Posted by
tinab88
14 yrs ago
Hello from sweltering Singapore! We are moving to Hong Kong in July and began applying to schools for our three little maggots some time ago. The eldest has been accepted to the Canadian School so looks like that's where the other 2 will eventually end up. Home schooling is not an option as I will probably hurl them out of the window on the first day.
So now, the next phase --- house hunting!
What areas would you recommend that aren't a painful commute to and from Aberdeen where the school is located? We are seriously thinking about Clearwater Bay as we are not townies and like the outdoors. However someone dangled Lantau and Lamma as names to consider. Realistically, what are the commute times from the New Territories on a bad day or a good day? Will relying on a ferry to get the kids to school drive us bananas?
Appreciate your advice...
Please support our advertisers:
CWB to Aberdeen would be the commute from Hell. Look at Shousson Hill instead.
Please support our advertisers:
Clearwater Bay to Aberdeen would indeed be absolutely impractical. I know HKers tend to be commute-phobic but I wouldn't even consider this is an option. Also no school bus service to CDNIS. I would say you probably need to live on the Island.
Don't despair though, over 60% of the Island is country park. Very far from a concrete jungle in most parts. I can walk out of our apartment and be on a hiking trail in the woods in about three minutes.
Lantau and Lamma are options but add an hour for the ferry each way to your kids' commute. Southern Lantau and Lamma are very "different". Nice to be sure but not for everyone. Definitely "village living" which is not like suburb living.
I would look at Tai Tam and Red Hill. Also some buildings in Shouson Hill have lovely gardens.
Please support our advertisers:
we live in hang hau (near clearwater bay) and my wife works at CDNIS...she leaves home at 6am to be at school for 7:45, taking the train to north point and then staff bus to school...our daughter will bo going there in August, taking schoolbus from hang hau, or possibly coming with me at 6:20 to catch the student bus from Tai Koo Shing
>axpt...there is a bus from Tseung Kwan O to CDNIS
my advice would be get yourself closer to school.
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks for the speedy replies! You have absolutely crushed my husband, who had idyllic dreams of a beach, a dog and a diet Coke by his side! Will start looking closer in.
Please support our advertisers:
"You have absolutely crushed my husband, who had idyllic dreams of a beach, a dog and a diet Coke by his side! "
HAHA. Well that is possible, but you'd have to live on Southwest Lantau or the like. Very gnarly commute to CDNIS.
HK living is compact unless you are absolutely loaded.
As I often say in these threads, don't try to recreate your old life. You'll just fail and be miserable. I'm not saying give up and move into a highrise in lower Midlevels, but adjust your expectation level to suit HK, and adapt to life here.
">axpt...there is a bus from Tseung Kwan O to CDNIS"
I stand corrected! Thanks for info.
Please support our advertisers:
actually, you can probably sit down....I may have been mistaken about the bus from TKO (i misunderstood my wife...)...at any rate, the school has apparently changed bus companies for next year, so hopefully there will now be a bus from TKO...sorry bout that....
Please support our advertisers:
Um, CDNIS is about 10 minutes from Repulse Bay beach if you have $$$ - Stanley is a bit further but still has a beach & more variety of housing, though not cheap either. If you're looking at this school, I guess you either have a decent package and can afford to live in these areas, or school is breaking the bank.... then you can live in Ap Lei Chau or maybe Pok Fu Lam and still be within a taxi ride of the beaches.
Please support our advertisers:
Repulse Bay is nice, sure, but as sistim says it is one of the costliest areas in HK. Also it is hardly suburban. Very urbanized with highrises and so forth.
Please support our advertisers:
@funbobby - no worries, even with the TKO bus the commute sounded long. But curious - Hang Hau is worth the commute for a CDNIS spouse ? It sounds like a nice community.
@sistim & @axptguy thanks for the latest posts !
*laughs* we are on the 'low-pat' package (better than the 'no-pat' but definitely a poor cousin of the 'ex-pat')
After the posts above I looked at rentals in the areas suggested and they are gorrrrgeous but completely out of our reach. Yeah, we'll just visit them on the weekend!
Anyway, we are reframing our expectations as advised (good advice that!) , and are starting to look for lowrises in Pok Fu Lam and anywhere else that's a smaller development or older and more spacious, has a friendly village-y or community feel to it, close to or in greenery.
Again, really appreciate the help. Have a fab weekend!
