Lia

What is the best way to get from Cyberport / Pokfulam area to Causeway Bay?

Other than Hong Kong University and the hospital, what else is in this area either from a tourist or resident perspective?

rkkwan

The best way, other than a taxi, is by the green 16-seat public light bus, route number 69X. Every 20 minutes, HK$8.5 each way. Gets you from Cyberport to the SOGO department store at the heart of Causeway Bay.

Chinese language page here:

www.amspt.com/db_display/?route_id=46

There's nothing from a tourist's perspective. But it's a nice residential area, especially if you can afford the ultra-luxurious "Residence Bel-Air".

Cicerone

Well, first of all there is a very good restaurant in Cyberport, called the Green T House, it’s a branch of the one in Beijing:

Green T .House Hongkong
No.208 The Arcade
100 Cyberport Road
Tel: 2989 6036

The Meridien also has some good restaurants and a nice bar. Is that where you are staying?

The Aberdeen marina is not too far from Cyberport, you could reach this by taxi or bus. This is a fun and interesting place to hire a junk and take a tour around, it of course has the famous floating restaurants (IMO these are to be avoided other than Top Deck of the Jumbo, go to http://www.cafedecogroup.com/TOP_DECK/v_TOP_DECK.asp). Places like Ocean Park (http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/f_index.html) and Deep Water Bay Beach are a close bus ride. The excellent antique/collectible/fashion discount warehouses (e.g. Prada) in Ap Le Chau are also a short taxi ride or a bus ride away. There are also some warehouse areas in Aberdeen, I don’t know these very well, but could get some address for you, I know there is a porcelain place in Aberdeen that is supposed to be good.

If you like to ride horseback, the Pokfulum riding school is very close, you can hire by the hour, they have two rings and a tiny hacking track.

Pok Fu Lam Public Riding School
75 Reservoir Road
Tel: 25501359
Email: [email protected]

Finally, there are some excellent walks in the area. Many of these will require you to go partially uphill to get to places like the Pokfulum Reservoir, but you would be rewarded with some fine views and some very green quiet areas. There is a nice walk along Deep Water Bay Beach for some miles. You can walk up to the Peak in several ways, either a challenging walk, or you can take the more gentle Lady Clementi’s Ride up to Mount Cameron and then walk via Baker Road to the Peak. (You could also walk DOWN from the Peak back to the Cyberport area, this may be a better choice than walking uphill!) You can go via Kaito ferry from Aberdeen to Po Toi Island, one of my favourite little islands for a very lovely walk, a great seafood lunch, a visit to a temple, and not a tourist in site (they are all having an expensive seafood lunch on Lantau...) If you are interested in walks, let me know, I can post more details.

rkkwan

There is no easy access from Cyberport/Residence Bel-Air to get up to Pok Fu Lam Road and the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road.

Have to either go SE and go through Wah Fu Estate, or go NW and take Sha Wan Road, Victoria Rd, and then up Sassoon Road to Queen Mary's Hospital.

Cicerone

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that you could walk right out of Cyberport and hit a trail, I said there was good walking in the AREA. I would post more details on access if she is interested....

Lia

rkkwan and Cicerone - as always, you two are a great source of information!

Actually, I'm headed to HK next week and may relocate there over the summer. I'm pretty familiar with the business districts so this trip is mainly to look at residential areas.

I'm looking at a couple of areas that offer a water view and good size units:
Pokfulam - Residence Bel-Air, Royalton, Belcher's
Sai Wan Ho - Grand Promenade

Any other suggestions?

Also, I need to take a senior executive to lunch around Causeway. Any suggestions on a great spot for a business lunch?

rkkwan

Residence Bel-Air should be the most luxurious of all, and it has a nice view of the East Lamma Channel (lots of container ships), Cheung Chau and beyond (if days that smog wasn't too bad). But it's the least convenient, if you will rely on public transportation. One of my cousins live there, though I missed the chance to go to her place last fall when I was in Hong Kong. Did have dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant at the Cyberport mall though.

The Belcher and the Grand Promenade are both new apartment complexes. The Belcher should be more luxurious than Grand Promenade, and most of the units are larger. Most of the units at Grand Promenade are pretty small by Us standards.

Don't know much about Royalton, but I think it only has two towers and not like a massive complex like the other three. Most units are also pretty large - I see some rental units that are 3,250 sq ft, which is like 3-4 times the size of typical HK apartments.

Nice thing about the Grand Promenade is that it's close to the MTR. Easy access to Eastern Hong Kong Island and/or Eastern Kowloon. But if one's working in Central, then it's quite a few MTR stops away.

