Got the job offer and now I’m just waiting for the work visa.
The kicker was after working in the middle east for almost 10 years, where I missed half the winters and the other half I could just look out the window and watch the poor slobs scrapping the ice off their cars, I finally had to do the daily commute myself.
So the first time I had to scrape the car windows at -30C it felt like someone was driving knives into my hands. Add to this the fact that Calgary has winter for about 8 months of the year and during that time is an ice rink where the drivers are idiots and act like they’ve never seen snow before every single time it snows even if it was the day before, frankly, I’ve had enough. Not when I’ve had years of international experience to leverage to get out of this frozen wasteland.
Yeah, Canada is nice. Not as ‘Rah, rah!’ nice as most Canadians think it is, but still nice. From my experience, if you have a good job anywhere can be nice. It isn’t like Hong Kong is the third world, either. I’ve spent considerable time there and know it well, the good and the bad.
I can get rid of the cars and all the related expenses because the public transit system in HK actually is usable. Cabs are cheap when the transit isn’t convenient.
Interesting places are a quick hop by plane away. An hour ride by Ferry to Macau for a quick Vegas like vacation on the weekend if we want.
Yeah, there is pollution, but anyone who has lived in Calgary knows the elevation and lack of humidity plays havoc with a person’s sinuses.
My wife is a California girl who has lived in Hawaii. She only stayed here because of her kids. Now that the heat problems she used to have with MS are no longer there she is more than willing to move, too.
It’ll be fun and different and a whole host of other things that will be totally unexpected and thus exciting. A new chapter in our lives, new friends, new adventures.
What could possibly go wrong (he says walking blindly towards the cliff with his head turned back to where he came from waving goodbye)…
I’ve been there on vacation and while I like it as a vacation spot, I wouldn’t be able to live there. I like the fresh air here. But yeah, very vibrant place, certainly more things to do than Calgary, especially when night comes. If you don’t mind crowds and always looking to go out somewhere, it’ll be good for you!
So, you never came to a Calgary Dopefest, and now you’re leaving, eh? We’ll try not to take it personally. :mad:
Just kidding! Congratulations on the move! Make sure you keep on updating us about your wife’s condition, okay? I was so glad to hear that the liberation treatment was working so well for her.
I’ve been trying to make it to my previous job’s company reunions, too. But every time they held one I was in Yemen!
Nothing personal, I’m just not much of a mixer. Too cranky, I think. Best to remain isolated and point to others with disdain convincing myself I’m too good for them…
Hope you have a big housing budget. With money and the right package, HK is a great place. On a budget, not so much so. Do you have kids - not sure from the OP. The plus is the kids can get around easily, and the minus is that it’s a big crowded city.
Will you travel for your job? I liked HK a lot better as a base rather than full time.
I’m planning to move to Hong Kong too… right after winning the lottery three times in a row; the real state prices in the island are insane. Kowloon seems a bit more in touch with reality in that aspect.
The air in Hong Kong seemed just fine to me, but then again, after a few years living in Bangkok I could suck on the exhaust of a bus and think is just fine too.
Talking about buses, Uzi, you should consider them on your transportation means, they are really good in the island and you can use the Same Octopus card as you use with the subway but you can’t use the card with taxis.
I’ve been to HK quite a few times. My father lived there for 17 years. We’re looking at Lamma as a place to live. The housing is pretty close to what I ‘want’ to pay. The ferry ride might seem long to some (24 minutes), but it is a breeze compared to my current stressful commute in Calgary traffic.
On the other hand, I don’t have to pay for two cars, insurance, or gas. Plus, the tax situation is half the amount of Canada.
hmmmm, I had a flat on Lamma when it was still a sleepy fishing/farming village in the late 1980’s. It was quite the artist colony back then. It’s really overbuilt these days. Maybe I knew your father.
Unless you have a really flexible work environment and/or work in Central near the ferry pier, your door to door commute is going to be long. I remember the ferry as being much longer than 24 minutes, but maybe there are faster ferries that leave much more frequently now. Regardless, you’ve also got probably a 15 minimum walk on the Yung Shue Wan side and more than that on the Central side.
Hey, fun fact. Yung Shue Wan is where movie star Chow Yun-fat grew up. And it really was a fishing village then. He was a star by the time I first lived there in 1986 but one of the 3-4 small restaurants that existed there was run by his cousin, and she had some photos with him posing there.
Compared to the rest of Hong Kong it is still a sleepy village. Except on weekends when the crowds arrive.
I’ve timed the ferry at 23 minutes. The total time of my commute will be longer than in Calgary, but not by much and I can spend the time using the wireless to get work done, unlike in Calgary. It shouldn’t be a problem. Nor do I have to spend time warming up the car or scraping windows a ten or 15 minute exercise by itself!
Thanks.
Sold almost everything. Packet the rest up and uhauled it from Calgary to Vancouver. Left it at the parents until we have a permanent place to live.
Got the dogs shipped. Nightmare for the most part. No help from new employer. Didn’t quite have to bribe the government officials, but my wife’s tears helped to grease a lot of minor bureaucrat’s wheels when they wanted paper in triplicate filed a month before (even when they said just show up and it would happen - foolish me for believing them).
Bank account setup. Phones purchased. Now to find a permanent habitation. Start work next week.
It is still all somewhat surreal. But the family is happy.
I lived in Yung Shue Wan on Lamma for three years. Highly recommended - cheap housing, no traffic, nice atmosphere, nice bars and restaurants. The commute is a pain but it’s worth it to wake up there at the weekend. Recommend exploring the far side of Mt Stenhouse - turtle beaches and so on. Gorgeous. Congrats!
We’d like Lamma, too. But the commute is too long. We’re thinking Park Island now. When I switch jobs in the future to a business on HK Island then we’ll make the move to Lamma.
Where’s the office? I used to commute with the 7.45am ferry from Yung Shue Wan, getting in at 8.3 then hop on the MTR to be in the office by 9. There was one ferry earlier than that if I needed to be in for a breakfast meeting or whatever. That was when the ferries were slower. My girlfriend used to go to the New Territories to work - that was a long commute, but she loved it as it gave her time to read. I too loved the ferry ride for that reason.
I see that “Park Island” is a development in Ma Wan. Not exactly a rural idyll, though nice views.
Have you considered Discovery Bay? Or does that have the same issues as Lamma?
I’ve got to get to the airport. Lamma would be a ferry, then Airport express, then bus. About 1.5 hours. No thanks. Park Island is 25 minutes from work and 25 minutes from Central. Best of both worlds. Not quite a nice as Lamma from a natural beauty pov, but the grounds are like a resort. Good enough for me. In the future, when I change jobs then I’ll look to relocate.
So my recommendation is that you get the family into the HK wilderness on a regular basis. I lived in the high-rise setting for a while, too, and it can drive you a bit crazy and make you forget there’s anything outside the tall buildings and manicured, landscaped gardens - and forget how rural Hong Kong can be. There are so many parks: Sai Kung, Ma On Shan, Lamma, the south of Lantau - Tai O, Clear Water Bay. And junk trips when the weather’s nice. I also hiked to the top of each of the tallest mountains every weekend - Tai Mo Shan, Sunset Peak, Ma On Shan, and some others I forget. It’s wonderful. I’ll shut up now.
