Posted by
janetw
20 yrs ago
H there, my husband and I are moving to Hong Kong in 4 weeks ( and counting !!) and I have managed to get a stock of paperbacks, hair conditioner and products but wondered if there was anything else I should think about stocking up on before we pack???? We do not have shipping issues as the company are paying for this.
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cd
20 yrs ago
There isn't really anything you need to bring, nearly everything is available here, maybe not the brand you're used to but something similar that does the same job. If you are larger than a UK 14, then you won't have such a huge selection of clothes to choose, and if you're above a size 6 in shoes you'll also be very limited. Large size bras and swimwear and quite difficult to come by too. Welcome to HK, its a great place to live.
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The only thing we need friends to bring from overseas is a supply of fresh Bramley cooking apples; but I suppose it's not really practical to cold-store a hundredweight of them here unless the company is truly generous.
As for books, I read a dozen novels or history books each week; but I have never needed to buy one in HK as I use the (free) public libraries.
http://libcat.hkpl.gov.hk/webpac_eng/wgbroker.exe?new+-access+top.main-page
PS to ";" ... Fairy liquid is available from larger Wellcome stores (eg at The Belchers) and online from http://www.wellcome.com.hk
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TC, I'd like to waft a freshly baked Bramley apple pie under your nose and hear you say that you'd rather eat one of those lurid and sickly local desserts!
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cd
20 yrs ago
They haven't even arrived here yet, how can they have given due consideration to the alternatives.
They may find they prefer some of the brands here. It just seems silly to bring things like washing up liquid, deodorant etc when they are so readily available here. So what if its not Fairy, Right Guard etc, the alternatives work just the same.
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bmc
20 yrs ago
Flannel sheets (yes it's damp and chilly in the winter). If you are light haired and ever color it at home, bring your product, not many light shades here. Stimudents were my personal had-to-have.
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kar
20 yrs ago
Definitely bring a supply of your favorite deodorant. We restock every Christman and summer when we're back home. If you have kids, children's over the counter medicines and vitamins are also a good thing to bring.
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swmbo
20 yrs ago
If you have any kids in nappies, then I'd bring them from home. My boy was (is still) very big for his age. The largest nappies here are for 12+kg or 13+kgs. In Aus you can buy separate boy/girl nappies for 16+kgs. And I found the nappies here weren't as good as back in Aus - you don't get boy and girl nappies here at any size (only pull ups are for different sexes), and the nappies here aren't nearly as absorbant as at home.
I only used the Aus ones at night. Had too many middle of the night leaks with the local options so always had a suitcase full of nappies when returning from visiting Aus.
CD - can you tell me where I can find nappies here that would have avoided wet nights....
Also brought lots of the brand of tampons I prefer as very limited options in HK - most asian women do not use tampons.
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Grocery stores have most everything, but if you bake, bring baking powder and vanilla ( only available here in small, expensive quantities.) My daughter takes her lunch to school in paper lunch bags - I have never seen them here. She also brings snack size applesauce to school - also hard to find here.
English language TV is minimal - so if this is important, bring DVD's, get whole seasons of favorite TV shows.
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There's nothing wrong with asking what they might or might not need to bring with them to a strange new country. Sure Hong Kong has a lot to offer, but how does a newcomer know that? If they were moving to Guang Zhou, I'm sure the story would be very different.
Anyway, it's true there isn't much you can't get in Hong Kong for around the same price or in most cases cheaper (provided you're willing to switch brands).
One thing you may consider is that vitamins and health supplements are ridiculously overpriced here. If you take a high quality daily vitamin and other minerals and/or herbs, bring a supply long enough to last you until your next trip back home, or have someone send it over to you.
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Writing this I realise that I've been here 9 months now and just today I discovered the last item that I can't live without. My advice would be bring a few things you can't live without and either have a trip home lined up or a good firend prepared to send you stuff after your first few months if there is anything else you must have. I've found everything after looking for a while and of course you can always post here and people will help you find what you need. It's also amazing how much you realise you really don't need afterall - your life here is different so you need different things.
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While it is true that eventually you will learn to find most (but perhaps not all!) of what you need and enjoy in your day to day living, it is really comforting to bring some things from your home country that you find helpful, nice, or convenient. It's so personal that it is difficult to give you advice, but you will find it difficult to find favorite beauty and hair products (until you discover a new one) and even personal hygiene products and laundry(especially fantastic stain removers) and special cleaning products. (Since you don't mention children, I won't go into that!)
