[Donosti]

I Thought mandarin will be more convenient for him when he grows up. Cantonese is only spoken in HK .... trying to be practical! Since we will be living there for a while, I thought he will learn cantonese anyways... at least I hope! Is this realistic? How easy is to learn the language? I know we dont need to speak cantonese but I would really like to learn.

[Donosti]

Is Happy Valley a good area to live with a 3 year old?

We went visit Tung Chung in December and I thought pollution was pretty bad there... it didnt seem very nice but I only saw the plaza where the MTR is.

I didnt go to DB. Wont we be too far from everything there?

[penguinsix]

There are a couple of questions I would have to ask to help narrow down the choice.

1) How important is living near the airport? Is he flying daily or in/out once a week? Does he get reimbursed for his transit to and from the airport?

2) What kind of lifestyle are you looking for? A high paced urban environment (think Manhattan in New York multiplied about 10x) or something more relaxed, kind of like townhouses in the suburbs of America? Many DINKs (double income, no kids) live in on HK Island in the 'heart of it all' as that is where they want to be--close to the action, stores, restaurants, noise, traffic. You've said you are 'bored' in Ohio and want restaurants and places nearby, but you've also mentioned you have a 3 year old so you probably want some places for the kid to run and play.

3) Are you adverse to living in an apartment building / high rise? Some people like being 40 floors up, some would rather be in a townhouse.

4) Are you afraid of the water / boats? Discovery Bay is a 20 minute ferry ride from Central Hong Kong or one heck of a long bus/subway ride.

5) Are you planning on hiring a nanny ($350 US a month). If so you'll need a slightly bigger place for her to stay.

My main advice still stands--get a corporate apartment for one or two months to get the 'feel' of some areas in HK. Leases in HK are generally a bit longer than the US (2 years) and telephone and cable and Internet contracts also are generally 12 months (which can make moving around kind of annoying).

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by penguinsix

5) Are you planning on hiring a nanny ($350 US a month). If so you'll need a slightly bigger place for her to stay.
{...} telephone and cable and Internet contracts also are generally 12 months (which can make moving around kind of annoying).

Some good points, but if you are employing a maid legally the all up cost is more like US$500/month (HK$3320 salary + food + insurance + travel etc.). And I don't understand the point about 12 month contract on internet, cable, phone - it has always been trivial for me to move these to my new address without penalty mid-contract.

[Donosti]

My apologies for this comment. I didnt mean to hurt anybody's feelings.

I am originally from Basque country where we talk a language not talked anywhere else in the world and not for that less important or interesting.

I am really exhited about moving to Hk and knowing eveything about their culture... including their language.

One*more time my apologies!

[penguinsix]

Oh there is no need to apologize about anything. Some people do like to flame war over Cantonese v. Mandarin, but it's no biggie. I think most of us are used to it by now.

[penguinsix]

Yea, it is pretty easy to move the 'utility' contracts from one spot to another, I just wanted to point it out that unlike the US where Internet, landline phones, and cable tv are month by month contracts, they are slightly different in HK. It only gets to be a problem if you get pulled out of town for some reason (job shift).