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Transfer to HK - kids/schools/where to live???

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  1. #61

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    True for drinking at bars and restaurants but I find alcohol to be the same or cheaper when bought from a shop. Of course when it comes to wine you have to buy Australia/NZ instead of France/Spain but I've been surprised at how many good Australian wines there are. They only seem to ship the cheap crap over to the UK and keep the better stuff in the Pacific market.
    I buy French wine, ex-Chateau stock of good vintages, for around the same money I pay in France. I don't buy in supermarkets though; there are several online retailers who provide an excellent service. The good ones don't have minimum purchase requirements, although there will be a delivery charge for small quantities. I bought a mixed case last week of 2009/2010 delivered free with an average price of $130 a bottle. One of the bottles I bought a case of in France a couple of months ago and it cost more there. Grand Cru / Premier Cru wines are also not priced over-the-top compared to Europe, if you know where to look.

    As with most things in HK, there will always be cheaper ways. It all depends if you have the time, energy or inclination to search them out. The numerous online expat food outlets can prove cheaper than the supermarkets.

    One thing I have noticed is the M&S fresh vege are a reasonable price compared to the expat supermarkets. Sure you can get super cheap in the wet markets, but it all depends on your family's preferences re the origin of their food. We are happy paying more for Australian or European, and there is a good selection of ethically farmed meat and eggs, and fresh, healthy fruit and vege. We don't do organic though so no idea on the going rate for inflated marketing hype.
    merchantms and Scousebanana like this.

  2. #62

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    even the big Australian brands like Cloudy Bay
    Psst...Cloudy Bay is a New Zealand wine.

  3. #63

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    New Zealand wine, Australian Wine, Hong Kongs Leading Online Wines

    These guys are good and focus on South Africa, Australia, and NZ. They do deals.

  4. #64

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    Village lifestyle in HK is nothing like Kent. NOTHING.

    You want to be in an area that has more expat/international people. Even if that means a high rise or a large estate. Reasons:

    1) English speaking neighbors which will help your family make friends
    2) international shops where you can buy things you are used to eating/using at home
    3) proximity to international/English playgroups, preschools, and schools
    4) more Westernized medical care

    What you don't want is your wife having to drag the kids all over town to have play dates or attend school and activities. I know people who save money and have a big house in the New Territories but they are constantly traveling to HK Island because there aren't any English playgroups or English-speaking doctors in their area. Another issue I've seen is that the public hospitals are a lot harder to navigate and a lot more, um, "local" in their practice the further into NT you go. Many expat women use a friend's address to give birth at Queen Mary (on HK Island) because of bad experiences elsewhere.
    I would agree that HK villages are nothing like Kent.
    Would disagree with much of the rest. And I live in the NT.
    There are part of the NT that are full of expats. Sai Kung and Gold Coast being two off the top of my head. Fairview Park is another (you might want to look at this - its the closest thing to a "UK suburb" I have ever seen in Hong Kong). All doctors in Hong Kong can speak English. Many of them have receptionists who cannot. There is a high quality (and high price) doctor surgery in the Gold Coast, for example, with FULL high quality English speaking staff and an English doctor (the other one is european, swedish I think, cannot recall). I recently had cause to spend time in the public hospital in Tsuen Wan. It was excellent. Not fancy, but better than my similar stay in with the NHS some years back! Most nurses didn't speak much English, but they did care and they were kind. All the doctors were fine. As were the physios.

    There are plenty of low rise around Gold Coast. Also around Sham Tseng (closer to Central).

    You don't need to bring your wife out of school for weeks to look around - one week at a pinch would do. HK is NOTHING like the UK. You have to see it to get that and coming without seeing - recipe for disaster imho.
    chingleutsch likes this.

  5. #65

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    For schools try some of the newer ones:

    Nord Anglia

    Admissions | Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong | NAIS

    American School in Tai Po (opened Aug 2016)
    http://www.ashk.hk/

    Stamford American school in Ho Man Tin (opening in Sept 2017)
    Stamford American School - Hong Kong

    merchantms and imparanoic like this.

