So, we arrived in Hong Kong a week ago today – and what a week it’s been!
What do we think? What have we been up to? What are our first impressions of this city we had never even been to and now find ourselves living in?
Arrival in Hong Kong
After swallowing the £450 excess baggage charges at Heathrow, we were really hoping all our bags would have made their connection in Vienna and would be happily circling their way around the conveyor belt ready for collection as soon as we had cleared immigration. Not to be disappointed, Hong Kong airport was amazing. Very clean and so efficient. Even the very much admired pink bike box was quick to emerge from the oversized luggage section. A long line but a very smooth transfer through to the other side and the immigration staff actually smiled and welcomed us, which as you probably know, is not always the case in many places!
We were whisked off to our hotel by a man holding a sign with our name on (I’ve always wanted that), one car for our baggage and another one for us, so didn’t even have to step outside from the airport to hotel room, but it was just what we needed after such a long journey. Then there were the views to admire from our sixteenth floor bedroom window. Happy Valley Racecourse, I like it already.
Not a family to sit still for long, we were up and out for our first taste of the city.
The Weather
We were expecting hot and humid and that’s what we got but it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be and there was air conditioned shops and restaurants whenever you wanted to beat the heat. After a while we actually wanted to get outside again to warm up. We are still in typhoon season so that will be an interesting scenario if we have one anytime soon.
First things first
Even though we have a valid visa to stay for 2 years, it’s still a requirement to obtain a HKID card which contains an embedded microchip with all your details stored. It’s not a very complicated process but you can’t seem to do much without it. So it was off to the Immigration Department on day two to wait in line.
Hong Kong law requires you to carry your ID card at all times and from time to time the police make spot checks. We have been told that you can have a copy on your phone which saves the worry and expense of losing it (thinking of the girls here)
Anyway, we have been photographed and fingerprinted and are now currently in possession of our temporary cards. Hello bank account and phone contract.
Formalities out of the way, it was time to wander the streets and see what we would find.
Out and about
It wasn’t long before we had used a tram, the MTR, a taxi, a bus and a ferry and it seems remarkably easy to get anywhere you want to go. Just as well really as we will have no car here, something I’m actually really looking forward to. We will be totally reliant on public transport but it seems amazingly efficient (as does everything here)….and cheap. So, another one of our newly acquired possessions is the ‘Octopus’ card which is a little bit like an Oyster card in London but you can also pay for taxis,groceries and other things with it too. We were told the girls can even use them to pay for their school lunches.
Food
We have had no choice but to eat out for every meal so it’s been a great opportunity to make the most of it by trying out lots of new foodie places.
How happy were we then to spot not one, not two but three Marks and Spencers Food shops all within the first few days?! Ok so the first one was a bit disappointing as it only sold dry food but the next two….hello custard tarts (yellow sticker custard tarts at that!)
Another supermarket chain ‘Fusion’ seems to have the entire contents of Waitrose but at double the price. So glad we came from Switzerland as the cost does not seem so shocking. Although we did see a £46 Chicken in ‘City Super’ which even by Swiss standards was a little steep! It made Wholefoods look like Lidl. Another supermarket we found was Three Sixty which seems to be a bit cheaper than the others but still stocked lot of things we would buy (many of it sourced from Sainsbury’s)
We have found some great restaurants, some I had researched before we came. Special mention (if you’re ever in HK) must go to:
Feather and Bone – grass fed meat, great coffee and brunch menu.
Athletic Greens Juice and Espresso Bar (I just happened to be their 500th instagram follower so they gave me $500 (£50 of free drinks) – We chose the Avolatte and Phoenix latte and will most definitely be back.
3 Italiani Late night Italian ice-cream, cake and coffee.
Classified Amazing poached salmon and broccoli
Elephant grounds After dinner coffee and ice-cream
Minh and Kok a Vietnamese restaurant along a street aptly named ‘Food Street’ which after a plateful of Morning Glory, brought back happy memories of our Asian trip last summer.
Baekmidang – Coffee and one of the best ice creams EVER
Sing Woo Rd Bar and Grill Salmon and quinoa/spinach salad.
Beef and Liberty Apparently the ‘best burger’ in HK! (made from grass fed Scottish Highland cattle).
