In your list of places to visit, many of them are easily accessible via the MTR (TST, Avenue of Stars, Mongkok, Times Square, Ladies Market, Temple St, & Stars Ferry). Then the rest require you to go by bus that depart from a bus terminus near an MTR station: Victoria Peak (MTR Hong Kong station), Ocean Park (MTR Admiralty station). Then to get to the outlying islands Lantau Island & Lamma Island, you can take the ferry near the MTR Hong Kong station (walk through the IFC mall toward the harbor). As for Man Lok Street, which is in Hung Hom area, it is not that common a sightseeing site. It may be easiest to just take a taxi from either the MTR Yau Ma Tei station, or the Kowloon KCR station (where there is a taxi stop) which can be get to via the MTR and then connecting with the KCR either at the Kowloon Tong station or the Tsim Sha Tsui East station.

There are a lot of hotels that are close to the MTR in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui. There are also a fair amount in Jordon, Ya Ma Tei, and Mongkok.

As for sidewalk dining, there is some of that in many places. But Temple Street is one place that has quite a bit - perhaps just in the evenings though. As for the hygiene and clean food, you may just have to take your chances! Perhaps just to have something safe like fish ball noodles (since fish balls are pre-cooked and they just re-boil them with the noodles) and a cup of milk-tea. But then the 83-year-old member in your party wouldn't want to take too many chances. A hospital stay should not be part of the itinerary!

There are no fireworks on New Year's Eve that I know of except this year (2008 New Year's Eve) at Two IFC in Central district. The best place to see it will be at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. There's probably one at Disneyland as well. (Edited on Dec 30, 2007) The young members of your family will probably enjoy it (though the park is not that big). They also have a countdown there. Other places with a countdown nowadays include Lan Kwai Fong, Times Square, Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower, and maybe also Canton Road (Tsim Sha Tsui). But there usually are literally tens of thousands of people at these places for the countdown. Disneyland will be a more pleasant experience for a family.

As for sales, there usually are Christmas sales and New Year sale - basically the whole time between mid-November and Chinese New Year, there are sales!

If your father enjoys HK movies, he should watch one in the cinema while he is here in HK. (Check our website for links to the movie theatres.)

Whew! That's a lot of info here. Hope it is helpful.