nappy valley - where is it?

O

onesarah

Registered User
we have a friend who lives in 'nappy valley' and apparently its ideal for families.

we are moving to HK this year and are wondering where is the best place to live with a small child. i'd like to live by the sea - repulse bay or stanley, but wonder if this is the best to meet other mummies and have a life?

infact, talking of life - does it exist in HK? am scared of leaving friends and family behind....
 
onesarah said:
infact, talking of life - does it exist in HK? /QUOTE]

More than 7 million of us are living and breathing here. Many of us - including myself, originally from the uk, quite happily!

Just be prepared to make some adjustments. You've found a small but very supportive online community of parents right here, and I, for one, will be happy to offer any advice I can.
Click to expand...
 
hi,

it's funny reading such posts - do people in big cities like london and NY think HK is like Kabul or something?!?!! : ) It's even funnier when you think in general, a mother's quality of life is better here in Asia becos you have very affordable live-in hired help compared to places like Oz/UK/States - going out for lunches/dinners or leaving the kids at home to run errands is not some huge logistical nightmare....I have had many friends lament when they return to the UK or States how much easier life was in HK with kids!
 
OK, a bit mean people ! I imagine it must be quite daunting to move to a new country with children.

Onesarah - where are you from? I am an Australian who has been living in Hong Kong for about 10 years. (I came for one and still haven't left).

I think you will find that whilst living in Hong Kong poses challenges, you will really enjoy the experience. Something you absolutely should not worry about is making friends. I find it much easier to make friends here than in Australia. The expat culture makes it very easy to meet people and quickly become immersed in social activities. Having children makes it even easier, because you just tag along with them.

The main 'challenges' I face are occasional communication/language problems and getting around. We don't have a car and you don't need a car. But with children, you often have a lot to carry and I find buses/MTR/etc difficult with prams etc.

Where to live? Depends a lot on your housing budget and where you/your husband will be working. Also consider where you want your children to go to school. I've never heard of Nappy Valley. I think your friends mean Happy Valley as a previous poster mentioned.

If you have a large housing budget, Repulse Bay/Stanley are great. Other options include Mid Levels/Happy Valley - personally I think they are a bit crowded and not enough facilities for little ones. Also consider Discovery Bay - very family friendly (also known as Delivery Bay). If you like the 'countryside' you might consider Sai Kung.

Hope that helps a little.
 
hi girls,

sorry onesarah, I didn't mean to be mean! Rest assured, you will enjoy what HK has to offer, it's a compact (ie. very easy to get to and from places), efficient, warm and friendly place for an expat - there is a huge UK expat population among others and there is something about HK which I think you don't even find in other Asian cities, everyone is very warm and friendly and inviting.

living location : I think Happy Valley is a nice mix of being reasonably child friendly and yet still being very close to central (esp if your husband is working there and will be working long hours, my husband doesn't like anything more than a 15 min commute to work!)....it has the bonus of being close to CAuseway Bay (great shops/restaurants to cater to your weekend needs) and is close to the south side for the weekend. Personally, I still think Happy Valley is a bit too "busy" for me. If you like the sea, then Repulse Bay and Stanley is very pretty (very expensive too!) but again this is personal, I find the commute all a bit much. A great place to live by the sea and it's still a very reasonable 15-25 min commute into central is Pok Fu Lam. It's a lot less "busy" compared to Happy Valley and midlevels yet you have a huge expat population there.

Getting around: the public transport system is excellent and you are never far from a public bus or mini-bus or hailing a taxi (plentiful and cheap compared to london) should you decide for whatever reason you don't want a car. However, second hand cars are very cheap in HK (although petrol prices are not far off from the UK!) and if you can afford one, I say get one as you see a very different side of HK with a car and some places are alot easier to get too in a car esp if you have a little one.

Hope this helps and keeps your mind at ease! A move to a foreign country is very daunting but HK has to be one of the easiest places to settle into!
 
ah ladies - i forgive the initial harshness to my post! i know i must sound very silly when contemplating 'life' away from home and i know that hk isnt on a different planet!!

i live in london and have a great network of friends and family here and this is what stems my concern. i also work part time (i am a primary school teacher) and really enjoy 'my' life. that said, having a maid sounds wonderful and i can imagine that it frees up alot of time.

husband will work in central, and i think we are thinking about repulse bay as a place to live. we'd like to be by the sea - but am interested to know what Sai Kung is like and also Pok Fu Lam. any advice would be most appreciated.

thanks sarah
 
sai kung is pretty "far" by Hk standard. it takes 30 mins by private car & more by public bus (maybe 45mns to 1 hr)? if there's traffic jam, it's worse. if your husband will be working in central, living on HK Island will be more convenient for you. It depends how much you can afford to decide which area to live in. & it depends whether housing is privided by the company, & what size of an apartment you want.

making friends is definitely easy in HK. as they say, there's a HUGE population of expats, and lots of places to meet other expats - playgroup, schools. i knew a french guy who met his wife (a singaporean) in the taxi queue!
 
'Nappy Valley' is a Brit term for area's where young families tend to reside.....think is just coincidence there is somewhere in HK called 'happy valley' and your friend, I would say, wasn't referring to that particular district (who know though, I could be wrong).

As people say, depends on budgets and working locations etc, but if you do a search there have been loads of similar threads on the site on the subject.

We only moved here a year ago and were trying to decide between Pok Fu lam and Repulse Bay....both have pluses and negatives. Would say is best to have a general look-about when you get here to decide which feels more comfy for you (we decided on Pok fu Lam in the end, but frequently pop to Repulse Bay too).
 
Hi,

I am a brit too and currently looking for a new apartment and have a 3 month old. It really depends what is important to you and how you plan to live. We lived in London and then in a village in the UK so it was a huge commute to London- over 75 mins each way. When we moved here we wanted a very short commute so live in mid-levels, and we still managed green view, not too noisy(actually other than the occasional speed freek on a bike at 2am we usually find bird noise wakes us). Now we are looking again and really don't want to go as far as Pokfulam or repulse Bay. All our baby activities are in Central and Happy Valley.

What I am trying to say is any area can be baby friendly- it depends on priorities and Hong Kong is totally different to London in that although it is easy to get everywhere and taxis are plentiful it may not mean you leave your own area that much. We can not see the point of repulse bay for instance as we have never been to the beach there in the last 16 months so why move closer to the beach when you never go. The only way to work out HK as KatBoo says is to come and look around- sure find out first but don't make any decisions, 30 minutes commute in London is small but seems massive here- and can be off putting enough not to do it- especially for frineds who live elsewhere on the island.

Hope that helps. I note you wrote about being a teacher- that will obviously make a difference too as if you worked for instance at HKIS in Tai Tam you may want to be on southside and closer to work.:gl:
 
I'm now back in Brisbane Australia, after living in HK for 11 years, I'm finding it hard to adjust to Oz lifestyle...strange! We lived in Happy Valley throughout and loved it. It's like a little village with its own community, you have access to everything such as supermarkets, small chinese style cafes (love), loads of little eateries, dog friendly environment, vets, laundromat, Mc'donalds, Pharmacy, everything is there. We lived near the Happy Valley Racecourse which is walking distance to major transport, tram, taxi, mini van or you can walk to Causeway Bay takes about 20 mins, one of the major busy city centres. I think if you want to live within easy access to everything, especially shopping then Happy Valley is a great choice. Good Luck!
 
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