Certainly an American dollar is now worth less than an Australian dollar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 16, 2013 Author #31 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Is there something special about American dollars? I thought they weren't even worth that much any more. Certainly an American dollar is now worth less than an Australian dollar. .....about 6 cents. By the way, at one time the British Pound was about $5.00 US dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted January 17, 2013 #32 Share Posted January 17, 2013 By the way, at one time the British Pound was about $5.00 US dollars.Just like the US dollar, it's simply another bit of foreign currency when taken to Australia. Australians don't much pander to anyone, least of all to tourists who think they're doing the natives a favour by visiting them. Two or three trips to Australia a year soon demonstrates the truth of that. Back to the topic of this forum: Asia. Renowned for a facade of smiling politeness, but underneath it the same resentment when patronised. One big difference from Australia is that one could be royally ripped off by someone who dislikes one's attitude, but one would never even know that it was happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 18, 2013 Author #33 Share Posted January 18, 2013 We are looking for another couple to join us on Thursday, January 24th in Kowloon for a cross-border trip to Shenzhen. I have a guide, driver and vehicle reserved for the 8 hour tour. As this will be a trip into Mainland China, the required Chinese visa is needed for American, Canadian and Brits. The trip is $410 total and is through http://www.toursbylocals.com and our guide will be Jacky W who is a Kowloon resident. We will pick you up and return you to your hotel. Our hotel is in Kowloon near the Star Ferry Terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Cruizer Posted January 19, 2013 #34 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Greatam....Thanks for the info. General Max says that you can get a visa at the border. If not. I suppose going to Shenzhen would be out of the question unless tours by locals and General Max are onto new information. Cuddles, Greatam is absolutely correct. I went there abt 10 yrs ago, wasn't impressed. You really get what you pay for, knock offs that last a few months or less. However, some of my HK friends go there for massages. If you really want to see Shenzen, you must have a visa organised b4 you go to save you the delay and hassles. I'd rather visit Macau (been a few times) as they have some interesting things to see and it's all in a day trip. The water show has raving reviews. My friends from NZ saw the show, raved about it, stayed the night in Macau and said shopping was really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 19, 2013 Author #35 Share Posted January 19, 2013 We are looking for another couple to join us on Thursday, January 24th in Kowloon for a cross-border trip to Shenzhen. I have a guide, driver and vehicle reserved for the 8 hour tour. As this will be a trip into Mainland China, the required Chinese visa is needed for American, Canadian and Brits. The trip is $410 total and is through http://www.toursbylocals.com and our guide will be Jacky W who is a Kowloon resident. We will pick you up and return you to your hotel. Our hotel is in Kowloon near the Star Ferry Terminal. The above posting is correct. You WILL NOT be able to obtain a 24 entry visa at the Chinese Border. You MUST HAVE IT already in your passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted January 21, 2013 Author #36 Share Posted January 21, 2013 We are looking for another couple to join us on Thursday, January 24th in Kowloon for a cross-border trip to Shenzhen. I have a guide, driver and vehicle reserved for the 8 hour tour. As this will be a trip into Mainland China, the required Chinese visa is needed for American, Canadian and Brits. The trip is $410 total and is through http://www.toursbylocals.com and our guide will be Jacky W who is a Kowloon resident. We will pick you up and return you to your hotel. Our hotel is in Kowloon near the Star Ferry Terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3littlepigs Posted January 26, 2013 #37 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I agree. We have been to London 3 times and to Australia once. The Australians appreciate us American tourists and we will go back again and bring our American dollars. I believe Sydney also has HOHO buses but we didn't ride them. Hope you had a wonderful trip to Shenzhen:) For future info, in Australia your US$ aren't any use...you will need to change them into our prettier and more valuable A$;) I think saying we "appreciate" American tourists is stretching it a bit...we welcome all tourists no matter where they are from...appreciate...that's not part of our way of thinking, tolerate would be a much better word! We do have HOHO buses here, also have a free bus that does a lap around the centre of the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted February 1, 2013 Author #38 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hope you had a wonderful trip to Shenzhen:) For future info, in Australia your US$ aren't any use...you will need to change them into our prettier and more valuable A$;) I think saying we "appreciate" American tourists is stretching it a bit...we welcome all tourists no matter where they are from...appreciate...that's not part of our way of thinking, tolerate would be a much better word! We do have HOHO buses here, also have a free bus that does a lap around the centre of the city. Several Australians that we met said their parents apppreciated that the Americans kept the Japanese from invading Australia during World War II. We never heard any appreciation from the French about liberating France when we visited there. Yes, the Shenzhen tour was outstanding. Jacky W. and our driver Mr. Lee did a great job in taking us around to various non-torist sights in Shenzhen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Max Posted February 2, 2013 Author #39 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hope you had a wonderful trip to Shenzhen:) For future info, in Australia your US$ aren't any use...you will need to change them into our prettier and more valuable A$;) I think saying we "appreciate" American tourists is stretching it a bit...we welcome all tourists no matter where they are from...appreciate...that's not part of our way of thinking, tolerate would be a much better word! We do have HOHO buses here, also have a free bus that does a lap around the centre of the city. Yes, I remember the free tourist bus that does the loop to the ferry terminal. It was route 555 and stopped a half block from our hotel, the Hyde Park Inn across the street from Hyde Park and the MRT Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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