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hong lok, beverly hills or goldcoast

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    hong lok, beverly hills or goldcoast

    Hi all, We are moving to hong kong in august. My 3 young boys will attend hong lok school which seems to be a great school. My husband will work in causeway bay but we will have a car. How long would it take him to get there? Would Hong Lok be a good place for a family with 3 very active boys? I have also looked at beverly hills and casa marina and goldcoast? It seems to be very fancy in beverly hills but they have good facilities for kids!! Any suggestions or ideas. I will be travelling to HK for a look and see this coming tuesday, appreciate any information. jess


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    13,099

    Have you been to Hong Kong before? From your comments, it seems not and you really should see the place before making a where to live decision as HLY to CWB commute will not be all that nice.
    http://hongkong.geoexpat.com/forum/61/thread106021.html

    Yes, HLY school is a very decent school but there are many others and many a lot closer to Causeway Bay so you could possibly live closer to work and school at the same time. Any reason you've picked that school for your 3 kids?

    Last edited by HowardCoombs; 03-06-2012 at 04:30 PM.

  3. #3

    My family moved to HK a few months ago from USA and both my girls (age 10 and 7) go to HLYIS, which we all love! We had places at ESF and AIS, but we all just fell in love with the small suburban feel of HLYIS. I was worried about the transition, as both girls had loads of school friends in USA, but the staff at the school and all the students there made my girls feel at home right away. Can not recommend it highly enough.

    As for where to stay, I agree that you should come to HK and visit different areas to see for yourself which area you prefer to live in. We live in Beverly Hills and love it here. A little fancy and pretentious on the outside, but pretty down to earth on the inside. The facilities here are 1st rate and the management constantly maintains them to a high standard. I viewed loads of houses and apartments from Shatin to Taipo as well as Hong Lok Yuen and just liked the atmosphere around here, good bike trails and lots of open green space. In fact, we did not even know about the HLYIS when we came to HK--and only saw the school when we viewed some houses in the community. The houses that were available for rent at HLY were pretty nasty, at least when we were house hunting. I am sure that there are lots of nice houses there, but the only ones for rent when we looked were real run down and not suitable for us.

    I would recommend staying at the Hyatt at the University in one of their long units for about 1 month and shop for houses.

    It takes about 45 minutes to get to HK Island by car by the eastern harbor tunnel and there is the 307 bus that goes from TaiPo center to HK Island, about 1 hour. Again, this might be a terrible commute for someone and might be an easy commute for someone else, it depends what you are used to back home.

    If you need more info, please feel free to PM me. I used a real good local real estate agent and we got a smoking deal here in Beverly Hills, the lowest rent per square foot for sure. Just for your info, there is a school bus that takes our kids from BH to HLYIS, pretty convenient!

    Best of Luck!


  4. #4

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    Jun 2012
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    Hi Howard, We have been on wait list for many different schools and this was the only one now where they could accept all 3. Its difficult for me to calculate the driving time from place to place as when you google it. it says around 30 km from hong lok to central but ofcourse I dont know about the traffic. I was in Hong lok 2 weeks ago and it looks nice, especially for us as we are not city people. People also recommend sai kung but thats also a long trip for my husband, right. will come to hk next week and look around. thank you jessika


  5. #5

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    Jun 2012
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    6

    Hi Richardintaipo, thats the same age as my 2 big boys. I will come and take a look next week. Are there lots of kids in Beverly hills, playing outside? yes we will live in a service apartment for the first month to get a feel for it all. Its difficult trying to find out the travelling time from tai po or hong lok to central as if you google it, it says about 30 min by car, but then ofcourse I dont know the traffic? but you say it takes 45 min by car, is that right? Wow


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    it's not "hong lok"... it's "hong lok yuen"

    sai kung to causeway bay would take about 45minutes-1hour if you drive.... EXCEPT during rush hour, in which case i would add an extra 15 minutes just to be safe.


  7. #7

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    Jun 2012
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    Hi Carang, do you know how long it would take from Gold Coast to Hong Lok YUEN? Thanks


  8. #8

    Hi Jessika

    There are a good amount of kids, both western and chinese, living at BH. I just taught my younger daughter to ride her bike without training wheels and we biked around the roads in BH, which are free of any cars. My older daughter joined us and I ran along side them and now a bit out of breath from chasing them for about 1 hour. We ran into several kids, both younger and older. Sometimes, the kids meet up with their neighbor friends at the covered playground, which is enormous, or at the clubhouse in the game room. A neighbor who has 2 boys and I setup a weekly group lesson in Kung Fu for all 4 of the kids and the 4 parents once a week at the indoor basketball court, so there is a good amount of fun to be had here. Not as much as my old neighborhood in USA, but better than I expected.

    Yes, about 35-45 minutes by car with traffic from BH to Wanchai, central can be 5-15 minutes longer, depending on traffic.

    Let me know if you need any further info, would be happy to help. I guess your kids will start school in September, my girls will be going in P6 and P3. The people at HYLIS are great--we did not even apply there when we arrived in HK, I just called and showed up for a tour--told them that my wife and I loved the school and sincerely asked them to find a way to make some spots for our girls. The next day, we received a call from the school and they found a way to help us. Completely different from the reception we received at the other schools here, even with the long application process.


  9. #9

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    Apr 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by jessika:
    Hi Carang, do you know how long it would take from Gold Coast to Hong Lok YUEN? Thanks
    sorry, it's not a route that i drive regularly... i would guess about 30 minutes or so?

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    6

    hi Richardintaipo, Very helpful info. So our kids will go in the same class, nice. We are from sweden but have been living abroad for the last many years so the kids speak fluent english. Do you know in BH if they have serviced houses?


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