Moving to Hong Kong with two active boys

F

fore51

Registered User
Hi,

We are currently finalising our decision to move to Hong Kong. WE have two little boys (2 & 4), who are extremely active and love to run around. My concern is that Hong Kong apartments will not be big enough to contain the energy of two boys. I would love to hear experiences from other people who have active young kids and who live in apartments.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Regards

Karen
 
Hi Karen,
Sorry my baby's only 12 months but just wanted to say that yes, the apartments are like shoeboxes, but there are places to live where you can get around that problem.

It depends on what your budget is as to where you can live. A few options:

* If you live in Discovery Bay or similar, there are many activities for kids and lovely open spaces for them to run around, even if your apartment is small.

* If you live in a village such as Mui Wo or any of the other many villages around, you can pay less for more space, so you may even be able to afford an entire 3-storey village house, which gives the boys more room to have a play area etc. Also these villages are a great place for the boys to ride their bikes.

* If you can afford an apartment in a nice complex with good facilities, there is lots for kids to do within the complex, such as swimming pool (some even have indoor and outdoor), lovely play rooms with equipment, outdoor play parks, etc etc.

So if you must live in a small apartment (as most of us do), you can get around it by living in an area that allows you to do a lot out of the house.

I'd say that living in a small apartment in somewhere like Causeway Bay would drive you all mental for example, as it's right in the middle of cramped city life.

Hope that helps!
 
I would agree with hkaussie and suggest you look to live in areas with more open space and opportunities for outdoor activities, than you would get living in the centre.

It all depends on your budget-

High end would include: Stanley, Repulse Bay, Tai Tam, The Peak
More reasonable would include: Discovery Bay, Pokfulam, Sai Kung, Clearwater
Very reasonable would include: Lantau (Mui Wo, Pui O, Cheung Sha Wan), New Territories (Tai Po, Fanling, Sheung Shui), Lamma Island
 
Bel Air/Pokfulam

We live in Bel Air in Pokfulam and have a VERY ENERGETIC 2 3/4 year old boy. He goes to preschool for 3 hours each morning and we head to the playgrounds (2 indoor and 2 outdoor) every day. In the afternoons, there are usually many children playing outside on the grassy area playing soccer, etc. There is also a large concrete area to ride bikes, play with remote control cars, etc.

I was worried about living in an apartment with my son after living in a house with a big yard, but we are really enjoying it. We usually head to a public park with a large playground at least once a week too.
 
Hi Mander.

We live in Bel Air too. wee man is 14 months old, but am beginning to think about pre-schools and playgroups. Any recommendations for our area?

Kat
 
Sunshine

My son goes to Sunshine House in Pokfulam (he will be switching to their new facility in Chiu Fu when it opens, which should be this month). He is in the 2-3 year old class. They have an accompanied class for younger children that you should check out. I am really happy with the school so far. He asks to go every day, even on the weekends. He went to daycare in the US and NEVER asked to go and cried every day when I dropped him off (I worked part-time). I don't know if it's an age thing or the school, but he loves it at Sunshine. I also looked at Panda Woodland and it seemed nice, but they only had afternoons available. I want a morning class.
 
For a cost effective option you can choose some New Terrories area which is relative less density with people.

I lived in Tuen Mun for 8 year at Villa Tiara. Like every new residential, it has own parks, in door playground and other facilities. Even though it is relative small, but due to the less building inside the residential area, it is more private and less clouded.

My girl grew from there, and we are so happy to have her there playing both out door. We also found 1-2 westen family there.

In comparing to those Stanley, Disclovery Bay, it is definitely cheaper in cost @ about $2,300 per sq. feet. And it is quite isolate from the clouded downtwon Tuen Mun, but only with 10 min. walk to there. It is also depend where you will work, but overall the transportation to major area in HK from there is okay.

Yes, HK is small, but you can find some way to enjoy living.
 
Hi Karen,
we have 2 very active kids as well - one boy just turned 3 / one girl just turned 2. We live in Clearwaterbay near the HKUST University. The village houses are more spaciuos and you only need a few minutes to the huge park in the HKUST with lots of playgrounds and space to run around even on a rainy day. Clearwaterbay Country Park and the lovely beaches are just 5-10 minutes away. It depends on your office location. My husband and I work on Kowloon side and both of us only need about 20-30 min to drive to work.

Hope you can find a nice place for your folks
Sabine

fore51 said:
Hi,

We are currently finalising our decision to move to Hong Kong. WE have two little boys (2 & 4), who are extremely active and love to run around. My concern is that Hong Kong apartments will not be big enough to contain the energy of two boys. I would love to hear experiences from other people who have active young kids and who live in apartments.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Regards

Karen
Click to expand...
 
Dear All,

Thanks for all your advice - you have definitely given me a number of options on living with two very active boys. Based on everyone's comments, I feel alot more comfortable with living in Hong Kong.

There have also been some great ideas as to where to live without necessarily living in an Apartment.

Thanks once again.


Karen
 
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