Hi there,
There is a work opportunity and possibly for us to move to HK later this year, and I was hoping to pick all your brains in terms of advice on rent / where to live, etc. A few points to start:
- I'm actually cantonese and am 100% fluent in Chinese, but I haven't lived in HK at all since I was a wee-lad. However, I will be moving back with my GF who is Japanese and speaks English, but unfortunately no chinese.
- I will be working in central, and the day will start quite early (6:30-7am). My GF will likely have a job in central as well, though hopefully with a later start.
- We are not really that into the club-scenes / drinking places in LKF etc, and care more about newer buildings/spaces and exercising then bar-crawling.
- I am looking to budget around $25k-30k in rent/month, and would expect to buy a permanent place to live after a year or 2 assuming work remains stable (and hopefully not at the current outrageous prices!)
At first, I was thinking that the places above Kowloon station was perfect as it has some beautiful views over at the Victoria harbour, though I realize that my budget probably won't be to accommodate a decent unit there for the 2 of us. Furthermore, I was worried that the morning commute would be tricky given my early start and the fact that taxis charges can add up with the tunnel charges. Lastly, I read that a lot of the Japanese community seems to reside on the island side, and I figured that might help the GF transition into the city.
As such, I suppose mid-levels is really the best/only logical choice for me? We actually quite dislike the rambunctious expat scene (living in Roppongi for all these years have really turned us off from it I guess), but considering the 1) commute 2) presence of Japanese community 3) rent costs... are there any other areas / considerations that you guys can recommend in light of the above?
Many thanks in advance for your advice!