Mixed Emotions in Uprooting (Vent) Support Thread

[scriptmonkey]

With a few weeks to go before we move to Hong Kong I am feeling better about it. I am planning to bring select items o help make the transition from Toronto to Hong Kong easier, but have questions about that and other ones about life there.

I know the humidity is high there and heard about the mould problems that creep up there. With that said, I intend to bring a scaled down collection of comics and books with me, as well as thinking of bring an old leather jacket I picked up from my travels to London, England, amongst other items. Should I worry about, well, things getting mouldy? Someone suggested that I leave the air con on 24/7, though understandable, I do wish to seek alternative methods to that.

Depending where we decide to live (still not settled), we may need a car. Though I drive here, how is it in Hong Kong? I've taken public transportation there and find it like Montreal and Manhattan, but that was many moons ago. How hard is it to drive there? Upkeep of a used mini van or mini type car? Car insurance?

Still looking for freelance writing work in HK, with no luck unfortunately. Hope that changes when we get there.
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[MovingIn07]

I don't have any problems at all with the humidity - we do keep our aircon on quite frequently (not 24/7) so I guess that helps, but I think the individual design of where you live also contributes to bear that in mind when looking around!

Re a car - you would have to live in a really remote spot to actually NEED a car - I certainly would not want to drive in most of the roads in HK - they are either narrow and windy (countryside, where you might need a car) or wide and packed with buses (city) or just packed with buses (everywhere else). I'd try for a while before you make a decision.

[carang]

i would not suggest driving until you know hk very well. the signage here is terrible and unless you know EXACTLY where you are going and how to get there it can be a royal pain in the butt. upkeep can get expensive, parking is ATROCIOUS and very expensive. insurance depends on the car.

public transport here is excellent, in general, so you shouldn't have any trouble.

as for bringing a leather jacket... honestly there may only be a week or two out of the whole year that weather would require such a thing. i would probably leave it at home.

i would also leave your comics, if they are collectibles, if not, then go ahead and bring them.

[cjjlee]

Scriptmonkey, not sure if you are going to be the primary care giver of your kids, but you may want to check this out: Hong Kong Dads, Stay at home dads or Full-time Fathers
Other dads here in Hong Kong who may have similar experiences as yourself.

[scriptmonkey]

MovingIn07 - We're looking at living in the Gold Coast area. So not sure if a car would be beneficial.

carang - Decided to leave behind many collectibles and comics. Gonna miss the mini libaray of books we've built up. The car is somethibg my wife really wants to entertain. Would get a GPS if came to it, but I have reservations in driving there. Here, I love to drive around. Open country roads and so forth. The upkeep is something that I feel is one of larger hurdles. If we do live in Gold Coast would the car make sense?

Cjjlee - I will be at the start. Thank you for the link. That is something I will look into for sure.

We have a children's channel here called Treehouse and wondered if there are the same shows in HK? I know there will be similar, but looking for the same shows from here. Though they don't watch much TV, just want to know if we need to get DVDs of their shows just in case. Thanks.
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[fm7]

There are kid's TV channels here, but not with the same kind of selection as Treehouse. However, you can get all those shows easily on DVD here.

[timklip]

God I'm so depressed. My flight is in less than 2 weeks. I will definitely miss timmies and other things in Canada, but at the same time I can't wait to get out of here. Staying in Canada is too painful when going through a breakup when there are sweet memories everywhere I go.

This is a major life change for me, I'm stressed out and terrified and depressed.

sounds like you've got a lot on your plate to work out, but here's a little nugget to ease you through it all

Yo Bago in Quarry Bay has Timmies coffee for all of us Canadians in the know...a nice little slice of home for when the big cans I bring back here after visits run out...

[carang]

we don't have TREEHOUSE, but we DO have PLAYHOUSE DISNEY, which has many of the same shows:

mickeymouse clubhouse
little einsteins
higglety town heros
animal mechanicals
word world
save-ums
etc.

my kids love it.

[wtbhotia]

i would not suggest driving until you know hk very well. the signage here is terrible and unless you know EXACTLY where you are going and how to get there it can be a royal pain in the butt.

FEMALE DRIVER, enough said Haahaahaa

Road Signage in HK is ok, its all in English/Chinese, GPS Map gadgets are in Chinese unfortunately unless someone has one in English for HK, then i would love to know where they got it and how much.

I would get a car if your planning to move to GC. 2nd hand Japanese cars are cheap and not that high cost to maintain, 3rd party insurance is not that bad unless ur into racing/sport type cars and your age is under 25. $2-3K the most for a normal car.

Humidity: Either get a de-humidifier or leave an AC on, moulds on walls u can get rid of and prevent using bleach/chlorine to wipe off.

[carang]

signage is TERRIBLE.... it is near impossible to locate street signs when driving.

often you get about 10m notice before you have to exit and then often you have to cross 3 lanes of traffic. many times, you get 10m to change lanes, if you miss it, good luck! instead of ending in aberdeen, you end up somewhere altogether different and have to get yourself turned around.

ps> i'm a very good driver, lol! i am often the one giving off to the sunday drivers that are still out on Tuesday afternoon!