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Blair`s Official Everything Hong Kong Thread
In the spirit of my London thread, it is time to start the new chapter as I get settled and acquainted with my new home in Hong Kong.
I have been here 2 weeks now and I have visited the city 3 times before moving here, twice this year and once about 8 years ago.
Three things really sum up HK so far, warm, busy and expensive! We are nearly in winter here and it has still been between 22-27C every day so far, they tell me it can get cold but I am not too sure about that and the locals also say summer is horrible so I am also not too sure how I will survive all that, but the need for a jacket so far is not seeming all that important.
The city of course is very dense and there are over 7 million people living here, and Shenzhen (China) is very close with another 10 million so personal space can be a bit of a challenge. It also never really quiets down all that much, I have been on the MTR (subway) at 8 am on a Sunday morning and it is packed, the same at 11pm too. I am not entirely sure with it being near Christmas if it is extra busy but the weekends have been just crazy insane so far, just people everywhere all the time. London was a step up from Calgary on this, but you had more opportunities to escape there, here it is really full on all the time.
Money, well where to begin, living expenses are just crazy. We live in Happy Valley, a nice area on the island which is fairly common with expats, luckily we managed to get a very good deal on our place, but it is more a local building as opposed to an expat style tower. That being said I have seen places for rent in the area ranging from 280 sq ft for $3,200 CAD a month up to 4 bedroom 2,000+ sq ft places at $30,000 CAD a month. Things like food are also fairly pricey so far to buy in a nicer grocery store, you can get cheaper items but quality can be a concern with some meats and produce, but when you don`t have an oven your cooking choices at home also have to adjust
Transport is one area that things are very cheap, the MTR is very reasonable and we can use trams in our part of town and they are $0.40 CAD flat rate per trip. Taxi cabs are also very reasonable, especially compared with a black cab in London.
Overall I am liking be here, and still getting adjusted and we have done some fun things like gone to HK Disney a couple times (had to buy annual passes cause you can!) and checked out some tourist spots too, plus there is such a variety of food and restaurants to try and of course for me the toys!!
I will try to keep things updated as I go, and perhaps offer some funny moments as they do occur here fairly often as things are just so different and share my adventures from simple things like eating a beef and salmon burger at McDonalds to the madness of attending toy events where people line up for hours, even days. Also please feel free to ask any questions although I know some of you know the city well too!
Cheers
Blair
I have been here 2 weeks now and I have visited the city 3 times before moving here, twice this year and once about 8 years ago.
Three things really sum up HK so far, warm, busy and expensive! We are nearly in winter here and it has still been between 22-27C every day so far, they tell me it can get cold but I am not too sure about that and the locals also say summer is horrible so I am also not too sure how I will survive all that, but the need for a jacket so far is not seeming all that important.
The city of course is very dense and there are over 7 million people living here, and Shenzhen (China) is very close with another 10 million so personal space can be a bit of a challenge. It also never really quiets down all that much, I have been on the MTR (subway) at 8 am on a Sunday morning and it is packed, the same at 11pm too. I am not entirely sure with it being near Christmas if it is extra busy but the weekends have been just crazy insane so far, just people everywhere all the time. London was a step up from Calgary on this, but you had more opportunities to escape there, here it is really full on all the time.
Money, well where to begin, living expenses are just crazy. We live in Happy Valley, a nice area on the island which is fairly common with expats, luckily we managed to get a very good deal on our place, but it is more a local building as opposed to an expat style tower. That being said I have seen places for rent in the area ranging from 280 sq ft for $3,200 CAD a month up to 4 bedroom 2,000+ sq ft places at $30,000 CAD a month. Things like food are also fairly pricey so far to buy in a nicer grocery store, you can get cheaper items but quality can be a concern with some meats and produce, but when you don`t have an oven your cooking choices at home also have to adjust
Transport is one area that things are very cheap, the MTR is very reasonable and we can use trams in our part of town and they are $0.40 CAD flat rate per trip. Taxi cabs are also very reasonable, especially compared with a black cab in London.Overall I am liking be here, and still getting adjusted and we have done some fun things like gone to HK Disney a couple times (had to buy annual passes cause you can!) and checked out some tourist spots too, plus there is such a variety of food and restaurants to try and of course for me the toys!!
I will try to keep things updated as I go, and perhaps offer some funny moments as they do occur here fairly often as things are just so different and share my adventures from simple things like eating a beef and salmon burger at McDonalds to the madness of attending toy events where people line up for hours, even days. Also please feel free to ask any questions although I know some of you know the city well too!
Cheers
Blair
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