Moving to Hk confused.com

[Poopoolala79]

Thanks I appreciate all your opinions!
I don't think the high rise is thing is us!
I like my space and I get the impression we would get more with a house!
If I was childless I wouldn't care but I think with having a small child it might be somewhat easier being in a house!

[wtbhotia]

Op is better off living either in Tuen Mun say the Gold Coast or Discovery Bay, the husband going back and forth to work is doable from anywhere but for the non working misses to stay at home and in some village in Sai Kung or even clear water bay where its mostly locals, yes there a few foreigners but you'll only see them on the way to work or after finishing work, apart from that is not much interaction. You will find it not much fun or even depressing, one of my colleagues from the states misses became like that. They were orignally living in Laguna City in Kwun Tong, it only got better after they moved to DB.

I would highly recommend you to check out Discovery Bay, your budget should get you something nice there.

[carang]

sorry, i disagree... there is a VERY large expat community in sai kung, so a lot of expat ladies and kids groups etc.

discovery bay is good too, but commute to tst is a bit of a pain in the neck and takes about an hour or more from db. db IS great for kids and is a very social place.

i've lived in all four places: clear water bay, laguna city (kwun tong), discovery bay and sai kung.
of the 4, i've liked db and sai kung the best.

housing prices in db, though, have gone crazy since we left 5 years ago. $40-45k wouldn't get you as much space as in sai kung.

[Poopoolala79]

I did wonder about DB and had a look at accommodation but Carang you are right the budget doesn't give you what Sai Kung does!
And I will be joining every god damm club going if it means meeting people. Lol

[bookblogger]

You have to join the swingers club if you want to live in DB.

[MovingIn07]

i don't find the taxes or insurance to be expensive. i find the petrol/gas costs to be absolutely shocking... about $2USD/litre...almost $8/gallon

LMAO. For someone coming from the UK that's cheap.

[MovingIn07]

[QUOTE=dumbdonkey;1990333] i think its one of the dumbest thing ever to have lived in hong kong but not in a city apartment..[QUOTE]

I completely disagree. I would have refused to move to HK if apartments were all that were on offer. I've lived in apartments before (in Australia, near the city centre) and HATED it. I hated having neighbours on all sides, listening to their noise, the size of the place - that that was a LARGE duplex apartment (circa 1500sq ft).

When I came here, I had to find somewhere that was large and affordable. So my solution was a boat in the Gold Coast marina. We have circa 2000 sq ft (net - since we include the whole thing). Lots of storage space. Fabulous community (much friendlier when you see people outside on the jetty and on the decks of their boats so often). Great clubhouse with excellent facilities. Access to the Sino GC resident buses for direct (no stop) access to Central, Airport, Tsuen Wan MTR and TST.

OP - consider a boat if the village houses do not suit. YOu can find them in Discovery Bay, Gold Coast and Clearwater Bay. Don't worry if you are "not boat people" - you don't need to be. (we weren't). They are "floating houses" with lots of space, good community, good facilities (for example, lovely open-plan kitchens which are almost non-existant in many GC apartments).

[TheBrit]

Graphical representation of prices across the world here:

Worldwide Retail Prices of Gasoline (US cents per litre)

[carang]

whatever.... its about $16.8/litre right now or more. in vancouver, it is about $9HKD/litre. across the border in the USA it is about $7HKD/liter. my mum lives 5 minutes from the US border. they take the time to drive across the border to fill up because it saves them so much. they also buy 90% of their groceries in the US.... cheaper (especially dairy products).

[TheBrit]

Would be good to see Hong Kong raising taxes on petrol significantly. Less congestion & local pollution as more people had to abandon their cars and take public transport instead.