Sometimes every store in your area will be out of real vanilla extract or regular baking flour or some other basic that is sold in 5 different varieties in North America. Of course, after you've been here awhile, you'll learn to then go look in Central at Great or City Super for example!
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cd
20 yrs ago
To Swmbo,
My last 2 kids were born here, and we used Fitti nappies for both of them, maybe had a half dozen leaking nights in all the years of using them. And they are much cheaper than Pampers.
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swmbo
20 yrs ago
To CD, My boy is big, way above the 97th percentile for weight and he was still in nappies at 17.5kgs. He also drinks alot during summer as he is a very hot person and sweats alot. I tried all the brands in the supermarket, including Fitti, and at Bumps to Babes and none kept him dry through the night.
By the way, I know quite a few other Mum's with this problem as well - it's not unusual. The supermarkets here stock with Asian babies in mind and they are smaller on average than western babies.
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@@
20 yrs ago
Hi Swmbo,
I buy Huggies "Goodnights" nappies for my son (5 years and still in night nappies). For my youngest (2 years)I buy a pull up from Bumps to Babes, it's a Pampers brand with Elephants on it, since I've been using these at night I've never had a problem.
I'll have a look at the name for you tomorrow if you like, they are certainly more expensive than regular nappied at Welcome etc. but better than shipping them up from Australia.
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Cara,
you are so right...that happened to me...after I got here, I started making a list of what I wanted to get next time I was in the US. Then when I was there, I sent small boxes of special little things-especially items that are quadruple the price here!
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I am from the uk and we are moving to hk soon - I found this really helpful - With a young baby, sometimes it is difficult to traipse around all the supermarkets - or it will be for the first few months - Please keep the suggestions coming in. I am going to keep looking at this online.
We are thinking about bringing light fittings, nappy sacks and organic baby wash - any other ideas??
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Light fittings? There are mnay places you can get light fittings if required, and most rental properties have them installed anyway. Save your space for other things. Have lived here 12 years only things I bring back from Aus now are baking powder (can get Bicarb soda here which also works) cocoa powder, easter eggs, (limited choices here), combrantrim worm tablets and meat (roasts and sausages and bacon - you can get these things here - but I prefer to pay less and get more flavour!). This is a reflection on what you can now get here in comparison to 10 -12 years ago - I would bring about 100 kg every 4 -6 months back with me in cereal, dishwashing powder, herbs, canned goods etc.
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You are permitted 15kgs of meat per person before you need to declare it - so don't go overboard - but I wouldn't recommend it until you actually have a freezer to put it straight into.
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Have been here 3 months...so I'd say...decent chocolate - the Australian stuff here is NOT top shelf and made in Malaysia - Cadbury in Aus is superb. Deoderant, the alternative brand just doesnt cut it. GRAVOX if you like it. Meat is definately expensive, however I've changed my tastes to pork and chicken, you'll also be so busy trying new food you won't have time for steak!! Really, there isn't a lot you can't find. My only tip would be come early (if you are working, setting up takes a fair while (we managed it with a 6 week old and a 5 year old). Good luck, we love it already!! Oh, getting a package from home full of chocolate is really very exciting SO why bring everything over with you anyway.
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swmbo
20 yrs ago
To @@, thanks for your response but my boy is now toilet trained. I did try the pull-ups from BtoB but at the time my boy hated pull-ups for some reason and would pull them off. And my husband travelled to Aus alot for work so he would always take an empty suitcase to fill with stuff I wanted, mainly nappies.
To The Apprentice - bring anything that your kids particularly like. For example, packaged food that they like if you have picky eaters eg. formula, breakfast cereals, snacks/bars, tins/jars, etc. You may find it here but while you're searching or finding a replacement it's easier to have familiar things around to help them settle in.
We also brought over washing powder and fabric softener - so that for the first few weeks the clothes, bed linen, etc all smelt the same. And if we move again I'd take my son's pillow (he was too young for a pillow when we moved here). Just little comfort things if you have sensitive kids.
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Expat222 - I'm not exactly sure what US Hotel Bathsheets are like compared to other kinds of towels but try downstairs at WingOn in Sheung Wan - The Sheridan Towels come in the huge bathsheet size and they wash so much better than anything else we've had and there are lots of colours.
