Job Discussion Forums

[sodapop]

hi,
SKH Chu Oi Primary School contacted me yesterday - i am just wondering if anyone knows anything about the school. Also how far the school is from a rail line and the best places to live if working there . Is there a direct line from the Gold Coast to this area? any other information would be wonderful.
thank you

[hkteach]

Sorry, I don't know this school. Which part of HK is it in?

Your second question - there is no direct rail line from the Gold Coast to anywhere in HK. No train goes to Gold Coast. Public transport options to and from GC are bus or minibus. These run to and from many points - Kowloon, HK island and parts of the New Territories. You could use taxis if the school isn't too far - plenty of taxis around the Gold Coast.

The nearest train to Gold Coast is KCR West Rail at Tuen Mun. This runs through Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long and all the way to west Kowloon. From Gold Coast to KCR, you could get a bus or minibus (10 minutes or so) and then get on the train.

Hope this hasn't confused you (just trying to cover contingencies for you) but if you give more info. re. school address, maybe we can narrow the options a bit.

[sodapop]

Chu Oi Primary School is situated in Kwai Chung - my contact at the school has informed me that it would take approximately one hours travel (on and off bus and train) from the gold coast so i think it is too far. thanks for your reply its good to be able to get help from people who are already there.

[11:59]

An hour to and from work is quite normal in HK so it might be a tad unrealistic to expect less time than that on public transport. Also, the shoebox flats in the filing cabinets on the Gold Coast are quite dear, around a minimum of $10,000 a month I believe. In addition, just like Disco Bay on Lantau, it is a bit of a 'ex-pat prison' with lots of 2.2 kids (an inordinate number of which appear to have attention disorders of one or another sort), Labradors, fish 'n chip shops, pubs, and English-style 'Chinese' take aways (serving prawn balls, chips, and curry sauce). Also, at least half of the residents of the Gold Coast seem to have Thai or Filipino girlfriends and 'wives to be' so that creates a certain atmosphere.

[anninhk]

My friend has just moved to the Gold Coast and her shoe box is only $6500 and has two bedrooms. There was a NET package offered at another complex for $8500 which included broadband and TV so your info concerning rents is not accurate which makes me doubt the rest of your information.

[hkteach]

Sodapop,

I think there would be other ways for you to get to your school from the Gold Coast.
HK locals usually opt for the cheapest form of transport, even when it takes much longer than other options, so this is why your contact at the school suggests an hour (my teachers thought I was crazy to pay about $HK23 for a taxi from the station to school each morning when I could get a bus (yes but the bus took 20 minutes and the taxi less than 10 minutes so I was happy to pay for the convenience and time-saving aspects).

If you look up a map of HK on google, the following will make sense.....I think Centamap is the interactive one.
You could get a minibus from Gold Coast to Tsing Yi - I think that would take about half an hour (those minibuses usually go like bats out of hell!) The minibus in question (sorry, forget the number) ends up at Tsing Yi on top level of bus area (just near the MTR and Maritime Square) From Tsing Yi there may be another minibus to Kwai Chung.... perhaps ask your school contact. If you mess around with the train you lose time because you have to change trainlines.

You could also get off the minibus at Tsuen Wan West and then get a 'big bus' or minibus to Kwai Tsing..... there MUST be one or the other going from there. Sorry, don't know time involved.

If you just fancy the Gold Coast but don't need to live there, you could live at Tsing Yi - a much easier trip to Kwai Chung and quite a few NETs live at Tsing Yi. Tierra Verde, Villa Esplanada and Grand Horizons are three of the apartment options that would be suitable - the first two are virtually right by the MTR and the shopping plaza, so you'd just walk from home to the station (a few minutes) and a short trip to Kwai Chung.
Or the 88D minibus runs Tsing Yi (not far from any of these apartments) to Kwai Fong and then a taxi from there.
I'd ask the school contact about these options.

[sodapop]

thanks hkteach i appreciate your time. i will check the other accommodation ideas you suggested today after work. sounds a lot more convenient.
thanks again

[11:59]

[kowlooner]

You used serviced apartments as the basis for your argument? These things do tend to be priced at a substantial premium over regular rental units.

If you bothered to look at your own link, you'd see that the serviced apartments you cited were at least partially furnished with fully furnished kitchens and came complete with broadband internet, broadband TV, satellite TV, phones already hooked up, a parking space included, and maid service, among other things.

Serviced apartments are intended to be short stay alternatives to hotel rooms typically for business people in transition states, in which case the company would pay anyway (or did 11:59 not notice the heading on his moveandstay website: "Executive Lifestyle Worldwide").

So how many of you teachers out there were lucky enough to have your landlord throw in your phone connection, internet, complete broadband and satellite TV, a parking space for your Saab, as well as giving you access to a maid so you don't have to clean up for yourself, saying "what the heck, you seem like a nice bloke, so I'll do this all for free!"

Instead of deliberately using irrelevant data to support your argument, 11:59, distorting the truth of the situation in order to give yourself some ammo to make snide remarks, why not look at sources which are more to the point? Go to Midland Realty's web site and search for Gold Coast and you'll find that rents are asking $8 to $9 p.s.f., meaning the 2-bedroom cited above, which would be around 700 to 740 s.f. (about right for a single person or couple), would cost just about what anninhk (and her friend) said.

[11:59]

You certainly find some strange things to get your knickers in a twist over, don't you? Too much time on your grubby little Lady Macbeth-like hands again, Kowlooner? Trying to get (yet) another thread locked down, are we? What's wrong, is it slow on the 'Tutorial Centre' business front? I know, let's all debate what you get for your money on the Gold Coast! And let us all pretend that the people who reside there are not themselves pretending they are not in Asia!

[kowlooner]

Wow, good prepubescent-like come back! But back to the issue. So, you don't deny habitually distorting facts?

[islanddreamer]

I live in the Gold Coast in a serviced apartment while I look for something closer to my school. Of course they are trying to get me to rent the apartment long-term - they have a NET package for $8500 with broadband/ internet and some other things included, as someone else pointed out. I do, however, know someone who lives in the older Phase I and they pay only $6700 for the same size flat as ours. The flats are a really good size (good re-usable space) and the clubhouse is fantastic - biggest swimming pool in HK, apparently.

I've searched in vain for the fish 'n' chip shops and pubs mentioned earlier and don't really see many gweilos here at all.

The only real downside is the transport for me - it's a long haul from Central on the 962 although it is very convenient (door to door). And there are numerous buses going to Tsuen Wan MTR, which takes about 15 mins. From Tsuen Wan you can get just about anywhere.

I believe that flats here are cheaper than in Tsing Yi, although Tsing Yi would of course be closer to Kwai Chung.

Hope it all goes well!!