Expatriate Forums in Hong Kong

the original Sumo · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 9:29 am Post subject: Moving from Asutralia

Hello Everyone!,

We are moving to HK in July (just my wife and I) from Australia and we are staying for at least 3 years. We are looking at Sai Kung but the travel time by public transport to Kowloon (where husband works) seems long - over 1 hour - Is that correct?

Also my wife is not working anymore so are there shops within easy distance to the main living areas? Is Sai Kung like a suburb or a small town? It sounds awfully nice from the information we have got from the web so far.

We are looking for a nice quiet apartment, low level, 2 or 3 bedroom but of course we do not want to pay a fortune! LOL. I guess something about 15K per month would be OK for fully furnished - is that realistic?

We appreciate any feedback.

Thankyou

goofus · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 3 Home Country: usa

i live in sk and work in central/wanchai. every day i take a minibus to hang hau station, then mtr to admiralty. takes me exactly one hour from walking out my door to reaching my office. depends where you work in kowloon. sometimes they have direct buses or mini buses, sometimes combined with MTR. The green mini buses from SK take approx 20 minutes to either Choi Hung or Hang Hau MTR stations. There are red ones directly to Mong Kok, and other places. If you are working in Kowloon itself, your maximum time from leaving home to your office should be 45 minutes to an hour. If you are in Tsim Sha Tsui or Jordan, would be closer to an hour. Anywhere else in Kowloon should be less. This is the only drawback to SK, but then again, if you are trying to get away from the city, that is the price.

SK is definitely its own town, but is like a suburb for all intents and purposes. All essential shops are here, as well as non-essential. If you need to shop in Causeway Bay or Sha Tin, they are 40 minutes away by minibus/MTR. It is nice to be able go to the bank, post office, grocery store, pre-school, church, hardware store, library, etc, etc, with just a 5 minute walk away.

Moved to SK in Feb, 2004. You can get a variety of places in SK for quite reasonable prices. My flat, before I bought it, was renting for HKD 6500/month, which was cheap for that area. Should have been about 7000-7500/month. Has 3 small bedrooms, large living room, small kitchen and bathroom. Much light. Is right on waterfront, very nice. Prior to that, lived in Mau Ping Village up on the mountainside in Po Lo Che. Very nice place, 2 bedrooms, for HKD 5000/month. To date, even including time in Deepwater Bay, that was the best view I have ever had in Hong Kong, right out of a post card, phenomenal. I still miss it, but just not so convenient for wife and child as being down in town. Furnished places may be difficult to find and much more upscale. From a purely economic point of view, buy your basic furniture at IKEA, have them deliver it, and then don't bother to repatriate it, unless you want it, or company is paying the moving expenses. Also, you can buy sofas and other major furniture cheaper, and I think much better, than IKEA, and have it delivered. It is made right across the border in Guangdong, and just about any furniture shop you go to has that arrangement. Go to the IKEA in Sha Tin, but instead of going there, look at the furniture shops all around IKEA. If they do not have what you want, ask them, and they can either make it, modify it, etc, and you will have it in 4-5 days. It is all done up north anyway. OR, if you know some locals, go up to Dong Guang, which has a bunch of furniture factories, and pick what you want and have it delivered, if you have the time, etc. Coworker did this.

Have lived and worked in China, Hong Kong and East Asia in general since 1996. Sai Kung is indeed nice, and for me it has become home.

goofus · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 3 Home Country: usa

i live in sk and work in central/wanchai. every day i take a minibus to hang hau station, then mtr to admiralty. takes me exactly one hour from walking out my door to reaching my office. depends where you work in kowloon. sometimes they have direct buses or mini buses, sometimes combined with MTR. The green mini buses from SK take approx 20 minutes to either Choi Hung or Hang Hau MTR stations. There are red ones directly to Mong Kok, and other places. If you are working in Kowloon itself, your maximum time from leaving home to your office should be 45 minutes to an hour. If you are in Tsim Sha Tsui or Jordan, would be closer to an hour. Anywhere else in Kowloon should be less. This is the only drawback to SK, but then again, if you are trying to get away from the city, that is the price.

SK is definitely its own town, but is like a suburb for all intents and purposes. All essential shops are here, as well as non-essential. If you need to shop in Causeway Bay or Sha Tin, they are 40 minutes away by minibus/MTR. It is nice to be able go to the bank, post office, grocery store, pre-school, church, hardware store, library, etc, etc, with just a 5 minute walk away.

Moved to SK in Feb, 2004. You can get a variety of places in SK for quite reasonable prices. My flat, before I bought it, was renting for HKD 6500/month, which was cheap for that area. Should have been about 7000-7500/month. Has 3 small bedrooms, large living room, small kitchen and bathroom. Much light. Is right on waterfront, very nice. Prior to that, lived in Mau Ping Village up on the mountainside in Po Lo Che. Very nice place, 2 bedrooms, for HKD 5000/month. To date, even including time in Deepwater Bay, that was the best view I have ever had in Hong Kong, right out of a post card, phenomenal. I still miss it, but just not so convenient for wife and child as being down in town. Furnished places may be difficult to find and much more upscale. From a purely economic point of view, buy your basic furniture at IKEA, have them deliver it, and then don't bother to repatriate it, unless you want it, or company is paying the moving expenses. Also, you can buy sofas and other major furniture cheaper, and I think much better, than IKEA, and have it delivered. It is made right across the border in Guangdong, and just about any furniture shop you go to has that arrangement. Go to the IKEA in Sha Tin, but instead of going there, look at the furniture shops all around IKEA. If they do not have what you want, ask them, and they can either make it, modify it, etc, and you will have it in 4-5 days. It is all done up north anyway. OR, if you know some locals, go up to Dong Guang, which has a bunch of furniture factories, and pick what you want and have it delivered, if you have the time, etc. Coworker did this.

Have lived and worked in China, Hong Kong and East Asia in general since 1996. Sai Kung is indeed nice, and for me it has become home.

the original Sumo · Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject:

What an excellent reply. I wish all forum posters were like you. Thankyou very much indeed for the information.

We have another question please. We heard that dog barking drives you nutty at night in Sai Kung. Is it really a big problem?

Thanks again for replying. thanks

2 Aussies - soon to be Hongkongers!

goofus · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 3 Home Country: usa

Yes, when I lived up on the mountain, it was an annoyance. People get 5 minutes out of the city and A) think that justifies having 1-5 dogs in a flat that should only accomodate one small one B) become scared of their own shadow and get too many dogs. However, after I have moved to town, it is not really a problem. Again, depends on where you live, but I haven't been bothered by it since I moved down into town. In the more country side areas, people really overdo the dogs.