Please support our advertisers:
"Low-pat". Heh funny. :)
As you have noticed, older lowrises without facilities tend to be much more affordable than new shiny buildings. Lots of them also have a more cozy community feeling.
Please support our advertisers:
We currently live a short run/bike from the East Coast beach in Singapore, in a small terrace house. But food places, pubs, library and parks within walking distance. And nice people! So will shoot for that epxerience...
Please support our advertisers:
we bought here about 8 mth BEFORE my wife started at CDNIS...def. NOT an ideal situation...we both work on the island, but made the commute sacrifice in return for affordability of a nice flat in an otherwise convenient location
Please support our advertisers:
the nice people part, i mean
Please support our advertisers:
*funbobby - appreciate the reply. we were originally ok with living further out but over an hour to get to school is hard with 3 kids and the inevitable medical emergencies, ECA pickups and dropoffs, school events and so on. I love CDNIS by the way! The kids are excited to be Timberwolves!
Please support our advertisers:
I live in Sai Kung (even farther away than Clearwater Bay!) and my 3 kids attend CDNIS. It takes me about a 40 minute drive every day. It is an easy trip. I leave at 6:45am every morning and at school at 7:30am. It is not a problem for me at all but that is bearing in mind that I drive and pick the kids up every day. With a school bus or public transport it would be horrendous. Usually takes my eldest son about 1hr 20 minutes by public bus/mtr so not an option for little kids really. You could think about hiring a helper/driver? i can say the benefits of living out in Sai Kung in the countryside far outweight the commute and that is from someone who lived on HK Island for 13 years - I would NEVER move back there now. Good Luck!
Please support our advertisers:
we just got our school bus application for our daughter in CDNIS Pre-reception yesterday...a new bus company is taking over, and there WILL be a bus service from Sha Tin, Ma On Shan, and Clearwater Bay (it's not clear, but I'm assuming these are 3 separate routes, not a combined one!!) The price for return service is 13K+ per term, so more than $26,000 in bus fees per year, with a more than 1 hr bus ride each way...needless to say our DD will be riding with mommy on her way to school.
Please support our advertisers:
@Tulip2007 - Thanks so much for your post. My hubby has not given up on Sai Kung and CWB so that is heartening to hear. We will be in HK househunting next week, so will be looking at Northpoint Hills, Lantau, Pok Fu Lam, Southside, CWB and Saikung. All over the place!
@funbobby - I called CDNIS and got the new schedule as well. Still winching up my dropped jaw at the fee. How long will it take your wife to get your little one to school? What's the traffic like?
Really appreciate the details that everyone has added.
Please support our advertisers:
Just to put it in perspective, HK private schools aren't that expensive compared to UK and US equivalents...
Please support our advertisers:
If you want to live on an island you do realise there's a ferry from Lamma to Aberdeen, right? You'd have to check the timetable to see whether it worked for the school start time as I don't think it runs that often but a quick google will do the job.
Alternatively, just live in Aberdeen or Ap Lei Chau for an even easier commute.
Please support our advertisers:
@tinabb - right now it takes her 40 minutes via train to North Point, then staff bus to CDNIS, so DD will have 1 hr at school before classes start...this may be a problem if she's not willing to sleep a bit after the bus ride...we will find out more about the student bus pick-up points around Hang Hau when more people register in June...still, $26,000 is a big swallow just for bus service, and with pick-ups along the way, it's sure to be a much longer ride...at any rate, we will have to spring for at least one-way service as Pre-Reception is a half day class, so she'll take the bus home after school...
Please support our advertisers:
@dipdipdipper - there's a ferry from Lamma to Aberdeen? ! Will check it out.
Please support our advertisers:
There are several ferries from Lamma to Aberdeen. One at least from each port and I believe one faster ferry.
Please support our advertisers:
Aberdeen to Lamma Ferries and kaito (slow boat)
http://www.td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/public_transport/ferries/service_details/index.html#o09
Please support our advertisers:
yes, Canadian has p/u at Central Ferry (I believe in front of/near to DB Ferry)
as you can see from the Transport Dept link, frequency is about 1:20 from Lamma to Aberdeen...so if you miss the ONE suitable ferry to school, you're screwed...Lamma to Central would be better....still, Lamma life is def. right for non-townies!
Please support our advertisers:
Not sure what your budget is but Pokfulam is probably the best bet if you can spend around HK$50,000-80,000 per month on rent.
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail