Where to live and other questions

I'm moving to Hong Kong in the next couple weeks and am trying to determine where to live, what is an appropriate price range, and what to bring.


Will currently be working in Central but am told my office will be moving to Kowloon late in 2008. Hoping for not a terrible commute (under 30 minutes by any means of transpo or walking) and would prefer that does not increase substantially when moving offices but assuming I will be in Hong Kong Island.


Any suggestions on where to live? Would like a 1 bedroom apartment with reasonable space, a doorman building, nice amenities, and convenience especially. Unfurnished apartment as well.


Also what should I be looking for in terms of cost and what kinds of things should I make sure to ask about?


In terms of what to bring, my firm will pay to move anything I want but I will be leaving some things in the US. Already assuming I will take most of my major furniture with me and leave most electronics behind. What about things like my TV? I have an older TV (cathode / anode) but I am not a huge watcher and would be happy to bring it along so long as it would work in Hong Kong. Anything else to defintely bring or leave behind? How is it tp buy new electronics in Hong Kong?


Sorry for the long list of questions. Appreciate any help / advice.

Agree... leave you things behind and get furniture here. It's relatively inexpensive and is actually pretty good quality. go to a place like "Direct Sales" in Tsuen Wan and they will make and deliver within a week or so at a reasonable price. You can even get custom made things relatively cheap here. Instead of paying for moving your things, ask for a Furniture allowance.... both you and your company would win in this case! Also, forget the electronics unless it is something that you absolutely need. You would need a transformer for most U.S. appliances since the voltage here is 220V not 110 and TV's will probably not work as the system here is different than the U.S. I think they use PAL system here and U.S. uses NTSC system or something like that. They are also going HD now. You can get a good TV at a reasonable price also.

Regarding "where to live"... there are many choices. Do you want to live with around a lot of xpats? Places like Discovery Bay, Tung Chung (Caribbean Coast) are nice. There really is a lot to choose from and you should probably take some time to actually see and talk to people. If you are single (and have enough cash), you might want to live in Central or TST. Lots of activity.

Oh, by the way... don't expect to have too much room for things in HKG either. Apartments generally are small and do not have closets or much in the way of storage space. (you usually need to purchase a separate Wardrobe cabinet).

If you want to get in touch with a fellow xpat, just IM me and I;ll send you my contact info. Meanwhile, good luck! I am sure that you will enjoy Hong Kong! It's a great place to work and live!

We were in a similar situation with the "where to live" question" - I am working in Central and husband in Kowloon. We both work odd hours (Hospitality). I would suggest getting a serviced apartment in Central for a month and getting a feel for both sides of Hong Kong. We ended up on HK side. If you are close to the MTR, you are basically 30 mins from anywhere!

In terms of what to bring, I would really only bring a few things that make you feel at home. We brought our favorite bedding, a few wedding presents that were easy to pack and our basic wardrobe. EVERYTHING

Sorry - everything else we bought here. There is IKEA for the bare basics to get started. Electronics are cheap and easy to find.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the responses. In terms of price, I could spend HK$20K - HK$40K per month but would not mind spending less. Would like an expat area where it is not too noisy but easy to get to fun nightlife and restaurants as I tend to be pretty active. The doorman request is not a safety concern as much as I need people to sign for deliveries and I get a lot of houseguests and use doormen to leave keys for them when they arrive and drop off keys when they leave.


For reasonable space, I like the usual Western amenities, would like a building with a good gym, and would not mind a nice view. Space is worth something to me if I get it at an affordable price.


In Kowloon, not sure where the office is moving to but heard it is supposed to be the new tallest or second tallest building in HK when completed (hopefully that helps).


Thanks again for all the help.

$20-40k, you can get high rise new flat in sheungwan(you could also say Central, with trendy cafe & restaurants are starting to nestle down besides soho,

little feeling of Manhattan..

or, in Kowloon, I think you are talking about ICC building above Kowloon station.

I heard Morgan Stanley is going to move there.

From central to Kowloon station is only one stop, it will not give you any pain to commute. In the same complex where your office in TST going to be in late 2008, there are apartment with nice club house, Sorrento, Waterfront, The Arches, and others.

The rents are similar to one in Sheungwan or Soho.

Below the Apartment buildings, the newest, trendy shopping mall with cinema, ice links, hippiest organic supermarket & restaurant, lots of shoppings...The name of the shopping mall is the elements..

Just take a look around the shopping mall and apartments above, and your office to be.. You could get some ideas...

if you don't want your work place and home to be in a same block,

then, central/shengwan...