Commuting from Parkview
Tue, 2004-10-12 12:55 — mrb
[quote]My biggest problem with Parkview is my expected commute. I expect to be working long days/nights on Lantau. Since there is not an open train station there yet, we get off at sing yee (wrong spelling) and take a 20 minute bus the rest of the way. This is about an hour 15 min total commute each way, yes? [/quote]
GaG,
Yes, that is not the best of combinations. I guess you're working at the new Disney site ? Where else do their buses have pickup points?
You might consider living in Discovery Bay, which is popular with expats and also on Lantau. Or maybe one of the new housing estates above the Tsing Yi railway on the West Kowloon reclamation ?
MrB
Re:Commuting from Parkview
Mr. B,
For us the MTR station at Tsing Yi is currently the only stop. For those without families (school age children really) I have heard rumor of Gold Coast being another choice. The company will not use non serviced apartments for short termers like me, and Discovery Bay (from what I've been told) is all regular flats.
The Kowloon station apartments were the preferred complex, until they filled up. Lots of employees are currently there. I've been inside one and I think it would have suited just fine. The immediate area did not seem very family friendly though. My friend who lived there took the MTR to Hong Kong station and the IFC (international finance something...) to do her grocery shopping. I personally did not get a chance to prowl around that neighborhood and see for myself.
Today I was looking on a map the relocation people gave me and I noticed an "Aberdeen tunnel" running under Hong Kong. If we got a flat close by the tunnel on the south side of the island (Shouson hill?)do you think the commute would be shorter than Parkview?
Have you done any more hikes to WWII sites?
Thanks,
Green as Grass
Re:Commuting from Parkview
Hmm, not much choice then. Most of the serviced appartments don't seem to be geared towards families with children : http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp
I don't think getting a cab from Parkview to Central or from the South side of the island to Central would be very different - just a few minutes difference I'd guess. I haven't taken either route at rush hour to know which is worse.
Our daughter is 15 months now. We took her out for the first longer (2 hours) countryside walk in a back carrier last weekend, and it seemed ok. No clambering around the wartime sites is likely though for the near future!
MrB
Re:Commuting from Parkview
Parkview claims to have a "family suite", but none of the furniture seems to be child friendly. We'll look into getting a bunk bed and some furniture from IKEA.
IKEA! I went to the temple of 10,000 Buddha's last time I was there and had a hard time finding it. While wondering the streets I turned a corner and TA-DA, IKEA! The juxtaposition of modern Swedish commercialism in the foreground with the pagoda on the hill in the background was really funny to me for some reason. Anybody know if they sell the same things there as they do in the US?
Re:Commuting from Parkview
I'm not sure what a US IKEA is like, but they have a pretty good selection of stuff here - definitely childrens' bunk beds. There is a store in Causeway Bay which will be much closer to you if you're on HK Island : http://www.ikea.com.hk/locator/locator.html
MrB