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Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan? Some recommendations for a young family

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by fraxbo:
    not that any of you are necessarily invested in this drama, but I guess the information can be of use to people in the future: I did two dry runs today "on the way" to and from work. Villa Athena to Shanghai and Austin Sts. door to door was 42 mins to (mid-day), 35 mins back (rush hour, though now that I say that is 5-6 really rush hour here, or is it later?). If one adds 10 mins to central we're talking 45-52 mins. It isn't bad, but I should add the beach is significantly less appealing in real life, an the shopping center (at least Ma On Shan Plaza, I didn't go to Sunshine) is not necessarily useful for more than supermarket and quick restaurant needs. I'll have to visit again and actually look at the buildings. At this point though I would be a lot less reticent about "giving up" the beach and public park to be a bit closer to the city.
    The Sunshine City shopping centre is much much better (probably 5 times bigger) than the Ma On Shan Plaza one! The beach is actually quite long, I don't know if you have been to the further area, where the barbecue is located? You should also look at the club house in the buildings you visit. Presumably if you have two small children, they can make use of the facilities (at a lower price, and with additional security than in public facilities).

    If you are uncertain about Ma On Shan, Sha Tin and Tai Wai: Sha Tin is generally more crowded and polluted than the other two. Though it has more shopping and activities, are your two daughters really into that?

    Tai Wai doesn't really have anything to offer (I think less than the Sunshine City shopping centre), it is in general very ugly (in my opinion), and there are no nice buildings near the MTR, which means once you arrive at the Tai Wai MTR station you still need to take another bus to your building. Now there is the new property being built above the MTR station (very expensive!), it will cause an heat-island effect, reducing wind speed and increasing pollution and temperature in the area.
    Last edited by jacky_se; 25-08-2011 at 01:09 PM.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by cometqq:
    I looked at Villa Athena a couple of weeks ago. They have a shuttle bus that can take you to University (the KCR station). My problem with Villa Athena is that it's very old. The few flats I looked at have all kinds of problems that immediately turned me off (e.g. very noisy AC, no drier, musty smell etc.) But it doesn't mean you cannot find a good one there.

    I am not excited about Ma On Shan. It is just not good enough for me to tolerate the long commute to work (I work in Kowloon Tong area).
    Same as when we looked a few years back. Saw 5 or 6 units there and they were all pretty nasty. We looked at several other developments between Monte Vista to Sausilito but we just couldn't get over the soullessness of the place. Even the one solitary bar that popped up was not exactly setting the place alight.

    Central Shatin is far too busy, although some nice areas outside the centre. Tai Wai as I mentioned Granville Garden is quite popular with expats, is a 5 min bus from station with bus stop right outside exit. Several bars in area with a couple regularly used by expats if that's your sort of thing. No great restaurants though, although Shatin Central close as is Kowloon Tong.

    If I headed back up that way with kids I'd chose Tai Wai again but it's because of the kids we're in Sai Kung now!

  3. #23

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    So I went out this evening with a few agents and saw Festival City and then Greenway Gardens (or something like that, about 8 minutes walk south of Tai Wai station) and Manlai Court, which is right next to the station.

    I was not into the whole Festival City look at all. It was so gaudy I nearly had to vomit and the apartments themselves were extraordinarily poorly laid out with terrible use of even their "usable" space. The only one worthwhile as a real consideration there in my opinion was the largest 4 bedroom 2.5 bath flat, which the agents were quoting to me as 27k and thought they might be able to get down to 26 or 25k. While we're willing to add to our housing allowance, we don't want to add more than 20% to it. So, it appears that is out of the question, which is fine, because you are paying for the awful decorations that adorn everything in the public areas (no joke, they have Versace and Fendi labels on the elevator and door fittings).

    Because of my visible unease with the surroundings I think the agent picked up that I might want to look at older style buildings. The other two I think were roughly comparable, with nice sized rooms and beautifully maintained parquet floors, however they were a) just a tad too small for our needs (only 3 bedrooms, though of decent size) b) obviously do not have the level of amenities of one of the bigger complexes (though did have pools and decent outside children's areas), and c) were lived in and so had (for my tastes) extremely odd choices for decoration that would require renovation to remove. They all fell in a bit below my price range though. I think there is likely to be a happy medium out there. I just need to look more. I think I will go out Sunday to look in Shatin proper and at some places along the Ma On Shan line (though perhaps not quite so far out as Ma On Shan stop or Wu Kai Sha). By the way the agents wouldn't even take us to Granville Gardens because they said it was extremely expensive, so I guess the prices have gone up a bit since you lived there last, unfortunately.


  4. #24

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    Calm down, dude. I just described the ones I looked at WITHOUT generalizing to the whole Villa Athena.

    People do have different criteria for choosing an apartment. Noisy AC and no drier could be deal-breakers for some people.

    I am not Hong Konger. I don't see anything wrong if HK people wants to live close to an MTR station.

    BTW, I don't agree with you that "Villa Athena is the best-kept secret in Ma On Shan".

    Quote Originally Posted by jacky_se:
    Old? It's about 14 years old. Very noisy AC and no drier? Wow! That's definitely a reason for not renting or buying a flat! Musty smell? Try opening the windows.