Apprentice - i'd love to know why you think you need to bring your lightfittings but like most of the other people here I would definately save the space for food and clothes.
Totally agree on the oven cleaner and fabric cleaners - haven't looked that hard but couldn't find either when I wanted them.
Also just discovered Worldwide House - fabulous for travel size toiletries and a whole range of products I hadn't been able to find anywhere else and really cheap - you know you are in the right place for bargains when all the maids are there.
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janetw,
I'm assuming you have a container to fill up? If so, along with the towels and bathmats, definitely bring your bedding, mattresses and sheet sets; they are very expensive and differently sized here (at least compared to US King). I was also glad to have brought dishes and high quality pots and pans (harder to find and expensive here compared to the US).
Bring extras of favorite clothing and undergarments especially if you're larger than a US dress size 8 or British size 10 or so or women's shoe size 39.
I guess for me, beauty products and toiletries that cannot be found here (just ask us if you can find them here!) would be higher priority than cleaning products-(with the exception of a few stain removers) you could always get those later at Gateway or Citysuper.
By the way, there is plenty of great European chocolate here, (but desserts and pastries are generally pretty blah-too bad you can't ship those huh?) Some people miss certain brands/types of packaged snacks and candy but it's not as important to some of us! And you do start to adjust and forget about the things you may initially miss (like having an icemaker with crushed ice and a garbage disposal)!
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weh
20 yrs ago
To Janetw,
I hope you are coming in a chartered plane. By the time you pack your favourite brand-name sheets, chocolates, preserves, clothes, toiletries, desserts, towels, water softener, kid's pillow, nappies, mini vacuum cleaner, vitamins, health supplements, shoes, deodorant etc, you will need one.
Hey most of this is unnecessary. We came with two suitcases. We like to explore HK and keep coming across plentiful supplies of most of the things mentioned here - or good equivalents. Do some people really need to take their kitchen sink and cuddly wherever they go? It takes a lot of fun out of learning to live in a different culture.
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cd
20 yrs ago
We're from the UK too, and when we first arrived there was many things we couldn't get here, but the supermarkets have improved so much in the last few years, the only thing I can't get that I miss is English Kelloggs rice krispies, the ones here don't look, smell or taste the same.
Re the expensive meat mentioned earlier, we actually find that meat here especially chicken, minced beef, pork etc is much cheaper here than in the UK, good quality steak is expensive but no more so then England.
Do you know where you'll be living?
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just got back on line after a goodbye weekend with family in Switzerland... Thank you everyone for your imput.......so much help is amazing from a bunch of people I have never even met !!! we are coming from the UK and I am glad that i posted this question as I had forgotten that someone told me to bring dried yeast in packets as I love baking..... thanks 'lowlight' for reminding me !!
and to 'burgundy' i have had to live without galaxy and any english choc for the last 5 years :( since I got together with my Swiss husband - he banned it!!!!
We are going to be staying in The Repulse Bay serviced apartments until we decide where we will live.... am completely divided between HK island and Discovery Bay. At the moment we live in Chislehurst, Kent in a house in a lovely quiet road with great neighbours and although I think we would enjoy living on the island we are not sure about living in an apartment block with limited outside space. we have quite a good allowance for housing so we would be able to get 4 bed house in Discovery bay so would have more than enough room to keep all out stuff!!! we did have a look around HK in Nov last year when we decided we would take the placement but as someone mentioned I did not really ahve anough time to check out the supermarkets.... everything else was so overwhelming...... We will be bringing lots of the things mentioned such as towels and bed sheets. but will have to get myself off to Boots and stock up on supplements etc.... as lots of people said we will only know what we miss when we are there I think I will charge all the friends who want to come and visit in chocolate bars !! Whitley - v good point about the garden furniture we did think about this but decided to get some new in HK - if we decide on DBay !!
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Hi, I am from the uk too, from Maidstone in fact so not too far from you!! I live at Repulse Bay and really like it here though have never been to DB. Things that I bring are greetings cards as they are expensive here and choice especially for named cards ie Aunt etc is limited! Rolos cos I love and miss them, various toiletries that you can only get at home some things cannot be imitated! Lots of books do not under estimate how many and packet mixes, they can be bought here but for 3 times the price!!
