# Preparing to move to Hong Kong



## Isabel M. (Sep 4, 2015)

We are preparing to move to Hong Kong and I'm thinking if someone kindly answer to these questions:
1. How much
- a family of 3 (2 adults and a kid) could spend in food per month ?
- could cost an apartment in the area of American School per month?
- cost the transportation? Are they good and safe? Are the taxis cheap?
- could cost sports activities for a kid (ex: ballet, swim classes, judo, football) per month?
- could cost a registration in a Gym for an adult per month?

2. Is it easy to find a place for grade 1 in American School? Others schools that you could suggested?


3. I saw that American School is in Kowloon area. Any suggestion in the area to find accommodation? Preferentially with extra activities and services near. Preferentially that we can walk to school. Preferentially, apartment and not a villa.

4. Any recommendation for Insurance?

5. My husband is going to work but I don’t have a place yet? Could you refer some agencies or websites where I can search a place for me? Preferentially, I would like to find a part time job. 

5. Any other advices that we should assure with company contract?


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## HKG3 (Jan 11, 2015)

For information about the American School in Hong Kong, please see link below - 

American International School |

If your children are going to Hong Kong with you, you must get their schooling sorted out first, there are long waiting lists for entry into Hong Kong international schools.

You may want to open a Hong Kong bank account before travelling to Hong Kong. <Snip>


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## Isabel M. (Sep 4, 2015)

Thank you very much.


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## Kingkong3 (Jan 15, 2014)

As mentioned earlier, get the school admissions sorted out first as it's pretty tough to get in. You should visit school websites and call them as soon as possible as the interview process has already begun for P1.

Next thing you should look for is housing (near the school preferably). You can easily find websites like gohome and spacious having listings for houses for rent/sale.

For insurance, you can use kwiksure dot com.


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## malimalilovemaya (Feb 4, 2016)

Isabel M. said:


> We are preparing to move to Hong Kong and I'm thinking if someone kindly answer to these questions:
> 1. How much
> - a family of 3 (2 adults and a kid) could spend in food per month ?
> - could cost an apartment in the area of American School per month?
> ...


-transportation is quite cheap in hk. as for taxi, max is around 3~400hkd and that's if you are travelling very long distance! Normally it cost ard 100hkd. buses and mtr(underground) fares are the cheapest. and there is mini buses which is fair price as well(similar price to buses)
-registration in gym might costs quite alot. it will be much cheaper if you enroll to the clubhouse gym at the building you are gonna live at. otherwise for gym like califonia and physical and such can be expensive.


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## yylau (Feb 22, 2016)

1. How much
- a family of 3 (2 adults and a kid) could spend in food per month ?

Fastfood around 30hkd per meal (lunch), 50hkd per meal (dinner)
Cook: Go to the traditional wet market, around 20hkd for ~200g pork / ~10hkd for 600g vegetables, depends on seasons and types of crop. I can use 30hkd-40hkd to cook a normal dinner for my hobby and my baby girl. Of course, if you want better quality of food, you can buy different kinds of foods imported from the foreign countries in the supermarket with higher cost.

- could cost an apartment in the area of American School per month?

American School <- you mean the american international school located in Kowloon Tong? The land price in Kowloon Tong are super high. I suggest you select somewhere near the MTR (Railway), which is fast enough to bring you to the school. New Territories are cheaper than Kowloon. Most of the residential area in Kowloon East/ Shatin in New Territories can arrive the school at around 30-35mins, which are much cheaper then Kowloon Tong. Rental fee For a ~400-500feetsq apartment with 2 rooms, its around hkd12000-18000, depends on quality. (This few years, the cost of living in HK is crazy.


- cost the transportation? Are they good and safe? Are the taxis cheap?
Transportation. You can go to mtr.com.hk/en/customer/main/index.html / & .kmb.hk/tc/ to have a look. They are the railway company and the bus company in Hong Kong. The fares are included in the site. Mostly likely <10hkd in the same zone. over 20 hkd if you want to go to the hong kong island. For the taxi: td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/public_transport/taxi/taxi_fare_of_hong_kong/index.html.

If your child got a student card, she/he can enjoy the discount for full time student when traveling by most of the publich transport in HK.

- could cost sports activities for a kid (ex: ballet, swim classes, judo, football) per month?
You want to join a training class? I think the school will provide you such kinds of activities. Gov unit will provide such kinds of activities in low cost. lcsd.gov.hk/en/programmes/programmeslist/districtsports/searchrsprogtoday.php. you can go here to have a look. They are cheap, but not easy to enroll as there're too many ppl enroll for them. Or you can go to join some class in the private trainning center. The price range are wide. ~1000hkd per month (4 times per/month) or even more.depends on types of activities.

- could cost a registration in a Gym for an adult per month?
Gov Gym room is cheap. but you need to attend a course to get the gym card first. and then you can go any time for ~20hkd each time (lcsd.gov.hk/en/fitness/). Private gym... something like physical-ppai.com.hk/fitness/en/home.php. I dont know the price, you can go to the site to have a look.

2. Is it easy to find a place for grade 1 in American School? Others schools that you could suggested?
I dont know. I'm a local hk guy. But there're too many local family want their kids to study in the international school. There are a lot of international school in Hong Kong. If you get $$, you must find a place.

3. I saw that American School is in Kowloon area. Any suggestion in the area to find accommodation? Preferentially with extra activities and services near. Preferentially that we can walk to school. Preferentially, apartment and not a villa.
[Read the previous ans. btw, villa is crazy price in HK. Apartment is crazy enough, i mean less crazy when compare with the villa.
you can go to hk.centanet.com/eng/ehome.htm and 28hse.com/en/, i dont know whether the information is complete or not in ENG. AVG price is around 10000-20000hkd per fleet, depends on location]

4. Any recommendation for Insurance?
For what? health? manulife, AXA... most of the insurance in north america have a branch in HK. Of course, a lot of company from china too. If you are coming to HK to work, the most convenience way is to buy the insurance service from the bank (you must need a back a/c to recieve your wage), but less choice compare with the insurance company.

5. My husband is going to work but I don’t have a place yet? Could you refer some agencies or websites where I can search a place for me? Preferentially, I would like to find a part time job.
labor department 
jobsdb
classified post
jiujik.com
Can your visa work in Hong Kong? If no, think about being a private teacher to teach spain.

5. Any other advices that we should assure with company contract?
No comment.

SORRY that I cant post link, so all the url seems strange in my reply.


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