First Visit to HK - Learned Some Things for Next Time

At this point, does Hong Kong even need another review? Probably not, but hopefully within I can share some useful advice that could have helped me my first time visiting HK last night (2/22/22).

I made a reservation online for a basic room a few days prior to my visit. I did this for two reasons; one being that I didn't want to have to deal with knocks on the door, and two I wanted somewhere to be able to lay down for a little while if I wanted to. I recommend getting a room even if you are not planning on sleeping there. I was only at HK for maybe 5.5 hours and the room was very helpful.

Secondly, park and cross the border at PedEAST crossing. I parked at PedWest ($15 for 24 hours) and was stuck walking in a rainstorm when I discoverd that PedWest was closed and I had to walk to PedEast to get over. I don't know if PedWest is permanently closed or just closes at a certain time but it was around 11pm when I crossed and it was roped off. Needless to say, I was absolutely soaked when I finally got to HK and the only change of clothes I brought were sweatpants. At this point, I want to mention that I brought $550 cash with me. I was paranoid about shakedowns at the border crossing so I put $200 in each shoe, $100 in my wallet, and the rest was in 1's and fives in my front two pockets.