It’s very much a ‘dine out’culture here which is evident from viewing the apartment kitchens which seem to be lacking an oven in most cases. I’m guessing that’s also to do with the fact that the nature of the food here doesn’t require such an appliance. The next mission will be to find out where we will do our food shop although there are some great delivery services where you can order everything from various shops on an app and get it delivered straight to your door ‘honestbee’
Shop
Hong Kong is a very energising city, it really does seem like the city that doesn’t sleep and we haven’t really wanted to sleep either (surely the jet lag has worn off by now, or maybe it never will). It’s like you’re going to miss out on doing something if you go to bed. It’s also a very novel experience to be wandering around IKEA at 10.30pm and to see people hanging out in there (apparently in the day time it’s a thing to do here, you may even see people sleeping in the beds – but I will believe that when I see it)
It also seems people here love to shop! Every budget and every need or want is catered for. Expensive malls, chic side street boutiques, high street chain stores, techno gadget bazaars and a mix of markets where you can try your hand at haggling. Nighttime seems the best time to shop with many of the larger stores open until 11pm and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s also a little bit cooler and the bright lights in the darkness make it seem more vibrant and fun (I’m not an keen shopper)
The night we went across to Kowloon we just happened to stumble across the largest shopping centre in HK, HarbourCity. Beautiful shops and restaurants, many of which we couldn’t afford to shop or eat in but many of which we could. New Nike trainers purchased for one member of the family.
A place to live
So, it’s all very well exploring and finding all the new things to do in our new home but we have to actually get down to finding somewhere to live. This is where it gets interesting. Apparently the average living space is a very cosy (euphemism for small) 50 square metres (less than 600 square feet) and what you have to pay for that is astronomical! (you wouldn’t believe me if I told you) Hong Kong is frequently in the top three most expensive rental cities in the world. The sort of place where a lawnmower is the ultimate status symbol (if you have grass to cut you have definitely hit the big time)
It’s all a bit daunting starting to find somewhere as we have no real idea which area we want to live in. There does seem to be plenty of options as it’s a very transient place, but we just have to be prepared to be patient. Yesterday we started our search and although we were supposed to view eight properties, we didn’t have the best of luck with our estate agent. Lets just say she wasn’t very organised or efficient. It was a bit of a low point in the week to be honest because what we actually saw was really quite awful, and not just in a small way. We had been told that some people look at up to 50 places before they find a suitable choice which sounds a bit rough. But, needs must.
Day two of the search was more successful. Having no clue about the property market here, we are reliant on good advice (estate agents do that right?). With only a few more weeks in a hotel, we have little choice but to trust them as negotiating the property market here without them would be virtually impossible.
Anyway, we are currently trying to reduce the price on four places we have seen. We have learnt that everything is up for negotiation including painting;refurbishment;A/C replacement;even the rent. Contracts are usually for 2 years so you can’t afford to be hasty when choosing somewhere.
Where have we been?
We have covered a lot of ground in a week
The Beach at Discovery Bay
Times Square in Causeway Bay shopping centre
Victoria Park Causeway Bay
The tram to Kennedy Town
The Beach at Repulse Bay
Star Ferry Pier to catch the ferry to Kowloon
Kowloon at night to see the light show and explore the area
Happy Valley to look at apartments and hang out
Wan Chai to shop
Stanley Beach for some much needed R&R
Tomorrow the girls and I will go to South Island School to meet the Assistant Head and collect their uniform.
What have we learnt?
It’s always my aim in life to learn something new every day, however small, insignificant or seemingly useless it may be. I’m sure it’s going to be overwhelming over the next few months trying to take it all in but here’s a few things we have learnt since arriving.
Dropping litter is an offence and offenders will be fined so we were pleasantly surprised how clean the streets were despite the large number of people. It’s also prohibited to eat or drink on the MTR so that remains immaculate too. This I like very much.
Number 4 is unlucky (because it is considered a homonym for death) so there are no hotel floors 4, 14, 24, 34….I could keep going up in some hotels.
Number 8 on the other hand is considered very lucky as it symbolises ‘prosperity’
A dehumidifier is something that needs to be on our shopping list.
I have found an activated charcoal stick to mineralise tap water enriching it with calcium and magnesium. It also reduces iron, chlorine, manganese, lead, aluminium, copper and mercury. Tap water we have been told is safe to drink…but there’s safe to drink and ‘safe’ to drink so I’ll be doing a lot more research on that subject.
Despite the hustle and bustle it is remarkably easy to escape and reach the open spaces. 76% of South Island is actually open space comprising of mountains and country parks. This comes as a surprise to many people, me included.
We have also already had our first lesson in Cantonese.
What’s next?
Off to work and school soon.
I feel as though I’m not going to have enough time to see and do all this city has to offer. How long will we be here? Who knows? Probably best to get started and try and fit in as much as we can…..on with week two!
I’m looking forward to sharing our adventures.