    Bye the way, I don't think they have a shuttle bus to University KCR. Instead, they have one to Shatin KCR, and to Sunshine City. Perhaps you looked at a different building?

    Long commute to work? Yes, 25 minutes by bus to Kowloon Tong. Better live in Kowloon Tong, with all the noise and pollution, rather than in front of the beach with a 100% sea view and cleaner air, right?

    Are you Hong Konger by any chance? Why don't Hong Kongers want to travel a bit to wherever they need to go? If you travel 45 minutes from Kownloon Tong you pay 1/2 as much for your accommodation. I am really puzzled as to why anybody would want to live in Kownloon Tong! I think about 80% of so of Hong Kongers live within 5 minutes walk from a MTR station, or something like that. I heard some amazing statistics some time ago. But commuting seems to be a no-no for Hong Kongers.

    Villa Athena is the best-kept secret in Ma On Shan. Did you also see the club house? It kicks ass.
    Last edited by cometqq; 26-08-2011 at 02:55 AM.

  5. #25

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    I can't agree more on your comments on Festival City. I immediately crossed it off my list after I looked at it. If you plan to see Wu Kai Sha, you may want to look at Lake silver. It's not very expensive. You may get some seaview and/or mountain view. The area is quiet and the clubhouse is nice.

    However, like Festival city, the usable area is very small. And you definitely want to avoid the ones facing north or west. The ones facing north have full seaview, but there's a noisy construction site in front of you. and the seaview might be blocked once the construction is finished. If your apartment is facing west, it'll become a sauna room in the afternoon.

    Looking for an apartment can be very time-consuming and frustrating, but something nice will come along if you explore different areas. Good luck.

    Quote Originally Posted by fraxbo:
    So I went out this evening with a few agents and saw Festival City and then Greenway Gardens (or something like that, about 8 minutes walk south of Tai Wai station) and Manlai Court, which is right next to the station.

    I was not into the whole Festival City look at all. It was so gaudy I nearly had to vomit and the apartments themselves were extraordinarily poorly laid out with terrible use of even their "usable" space. The only one worthwhile as a real consideration there in my opinion was the largest 4 bedroom 2.5 bath flat, which the agents were quoting to me as 27k and thought they might be able to get down to 26 or 25k. While we're willing to add to our housing allowance, we don't want to add more than 20% to it. So, it appears that is out of the question, which is fine, because you are paying for the awful decorations that adorn everything in the public areas (no joke, they have Versace and Fendi labels on the elevator and door fittings).

    Because of my visible unease with the surroundings I think the agent picked up that I might want to look at older style buildings. The other two I think were roughly comparable, with nice sized rooms and beautifully maintained parquet floors, however they were a) just a tad too small for our needs (only 3 bedrooms, though of decent size) b) obviously do not have the level of amenities of one of the bigger complexes (though did have pools and decent outside children's areas), and c) were lived in and so had (for my tastes) extremely odd choices for decoration that would require renovation to remove. They all fell in a bit below my price range though. I think there is likely to be a happy medium out there. I just need to look more. I think I will go out Sunday to look in Shatin proper and at some places along the Ma On Shan line (though perhaps not quite so far out as Ma On Shan stop or Wu Kai Sha). By the way the agents wouldn't even take us to Granville Gardens because they said it was extremely expensive, so I guess the prices have gone up a bit since you lived there last, unfortunately.
    Last edited by cometqq; 26-08-2011 at 03:20 AM.

  6. #26

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    Yes Man Lai court and Greenview Gardens are older and have less facilities. Both more popular on local market particularly Greenview because of it's perceived Feng Shui.

    Surprising they didn't take you up to Granville. I was just passing agents last week and seems the 820sq/ft units are less than 16K and the 1100sq/ft units are just over 20K. These may not be representative of all available units but there are certainly places available.

    Keep a look out, some agents better than others.


  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by cometqq:
    People do have different criteria for choosing an apartment. Noisy AC and no drier could be deal-breakers for some people.
    Absolutely. But dissing a building because the flats you looked at have noisy AC and no driers? Don't you know that ACs can be replaced and driers can be bought? And why on earth would you need a drier? It ruins your clothes.

    Anyway, I wonder if you weren't looking at another building, and not Villa Athena. Villa Athena is definitely not very old (it's about 14 years old or so, and very well maintained), and it doesn't have a shuttle to the university.

    Perhaps you were looking at "the waterside" which I agree is run down.
    Last edited by jacky_se; 29-08-2011 at 10:45 AM.

  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by jacky_se:
    And why on earth would you need a drier? It ruins your clothes.
    Perhaps because they want to dry their clothes without making them dirty again outside in the pollution?

    Perhaps because they want soft clothes and not stiff boards from being outside?

    It's rubbish that driers ruin clothes. Absolute rubbish. They are environmentally bad and expensive to run, but they are very useful! I certainly would not rent somewhere that didn't have one (or space for one).

  9. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    It's rubbish that driers ruin clothes. Absolute rubbish.
    Ooohhhh, nooooohhhh: Cotton Fabrics Damaged By High Dryer Temperatures

  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by jacky_se:
    You don't have a heat setting on your dryer? ffs.