Batgung

Thankyou for this. My son turned 3 this January so I assume he will be due to go to kindergarten this September. We don't move out until the end of June so I am concerned that we will not be in time to get a kindergarten sorted ready for September. Do they have long waitng lists?

Our son (3 last June) has been going to Sunshine house (on the peak) for the past year. We've been very impressed with them. They're child centred and parent friendly. They have branches almost all over Hong Kong. They also have a very good mandarin program with 20 minutes every day in class and optional after school classes.
I also have friends sending their youngsters to Woodlands kindergartens and they likewise are very happy there. I think both groups of schools would be fairly easy to google.
we arrived in late August last year, and with the help of our company got him into a kindergarten.
If you're arriving in June I know for sure that Sunshine house is still open until mid Jul for classes and that they're having a summer school (lets go camping its called), so you could ease him into it by letting him do some summer school.
I'm sure other kindergartens have similar things to cater for working parents.

Good luck. And don't underestimate preparing a 3 year old for the move! Mine (and I) went through hell with homesickness which we just didn't expect from such a young child. He's ok now though!

Dear Anon,
I've blogged at length about my son's homesickness and the repercussions of it for the family (see www.gweipo.blogspot.com) you'll need to go back to the first few blogs on "bed wetting and all).
How to prepare him for it? show him pictures of the type of accomodation you'll be moving to (we went from huge house and garden to small apartment, high rise), show him pictures of HK. Show him pictures of containers, containers on container boats, containers being off loaded, pictures of Hong Kong.
work out what you going to do with him in his spare time, preferably things that he can't do now where you live now ( my son loves his judo now, and its not something he could have done in Spain). Read books about moving house with him.

I don't think you'll have a problem getting him into summer school or to kindergarten to be honest. We arrived here on 23 August and my kids started school on 4 September (and we'd not pre-booked places - we had 2 days notice for our move). Do you know where you'll be living?

Thankyou for all these suggestions. I am slowly starting to feel better about the whole kindergarten issue.

We are looking at appartments in mid-levels. We haven't got anywhere sorted yet. I have been told varying things about mid-levels but I think we are still going for there - It's hard to come up with suitable places to live as I have never been to Hong Kong.

We live in mid-levels with 2 small children (5 and nearly 4). I personally love living here. The only one not delighted is my son, who could do with some more (outdoor) space esp. grass. The only grass to be had is at least 30 min commute for my husband. It is a trade-off. In our opinion it was more important for the kids to be able to see their dad at least once a day (if he's not travelling), which for us is the morning. He can walk to work in 10 minutes if it is not too hot, so he can get them up, dressed, have breakfast with them and put one of them on the school bus. In HK you can forget about seeing daddy in the evenings as the days are very long. At a pinch however, he is home in 5 minutes, can read them a quick bedtime story and be back in the office or at a company event within another 5 minutes taxi ride. That type of luxury would be impossible if we were living in Repulse bay or Stanley or any of those places.
On the other side, the kids go to school 1/2 day (ie they're in the bus at 7.50 and 8.20 respectively and home by 12.20 and 12.50), So I don't have much time for myself. Now I can walk or take a bus into town, do stuff at the club, go for mandarin classes or whatever and still be back in time to pick them up. They also don't have to spend more than 20 min in the bus to their schools (some kids have nearly a 50 minute commmute). I know mums on the south side who hardly leave home just because it is too much effort. When you're new here you HAVE to get out and do stuff and meet people, that is easier in Midlevels. Also it is easier to get to all the afternoon activities kids do here.
Plus in mid-levels you don't need a car.
Where in midlevels? Well that depends on your budget. We have a fairly reasonable budget and have a fairly nice apartment with many facilities. the trade-off is facilities vs. size. Bigger apartments can be cheaper but then you have no swimming pool / gym / kids playground whatever. If you have kids, I'd say go for the facilities unless you want to spend your life in a club. which is also nice, but its nicer to go downstairs and accidently meet up with parents and kids at the pool than to make an effort to go to a club (yes I'm lazy).
Don't be too hung up on a balcony unless it is huge. They are dangerous for small kids and you don't use them many months of the year (also with the current pollution I like to keep my windows shut).
The quieter sides of Midlevels are on the Western Side (Kotewall road, Po Shan Road, Western side of conduit road) or the Eastern / central side (Tregunter path, Bowen Road, Old Peak Road.)
There are also a few nice places on Kennedy road, which depending where you are has the advantage of being opposite the HK Park which has a large playground. Most of the buildings there have no facilities though and are quite old.

My advice to people new to Hong Kong is to spend the first 2 years (leases are 2 years here) on the Island, in Midlevels and then when they know the ropes, know the town and have friends they can isolate themselves in Discovery bay, or Repulse bay or whatever. But that is a personal opinion!

Good luck

Hi
That is not a very high budget for Midlevels (are you talking HKD?) ... is there any stretch in that? I'd say have a look at Robinson place (77 robinson road), I think they have their own website. The flats are not very large but it is very well maintained, on the escalator and has excellent facilities especially for children. That may be in your price range unless the prices have jumped again....
otherwise I think there are plenty of property sites / agents / relocation agents. Is the company paying for your schooling - that is not cheap here either - you're looking at HKD 4000-6000 per month for a private kindergarten.

I hope the budget quoted was for monthly rental. 35-45k per month can get you a fair size three bedroom flat. Wether it's fair size depends on your previous living standards!

Belcher's is an option worth looking into. Taxi access into Central is easy, getting back is even easier. Small playgrounds, small gardens within the complex. Fantastic swimming pool. Many families there as well.

Close distance to the Sunshine House at Pokfulam. About 10minutes by taxi.