  6. #66

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    I would agree that HK villages are nothing like Kent.
    Would disagree with much of the rest. And I live in the NT.
    There are part of the NT that are full of expats. Sai Kung and Gold Coast being two off the top of my head. Fairview Park is another (you might want to look at this - its the closest thing to a "UK suburb" I have ever seen in Hong Kong). All doctors in Hong Kong can speak English. Many of them have receptionists who cannot. There is a high quality (and high price) doctor surgery in the Gold Coast, for example, with FULL high quality English speaking staff and an English doctor (the other one is european, swedish I think, cannot recall). I recently had cause to spend time in the public hospital in Tsuen Wan. It was excellent. Not fancy, but better than my similar stay in with the NHS some years back! Most nurses didn't speak much English, but they did care and they were kind. All the doctors were fine. As were the physios.
    Sorry - I've conflated a few issues into one post and didn't word it well.

    1) there are expat enclaves all of HK including HK Island (Mid-Levels, Southside), Discovery Bay, Kowloon/Olympic, Sai Kung, Gold Coast.

    2) True international (as in genuinely using an IB or UK/US/Canadian curriculum) preschools and playgroups are concentrated in HK Island and to a lesser extent DB. My baby goes to playgroup on Southside and there are a lot of Kowloon/NT families that drive there because there's nothing equivalent in their areas. So with an 18 month old this is a major consideration. No one wants to make a toddler travel 30-45 min for playgroup.

    3) My friends with kids have had awful experiences at Tuen Muen and even Queen Elizabeth hospitals. Extremely unfriendly to breastfeeding mothers for a start. The MCHC clinics in those areas also often give bad 1970s advice regarding breastfeeding. So moms end up coming to HK Island to see doctors with training in the West who have a clue about this.
    TheBrit likes this.

  7. #67
    Quote Originally Posted by kimwy66:
    Psst...Cloudy Bay is a New Zealand wine.
    Australian, Kiwi, not much difference there then... (runs away and takes cover...)
    TheBrit likes this.

  8. #68

    OP, you see, everyone has their own thinking and reality here. The stage is yours!

    Firemin likes this.

  9. #69

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    Sorry - I've conflated a few issues into one post and didn't word it well.

    1) there are expat enclaves all of HK including HK Island (Mid-Levels, Southside), Discovery Bay, Kowloon/Olympic, Sai Kung, Gold Coast.

    2) True international (as in genuinely using an IB or UK/US/Canadian curriculum) preschools and playgroups are concentrated in HK Island and to a lesser extent DB. My baby goes to playgroup on Southside and there are a lot of Kowloon/NT families that drive there because there's nothing equivalent in their areas. So with an 18 month old this is a major consideration. No one wants to make a toddler travel 30-45 min for playgroup.

    3) My friends with kids have had awful experiences at Tuen Muen and even Queen Elizabeth hospitals. Extremely unfriendly to breastfeeding mothers for a start. The MCHC clinics in those areas also often give bad 1970s advice regarding breastfeeding. So moms end up coming to HK Island to see doctors with training in the West who have a clue about this.
    HK and breastfeeding is in the dark ages - no disagreement there. But they already have two kids so this may not be an issue
    There are certainly western kindies in Gold Coast. As in, run by expats for expats. I cannot believe that whether or not they follow the IB is relevant at 18 months.....

  10. #70

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    Just a note, "expat enclaves" are not actually enclaves for expats. Expats can and do live anywhere in Hong Kong.

    Some expats prefer to congregate with other expats and that means there is a higher density of expats in certain areas, often near MTR stations. This can lead to landlords bumping up rents in those areas if they know expats will pay more to be close to other expats. Mid-Levels is a prime and enduring example.

    Anyway, just to help you understand that in Hong Kong an "expat enclave" isn't an enclave.


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