My guess is that if the Royalton is in your budget, you probably can have a car/driver with your budget too. So, public transportation may not be an issue.

Cicerone

I will send more links on Monday, but I looked at the Residence Bel Air, the penthouse, and it was TINY, the great thing was the roof terrace. The bedrooms you could barely turn around in, however. Belcher's is quite small from what I understand as well, like 1100 square feet. The thing with the newer apartments is that they tend to be small, esp re closet space. I can post my realtor's website where you can view flats and get rental prices, you have to look a lot to get space here; don't be fooled by marble lobbies and the word "luxury". I don't know that you want to live in Pokfulam really, it's not that great an area IMO. Many places have a good water view, I live on the Peak and have a city/harbour and a south side water view. I think the Mt Kellet Road area offers really excellent south side views if that is the type of water view you want, or Severn Road offers great views as well.

rkkwan

Cicerone is right. Many Hong Kong apartments are just tiny - no matter how "luxurious" they are.

I think you should tell us your budget, where you're working, whether you have school-age kids, and whether you will have a car/driver. Then we can make better recommendations.

All of the developments you listed are very new - Royalton is about 10 years old, the other 2-3. These newer places may be more modern, but that also means more expensive. For the same monthly rental, you may want to look at something older which may be cheaper. For example, if you want eastern Hong Kong Island, instead of the Grand Promenade, you can try one of the larger units at Tai Koo Shing, or up the hill at Pacific Palisades and Braemer Hill Mansions.

Or on the Pok Fu Lam area, instead of Bel-Air Residence, get the Baquio Villa just above it.

Those are just a few examples of 20-30 year old developments, and won't have the latest amenities and club houses. But these are well-built and well-maintained complexes, which you'll get more square footage inside your apartment - which is more important once you see how small a 1,100 sq. ft. 3-bedroom place is. Uusally one of the bedrooms is just big enough for a twin-sized bed and not much more.

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For lunch in Causeway Bay, perhaps the Yee Tung Heen in the Excelsior?

Cicerone

The link for my realtor is www.habitat-property.com. This will give you an idea of square footage and rentals in various areas. I have used others over the years, but I think this group is quite good and they have some unusual properties.

Some others I used when initially searching for a flat in late 2005:

http://www.hongkonghomes.com/hong_ko.../eng/index.htm
http://www.landmarkasia.com.hk/
http://www.cbre.com.sg/hkpropertylist/bylocation.asp

Also The South China Morning Post has listings for rentals. Take a look at their classified ads for flats; this section is especially large on Saturdays and Sundays If you live in a major city, you should be able to buy a copy, or your library may have back issues or can borrow them from another library. You can also look at classified adds on line. Go to their website at classifiedpost.com, scroll to bottom, choose “Property”, a page will come up and you can choose the location such as "Residential – HK Island– To Let"

I see from the Belcher’s website that their largest flat is 1,800 square feet in 3 bedrooms, that is not bad, if it weren’t for that third bedroom...you will get an idea after you have seen a few places. Some of the flats there are 900 square feet, which is quite some. I agree that a budget would help.

For you lunch, Causeway Bay is kind of a big area, and I don’t know what type of food your colleague might prefer, but some suggestions would be:

Habitu
Level 3
Lee Gardens 2
28 Yun Ping Road
Tel 2898 3919

A nice semi-casual place with good Italian food, nice atmosphere.

Kanetanaka
545-563 Hennessy Road
East Point Centre
Tel: 2833-6018

Very good Japanese.

West Villa
First Floor
Lee Gardens 2
28 Yun Ping Road
Tel 2882-2110

If you really like dim sum, and in particular chaxiu bao, this is the place. I have not been to this outlet, but I go to the one in Western a lot, and the food is excellent. I imagine the decor is the same, kind of like a US mid-range hotel ballroom (no other way to describe it), but then again you are there for the food for this one...(if you want elegance and good food, go for dim sum at the Four Seasons and pay about 5 times as much.) I am not sure that they have English menus, so if you or your colleague don’t know enough Cantonese to order, then this may not be a good choice.

I agree that the restaurants in the Park Lane hotel might be a good idea, take a look at www.parklane.com.hk. Totts (Talk of the Town) at the top of the Excelsior may also be a good choice, get a window table, as the have a very good view, go to http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/517000040.asp. I have never been there for lunch. Otherwise, I would hop a cab and go into Central where there are many more choice for a business lunch, IMO. Cheap and cheerful is more the Causeway Bay style....

Lia

I'd be officed in Lee Gardens on Hysan Ave. but travelling 50%+ of the time for my job.