Lots of luck with the move.
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hi powerpuffgirl, how long ahve you been there ?? we did think about living perm in Repulse bay but are concerned about noise.... can you hear people upstairs ?? we used to live in Central London and the reason we left the flat was because of noise. our neighbours weren't excessively noisey - my husband is a very light sleeper and it drove him mad....What do you think of RBay ??
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great. had been told that yeast was a difficult one to get. thanks for that... will definately be bringing my breadmaker.... nothing like fresh breadin the morning.... thank god for timers !!! Am getting very excited my the move.... eceryone here keeps asking if we are scared/nervous but we are not at all.... maybe that will kick in later...
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Hey janetw:
Nothing to be scared of. This is a very safe and very interesting place.
What you can't get here, you'll find that you can easily can live without. Bring enough familiar stuff to survive the transition time, and bring LOTS of things to remind you of home: pictures of people, pictures of places, momentos for your shelves. Things like deodorant, foodstuffs, furniture, etc are so available here that you'll find substitutes easily.
Be sure to have an international email account beforehand (yahoo.com for ex) and pass it around before you leave. Also, register for Skype and make some local calls before you come so your friends know how to use it. Landline calls over the ocean are VERY expensive here...more than you can imagine. OTOH, Skype is pennies per hour.
You'll be arriving at the end of the cold season, so expect temps to eventually climb to the 30C+ and very high humidity. You won't need lots of cold weather gear: 'cold' here means 'cool' in England. Bring an umbrella or ten.
Don't plan on owning a car, and be sure to enroll in a Frequent Flier program that serves this region (AsiaMiles for example).
Welcome to Hong Kong
--riverman
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the though of a ferry journey does not put us off at all.... we spend 20 mins on a delayed, crowded and expensive train every day now to get to central London......the ferry sounds like a dream in comparison !! Thanks Cara. will definately drop you a line if/when we move there.
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No need to bring umbrellas - there are many here and VERY cheap! No need to bring yeast - easily found in HK.
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Personally (and without having read all the postings above) I think the stuff that is really missing in Hong Kong is Bavarian Sweet Mustard to have it with the Bavarian white sausages and Thomy Gourmet Remoulade.
Great is not selling it anymore which is really annoying!
Should you not know what the above items are all about, ask your husband. He is Swiss and should know just how important these items are....
Cheers, have fun in HK. Is a great place
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thanks Wupper, will ask Hubby when he gets home !! I have managed to wean him onto Colemans mustard though..... maybe he is loosing his swiss ness...lol though we did buy some packets of rosti and fondue laste weekend with november sell by dates - just in case !!
Thanks for the telephoe tip Witley. think the company will be organising all that kind of stuff but I will look into it for my mobile.
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cd
20 yrs ago
Calls to the UK are definately cheap, we also use the 0060 number, and its less than a pound for more than half an hour. If you're from the UK would recommend you look round Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay before making a final decision. There is a huge expat community, mainly British and Australian. I have friends that live in DB and they love it, personally I could never live there, its been likened to the Stepford Wives before on this forum. Not sure I would go that far, but its definately a place you either love or hate. Take your time and have a good look all over HK before making your mind up.
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cd
20 yrs ago
Re the expensive meat from earlier, I have just made a chicken dinner that would easily serve 8 with chicken breasts from the supermarket that cost less than 3 pounds. Pretty good I reckon.
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CD - how would you get from Sai Kung / Clearwater Bay to |Wan Chai ? how long would the journey take and what about to get to the airport?? Isn't it very windy there??
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Hi I like living in Repulse bay. Dont hear anything from above or below, I am a pretty light sleeper and have never been woken up. There are some great places to live in HK but I like it here close to the beach but once you get here and get a feel for the place I am sure you will find somewhere that suits your needs. Give me a shout if there is anything I can help with once you get here!
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Whoops, my error and I was caught out. Yes, calls to the UK are cheap from here.
Many calls from my household are to South Africa or the middle East, where the 0060 rates are through the roof: a 4 minute call cost $HK56, which is 1.05 GBP per minute. I now use Skype, which is only .02GBP per minute.
Skype calls to the UK are about .012 GBP per minute, which is dirt cheap. But 0060 rates are about the same. But prices to call other places in the world can be very cheap on Skype; check out rates at http://www.skype.com
--riverman
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