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Why air conditioning even in cold weather?

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  1. #11

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    May 2008
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    I had really tough time in HK so far because of the climate. But I am also always trying to keep my mind wide-open and to "understand" the culture instead of criticizing it.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    It is difficult to relocate to another country with different culture, language, customs, and climate. I do hope you'll get use to all the changes in no time.

    Just out of curiosity, why would you want to purchase a car in HK where public transportation was so convenient and inexpensive?


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by marijuan:
    People like HongKongFoot simply discourage my effort to know the culture and even make me hate the people here.
    It's okay, there are nutjobs everywhere. Can't blame them either because doG knows they might have had a troubled up-bringing. It's just the way they are, what're you going to do? Good advice from Robert though.

    Back on topic, I could never understand folks who crank up their air conditioners at home and then don several layers of clothing. When at home, I turn the heater on when the temperature drops below 15 degrees because I like to be comfortable in a tee or a wife beater and a pair of simple wear-at-home board shorts.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    19

    From the day 1 after moving to HK, I usually stayed all the day at home during the weekend and holidays in summer because of the heat and humidity outside. My wife complained much and she wishes me to own a car as we were travelling and eating outside by driving almost every day in my home country.

    But considering the prices of cars, car park, gas and the limited area to travel in HK, I could not easily agree with her. Cars are almost at least twice more expensive here (5 yrs old car in HK is as expensive as the new one in my home country), flats in HK do not have complimentary parking lots and we need to pay 250 USD monthly.

    Even with a car, we may not be able to drive outside of HK to travel mainland China as the driving side is oppositie. (But I am not sure. Can anyone please confirm this?)

    Nevertheless, we went to buy a second hand car. I do not have much idea about HK practice of buying second hand cars. I've expected some commons, such the cases the car dealer presents us repair history or insurance record, or even I would be able to check in somewhere like CARFAX.COM

    But there was nothing here. You can buy a second hand car at your own risk. No history check, no guarantee provided. your car may wreck with no reason the next month after purchase. Not to mention a few cases of expats who dumped second hand cars just a few months after purchase.


  4. #14

    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Back in Toronto now - after 10 1/2 years in HK
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    945
    Quote Originally Posted by marijuan:
    From the day 1 after moving to HK, I usually stayed all the day at home during the weekend and holidays in summer because of the heat and humidity outside. My wife complained much and she wishes me to own a car as we were travelling and eating outside by driving almost every day in my home country.

    But considering the prices of cars, car park, gas and the limited area to travel in HK, I could not easily agree with her. Cars are almost at least twice more expensive here (5 yrs old car in HK is as expensive as the new one in my home country), flats in HK do not have complimentary parking lots and we need to pay 250 USD monthly.

    Even with a car, we may not be able to drive outside of HK to travel mainland China as the driving side is oppositie. (But I am not sure. Can anyone please confirm this?)

    Nevertheless, we went to buy a second hand car. I do not have much idea about HK practice of buying second hand cars. I've expected some commons, such the cases the car dealer presents us repair history or insurance record, or even I would be able to check in somewhere like CARFAX.COM

    But there was nothing here. You can buy a second hand car at your own risk. No history check, no guarantee provided. your car may wreck with no reason the next month after purchase. Not to mention a few cases of expats who dumped second hand cars just a few months after purchase.
    Look out for expats selling their cars on moving out of HK - those who've had them for a few years at least. I did that twice over 10 years and had nothing to complain about. In both cases In both cases (5 and 6 yr old Japanese 8-seaters, one with two prior owners but the last one had it for 3 years), we had a mechanic further check them out - that was it. the prices were similar to Canadian used car ones - I know as I could have claimed the price difference from my company.

    Apart from this site and the other one, and SCMP, you can also find sale notices in places like PnS in HK Parkview and other estates popular among expats.
    marijuan likes this.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Hong Kong
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    To the OP, I agree with you on this one. It makes no sense.

    As for the "belief" of the A/C circulating the air, is there any scientific proof of this, or is it just a common "belief"?

    As to the attitude of people saying "this is how HK is, just get on with it". To a certain extent I agree with this statement. However, what is so wrong with questioning this?

    MovingIn07 likes this.

  6. #16

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    May 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    To the OP, I agree with you on this one. It makes no sense.

    As for the "belief" of the A/C circulating the air, is there any scientific proof of this, or is it just a common "belief"?

    As to the attitude of people saying "this is how HK is, just get on with it". To a certain extent I agree with this statement. However, what is so wrong with questioning this?
    I have never understood this "must have the aircon on to stop the air getting stale" argument. How come this does not apply to countries without aircon that seem to survive quite happily without getting "stale air"?

  7. #17

    You'll be surprised some locals like to have Sichuan Hot Pot meals during the hottest months, at home (or in a restaurant) with A/C switched to max.


  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    1,154

    Hey, different country, different ways i guess.
    last week when the temp dropped to 25C, i saw a woman on the MTR wearing a leather jacket + thick scarf. I had this "wtf" look on my face. But in the winter it's the other way around when I'm wearing a t-shirt at 18C..


  9. #19

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    Mar 2007
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    Gold Coast Marina
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    I agree with the OP - the practise is daft. Our office is so cold (all year, but worst in winter when the aircon runs AND it's cold outside) that I keep a heater in my office, which I use to stay warm. This is COMPLETE LUNACY and not environmentally friendly at all, but otherwise my hands get so cold I cannot type so I cannot work.

    There is no reason at all to run the AIRCON to keep the air from getting stale ... if you need air movement, you can run just the fan function, or perhaps the fan + dehumidify function, there is NO NEED to add the "cooling" part to move air. This is just crap.

    Besides, it's not this bad in many other Asian countries - Malaysia, for example, uses plenty of aircon and needs it, but the temperatures are not set so low so that it's a comfortable cooling rather than a frigid cooling.

    I had exactly the same experience on a bus last year, in winter. There was a traffic jam and the bus ride was taking longer than usual and the whole bus was shivering. Eventually someone (chinese) got up and asked the driver for some heating. Oh it was bliss! Cannot believe it took about 45 minutes of shivering before it happened though!


  10. #20

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    May 2006
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    Luckily I can shut my door and turn the aircon off, but then when I got a cold my PA blamed this on the fact that the air was stale due to no aircon.