Opinion on areas to live

A

AnneB

Registered User
Hi All,

My name is Anne. I am moving from Sydney to Hong Kong at the end of August and wanted to get some opinions on The orhcard at Taikoo Sing. I did visit this complex, which seemed very nice, however I was not sure if there are many english speaking non locals.

I have a 3 year old daughter and am concerned that she might feel isolated if the other children are always speaking in their native language.

Also, can anyone recommend a good international school there, other than Victoria?

Best Regards,

Anne
 
I LOVE Taikoo - I live in North Point, pretty close by (2 MTR stations)... It's not an ESPECIALLY "white" area - not like Mid levels or discovery bay or somewhere like that - but there's still good food, good facilities around, it's not too far from Central...

It all depends on what is important to you - if you WANT to live in a VERY white area, Taikoo isn't the BEST place for it. However there are enough English speakers around, other expats do live pretty close by - just not as many as other places.

I love that area though, and although I don't live IN Taikoo, I'm pretty close and I love this side of the island!!
 
Hi There,

Thank you for your reply. It's difficult to know what area to choose. It's just my daughter and myself and a helper (when we find one) and so really want to be close to other families who speak english (well) and live near by.

Could you suggest any other areas close to Taikoo Sing or even closer to central? I wasn't too keen on mid levels as there is no big shopping centre near by (or is there?)

Do you and or your Hubby work near by?

Anne
 
We live in Happy Valley (which is a few stops down on the MTR from Nicole). We like it here because it feels a bit calmer and greener then somewhere like midlevels - we also moved from Sydney so found the space issue easier to deal with here.

My husband works in central and in the morning it only takes 5 minutes in a taxi (he does leave at 7am though!). Happy Valley has a Park'n'shop (which sells a lot of international brand food), a Wellcome supermarket and restaurants. Also Causeway bay is about a 5-10 minute walk from Happy Valley and has lots of shopping.

It's also a real mix of Chinese and expats, but with a fab website like geobaby you'll have no problems finding people who live close to you to meet up with!

Good luck with the move
 
I'm currently not working coz I'm 6 months pregnant - but my husband works in Central. It takes about half an hr in the MTR from North point (he leaves at 8:30am so taxi takes LONGER at that time coz a lot of people are going to Central around then. But if he catches a cab home, it's only around 5 minutes as well).

I loovvvee Happy Valley and would love to live there!! However it's more expensive than North Point which would mean a smaller place for us - and also my husband "needs" to be near the MTR - he likes to be able to walk to the station within a few minutes... he said he'd never want to live in Happy Valley or even up on the hill somewhere (there are some nicer places along the hill in North Point area - but "too far" from the MTR for hubby).

A lot of people will come over to Hong Kong and stay in a serviced apartment for a while to search for a place while they're already here - maybe go and check out a few areas, write down what is important to YOU (it's different for everywhere) and try to get the place that best fits your needs and your budget!!
 
Thanks for that info. I have heard that Happy Valley is a popular place for expats. Are you aware of any complex's that have club house facilities? i.e. pool, playground, gym?

I did see the Belchers at Pokfulum and that was great, but again, not sure how long it would take to get to central.

Hope to meet you all when I arrive there on Sept 1. I will be staying in a serviced apartment for around 30 days.

I'm on a mission to find a helper. I did find one, drew up the contract but then she decided to stay with the family she is working for.

I have 2 weeks off to find a house, helper and school so am grateful for this website and yourselves to get some guidance when I get there!

All the best...

PS: Congratulations Nicole!!!!!!! :)
 
We live in the Belcher's, and it takes 10mn maximum to go to Central (IFC and Exchange Square area) by taxi, by the highway. By bus it takes 20mn or more, depending on the traffic and rush hours.
To come back from Central to the Belcher's, it's quicker to take the Kennedy Town direction and enter the building by the shopping mall side, and a bit longer if you take the Pok Fu Lam road.
 
I'm going to keep the Belchers on my list! I was told there's not as many available places there, but will keep keep me eye out.

Thank you!
 
I live at the Belchers too and we are pretty happy here - it's good for kids especially. Unless it's raining, it's easy enough to get a taxi and there are plenty of buses too. There is a Wellcome supermarket below the buildings so it's super convenient.

Good luck!
 
you have given no idea of budget...
if you can let us know, we can recommend more places for you to have a look at.
 
Hi Anne,

We moved to Happy Valley 1 month ago from London and live in Celeste Court (on Fung Fai Terrace) which does have a gym, playground and pool. My son is 3 and loves the pool. We are slowly getting to know the other kids in the block and I would reallly recommend the appartment block - great facilities, friendly staff and residents. It's definitely worth a check if you can track it down on the internet or via estate agents. For a helper I used the Asiaxpat website and found them very efficient. Good Luck!
 
Hi All,

Thank you all again. This is a big move! A bit anxious but excited also.

My budget will be $32K per month, max. I will have a look at Celeste Court too.

Any tips on what real estate agent to use? I found the last 2 were just showing me places that were way outside of my budget.

Best!
:)
 
that seems to be the normal tactics... they show you a bunch of cr*p within your range adn then something beautiful that's way out of it, trying to get you to increase what you'll spend.


tell them if they show you anything more than a couple thousand above your budget, you'll use a different agent because they are just wasting your time. that usually seems to work.

you can look a few thousand above your budget as you can try to negotiate with the l/l.

good luck!
 
Anne B
We also found estate agents didn't really listen to what you actually wanted esp when it came to the amount we wanted to spend.
I will PM you details of a great estate agent we found (he is only for the Happy Valley region though). We managed to find a great apartment and sign within a week of using him!
 
Much appreciated. I'm coming to HK on Friday 1 Aug for 3 days, but specifically to look for a helper and then see any places in my spare time.
 
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