Would like to find an apartment 2000+ sq. ft. I don't need most of the amenities but would really like to be close to the water with a fabulous view. It's just for me (no children or spouse) but I'm moving from an 1800 sq. ft, 3-bedroom house in the US and want to have a guest room/home office. Open floor plan would be ok but I haven't seen any listings for lofts in HK - maybe they are not very popular here?

Housing budget is still TBD - I was originally thinking of HK$40-$60 but might be able to go higher (once I recuperate from the sticker shock - my monthly mortgage in the US is only HK$20 including taxes and utilities).

I hadn't considered a car/driver - how much does that typically cost? Prefer public transportation or taxis - definitely can't afford a car here. In the States, I drive an hour or more to the office but would like to reduce the commute time to 30-45 minutes so I'm open to looking at any area.

Cicerone

If you want more that 2,000 square feet, a sea view and you want to be on Hong Kong Island then IMO you will have to go above HK$60,000. I think you will need to go to the low 70s and up. I am not sure if your budget includes “rates”, i.e. taxes and condo fees, these are often not included in the rental price quoted. Rates can be anyway from another HK$5,000-8,000 or more per month.

There are many places to get a water view, it just depends if you want a city water view or a south side water view. If you are really traveling 50% of the time, then Pokfolum is not so bad, as you are near the airport tunnel (it’s kind of far from Causeway Bay though and no MTR stop nearby either), I just find it is neither fish nor fowl; i.e. it does not have the charm of the true South Side (i.e. Repulse Bay or Shek O) nor does it have the convenience of mid-levels or the Peak where you can be at work or downtown in 5 minutes by a very cheap cab ride. As a single person, I think you would find it to be mostly families with kids. Belcher’s is a lot of young investment bankers from what I can tell....that may be a good thing for you I don’t know. You might want to look in Jardine’s Lookout, as that would be a quick cab ride to the Lee Garden area, and has nice sea views.

Lofts are virtually non-existent. 2-bedroom apartments are in fact pretty rare. 3-bedroom is the norm (many people live with their extended family, i.e. a parent and often grandparent). The good news is that many flats have a "maid’s room” which unless you have a live-in maid, can be used as a storage room. A single person does not need a live-in maid, IMO, a weekly or few times a week works fine and is extremely cheap (I pay about US$30 a week and she does all the ironing which IMO is worth the $30 by itself).

You do NOT need a car and driver. The driver would cost a few thousand US dollars a month. A car is a nice extra to have, but you do not want to pay for a driver and you don’t need one. Taxis are extremely cheap and the public transportation system is even cheaper and very good. If you want to have a car, driving yourself here is very easy. Insurance and annual road tax are not cheap, and gas is US$7 a gallon (not that you can drive very far, a tank will last quite a while...) Some flats require you to pay for parking, and your employer will not give you a parking space, so driving to work is not an option for most people, as parking will cost about US$25-30 a day. A car is really a weekend fun thing, like having a car in NYC only more so. The only people I know who have drivers are people who have several kids and use a driver to save the wife from carting kids around all day. Having a driver used to be a very expat thing, but that has changed a lot over the last decade as costs haev gone up, even pretty senior people I know don’t have one any more. Of course very wealthy Hong Kong people have a driver to drive them around in the Rolls.....

rkkwan

I'd look for something on the southside - good view of the South China Sea and better air quality. For example, I see a few listings at 37 Repulse Bay Road. Abotu 1,700 sq feet, asking about $52K/month. Slightly older building, but not that old.

Quick commute to Causeway Bay.

Or maybe something on Stubbs Road. There are quite a few older apartment buildings with generous floor sizes. Jardine Lookout, as Cicerone suggested, is another good choice. These ones will have harbor view.

And yes, as a single person, you don't need a car or a driver. You can easily arrange a cab to pick you up from home to work everyday at a discount rate, as well as a number to call for going home and elsewhere.

Cicerone

For your lunch in Causeway Bay, I had dinner at a newish French bistro in Tin Hau last night, it had a nice ambience and decor. Food is good, service probably needs a little work, but its a new place. It is French with a mix of other Continental cuisine. Mid-price, starters and salads are like HK$75-100, and entrees are like HK$155-200. Lunch may be different price. Casual. They have a tiny garden with a table.

Savoye Bistro
Ground Floor, Hon Man Mansion
9-11 Wing Hing Street
Tin Hau
Tel : 2503 3222

Wing Hing is just at the north end of Victoria Park, and off of King's Road. It would be a few block walk from the Tin Hau or Forress Hill MTR stations, or just take a taxi or the tram to near Wing Hing Street.