Hi All,
The wife and I are moving to HK in a couple months and I will be working around Hung Hom station. We are hoping to settle in an area that can be accessed by public transit, in addition to giving us some kind of nature within walking distance. We will likely be having a dog shortly after arrival as well. Our budget is flexible (15-25/mo?), but we won't be on an expat package, unfortunately.
After scanning the many useful threads and bits of advice on this site, I was able to walk around Sai Kung and Park Island during my last visit to HK. Both of which seem to have some upsides and downsides.
Sai Kung left me with the impression that a car is critical because the commute via GMB and MTR is going to be about an hour. I am not too thrilled about making the drive into Hung Hom everyday and dealing with parking, so my hopes have somewhat fizzled unless there are express buses I don't know about.
Park Island also seems like a strong contender because of the accessibility and pet/family-friendly environment. However it seems a bit claustrophobic and very much subject to the whims of the management company.
I have now started to research the Gold Coast stretch as well as Lantau. Any of the villages (Mui Wo, Pui O, Tong Fuk) on the South Lantau side would be ideal, but it looks like the ferries only go to Central and the bus/MTR commute via Tung Chung would get real tedious, real fast.
Future coworkers have already told me to avoid HK island as everything is overpriced and driven up by bankers with expat packages.
So for those of you working on the Kowloon side, is there anywhere I'm missing? Any tips would be appreciated. Our first month or two will be in a serviced apartment which gives us a little time to get things sorted out, but it would be helpful to have a few areas to focus on from the start.
Thanks!