Job Discussion Forums

[roset]

I am currently living in South Korea, and I am heading to Hong Kong for a week at the beginning of March. I have lived in Hong Kong about 4 years ago for a year, so I don't really need any help on sight-seeing etc...

What I want to know is how much money should I be taking with me? I was thinking that about 3 - 4,000 HKD should be enough, but I'm not too sure. I want to eat at a few mid-ranged restaurants, go shopping to the night markets and visit all the tourist attractions again and I don't want to be strapped for cash.

I was thinking of converting about 500,000 won which roughly translates as 3,500 HKD. Should I be taking more than this? Everything else is paid for as I've already booked my flight and hotel. Its just the spending money I am unsure about.

Thanks!

[sistercream]

How long is a piece of string? And what do you consider a "mid-range" restaurant? It could be anything from the notch above Cafe de Coral to the coffee shop at the Mandarin (instead of one of the upstairs restaurants) - could be anything from $100 - $500, specially if you include a drink or two.

I guess you could easily spend $1,000 on tickets for stuff like Ocean Park, Ngong Ping360, Disneyland, etc. if that's what interests you. The hiking trails, beaches and the Peak circuit are still all free

Public transport costs haven't risen any more than 10% or so (depending on mode) over the last few years.

[Joshua2006]

If you are living in SK and are working as a teacher then you have lots of spare cash.

Wherever you go around the world, it is always best to bring way too much money. If I went anywhere for a week, then there is no way that I would take only 500,000 won. That's 250 pounds. That's 35 pounds a day. That's just not doable.

Also, if you lived here for a year, then you should have a fair idea of how much you are realistically going to be spending.

By the time you have stocked up on all your culinary delights, followed by new underwear, followed by everything else you can't get in Korea, then 500k simply wouldn't cut it....

[dandan]

Just bring your credit card and/or atm card as well as the cash.

[Captain_Fil]

Hong Kong sounds intriguing. And exciting.

But I'm not so sure. Yet.

The questions are...

How much is the average monthly salary for an ESL teacher?

How much are the general living expenses for one month?

I need to know if Hong Kong is comfortable. Or, at the very least, affordable.

[sistercream]

Captain Fil, how long is a piece of string?

There's a thread somewhere on this board from someone who considers HKD12K a month a living wage, and I know other people who struggle to make ends meet on 40K!

How much you will earn depends on your qualifications, experience, and what kind of job you get. There are still some private language centres (mills) which can somehow get Immigration to approve visas for 12K salaries. Most similar places seem to be paying 18K - 23K for full time (45 hours p/w). I gather from some of your other posts that you're just starting out, so I don't think you'd be headed for one of the EDB NET posts yet - but there are some "real" local schools that hire their own NETs on sort of the same salary scale as the EDB ones but without all the extra allowances. At the top of the tree are the no-local-passport-students-allowed international schools such as HK International School and German Swiss, which pay top $$ with bells and whistles attached. Of course your degree and resume need an equal number of bells and whistles attached to get short-listed for a job there.

The big living cost is the rent: I pay 6K a month for a furnished one bedroom place way out in the New Territories; the equivalent in the centre of town would cost about 3 times as much.
People who want to keep their "western" diet when they come will find food expensive too, but if you're happy to "go local" then you can eat a well-balanced (but rather boring) diet for HK$50 a day or less if you do most of your own cooking.

If you want more info, head over to www.geoexpat.com and browse through their forums.

[Captain_Fil]