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Living on Park island (Ma Wan)

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  1. #51

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    Thanks. I didn't see anything about Bender moving to TST.

    I would be interested in hearing from Bender how he finds the airquality in TST, and also how he finds the service at the Park and Shop in TST I would think TST might be a little more crowded that PI ...?

    Do you know did he buy or is he renting in TST? I am interested to hear what kind of value one gets for ones money in TST.


  2. #52

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    Randy1....
    I chose TST area because of the more convenient location. Not all of us get to work on the white sands and clean beaches of PI everyday, and some actually need to travel frequently within HK and china for work.

    As for air quality, obviously PI is slightly better, emphasis on slightly.

    That being said, my place in TST is now 20 mins to office, and everything else is within a 5-10 min walk. The PnS downstairs from me seems about on par with PI, but I now have more options such as city super and 360, both of which are much larger, more to offer, and the lines are rarely ever bad since they typically have more then 2 cashiers open during rush hour.

    In addition, I have access to tons of shops and restaurants that offer varying quality/pricing, which is better then PI's which can be counted on a single hand.

    I no longer need to take a 15-20 min bus or 15-25 min ferry to reach civilization, or access to real transportation and shops.

    I can now utilize a taxi at any time of day to get to/from my home if needed. Otherwise I'm smack in the middle of 3 different train lines.

    The size of my flat is same as PI, and I still have a nice pool and gym and other clubhouse facilities. I still have a great view of Victoria harbor. So really I only lost the beach, which honestly is not a good beach anyways, and I gain a million times more convenience.

    What does that cost me? A fraction of what you are paying in PI, and around 30% more then I was paying.

    So again... If you choose to like PI, feel free to. We have friends on the island who like it too. Me, and many others I've talked to do not like it. I won't get into specifics of piss poor architectural design of PI, or the operations and services they run. But as I said before: I just want to make sure people reading this thread get both sides of the story... One from someone who has lived here for over 5 years, and one from an agent/seller.

    Enjoy your stay here on the PI, and be sure to update me in 5 years to see if you still like it or not. Some do, some don't.


  3. #53

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    Original Post Deleted
    No... I was looking in cheaper areas but eventually settled on the edge of TST... Still counts though :P

  4. #54

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    Bender, to be fair, though, not everyone can take a 30% rent increase :-)
    Bendre, to be fair, again, you loved PI when you moved there, lat see if you still love TST after 5 years :-)

    Stating that TST is more convenient is stating the obvious.
    The question to many is: are those 30% price difference (if you can afford them) worth it. The answer will of course differ depending on what you prefer.

    But overall I agree with you, PI has certainly some good points but there is no shame in highlighting the issues too. I went there a couple of times to visit friends...had very mixed feeling about the place....


  5. #55

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    Mat...agreed. You can't know if you hate/like/love a place overall truly until you spend some quality time living there. You always have some first impressions and some good estimations, but living there let's you really confirm those thoughts.

    And agreed, I didn't want to pay the 30% increase, and probably won't keep doing it too long. This is a temporary move that I'm planning for maybe a year or 2 so I can hopefully buy. But... I was really itching to get off PI, and felt that right now the 30% was worth it for the convience. My guess is that after a year or 2 I may decide that somewhere a bit more in the middle will be the sweet spot, who knows.

    All I know is that I really liked the idea of PI at first, but after living there for 5 years discovered that they fell short of what I thought PI was all about.

    If PI made some positive improvements for the quality of living for it's residents, and less of the tourist investments, I might feel differently. But other then the PnS increasing size, and them opening 4 restaurants in the past 4 years, not much has changed for the better in my eyes. Transportation is still lacking and only gets worse, more and more tourist attractions and tourists visiting, and no new shops/restaurant growth.

    Edit: I forgot one other thing.... Many of the Smaller shops/restaurants that tried opening here have struggled and closed due to the rental costs. What went up in it's place? More and more realtor agents. There's got to be about 15 realtor shops, many of the same companies covering this tiny complex. It's really sad cause there was a great import grocer and a wine shop, both gone now and became midland realty and some other realtor.

    Last edited by BenderBends; 04-03-2011 at 12:35 PM.

  6. #56

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    yes, and the restaurant Asian Kitchen was very good at the beginning but then they increased prices + changed the chef (we guess) and the food didnt taste good anymore. Now the restaurant has closed down as well.


  7. #57

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    I have to add to this thread to say that Randy really is right about the 'buzz' there now. It seems like suddenly everyone wants a piece of the place. I've been trying to buy there for a while and it's been quite tricky with little supply for the demand there, and the landlords seem to know this and be pushing their prices up weekly as a response. Anyway, I succeeded this week thankfully. Got there in the end!

    Regarding the convenience there it really would depend on what you're used to and also where you need to travel to regularly. Obviously if you're used to living in Midlevels or TST and work in Central then it'll seem inconvenient, and if its pluses won't compensate the relative lack of convenience then you shouldn't move there.

    Personally Park Island will be the best positioned place I will have live in HK for travel to HK Island and Kowloon, so for me it will be a step-up in convenience as well as a step-up in terms of lifestyle I think. I currently live near Gold Coast and whilst it is generally a nice enough place, the noise (and fumes) from the main road can get on my nerves. I'm not going to own a car whilst living in HK so it'll be fantastic to live somewhere away from them to be honest. If in the future they do decide to allow cars on Park Island then I'll win anyway because my flat's value will instantly jump up.

    It is true that there will be less restaurants nearby than I have here, but then I prefer cheap local eating places anyway, and I think there are about the same number (maybe even more) in PI compared with GC. Also, if I need to travel to eat, I'd much rather catch a ferry to Tsuen Wan than get a bus into Tuen Mun.

    Who knows maybe I'll be on here in 5 years time saying what a "piece of crap island" it is. But I am pretty confident that it has been a good decision to move there, and a lot of the reasons for disliking it I've read seem a bit unreasonable to be honest, and not taking into account what other alternatives there are in HK. Benderbends doesn't like the way they seem to be trying to attract tourists, and I agree, but at least I'm moving there now in the knowledge that this is what it is like.. I'm not expecting some tranquil, eco, green, hiker paradise of an island. But for Hong Kong it isn't bad. Did you know that they bring tour groups to the Gold Coast regularly? Often you go to the supermarket (which is smaller than PI's btw) and it is full of old people on some tour.

    Forgot to Add: Also, it is no secret that HK air quality is getting worse every year. So even if somewhere like PI is only marginally better (I wish there was real data out there to find out), it will become a more and more sought after place as the city areas get worse to the point where everyone is looking to move out of them.

    Last edited by kryzlowski; 04-03-2011 at 01:17 PM.

  8. #58

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    hmmm I think it is time I post some pictures of the long queues for the busses in the morning ;-)


  9. #59

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    I'm getting my own jetski

    I have gotten the PI buses at rush hours so know what I'm getting into. I used to have to commute by green minibus from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun and the queues were waaaaay worse!! Some mornings you'd have to wait for over ten buses before getting on one... really.

    I haven't tried the ferries at rush hour.. how are they?


  10. #60

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    I think the biggest problem is the Tsing Yi bus stop because that one gets very very crowded in the evening and we often had to wait up to half an hour next to running dirty bus engines. The air was horrible.


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