I had the chance to take part in some apartment hunting, and saw two suites in a new sky rise. The smaller was $1.3 million CAD, the larger $1.8 million CAD. Which pretty much means that I could never afford them, even if I won the lottery, but I still dream of living here one day. A cozy space with a nice view and modern trimmings. Mortgages go up to 30 years in Hong Kong. If you’re buying a place that hasn’t been built yet, you get to design the layout of your condo like a house.
Space is so expensive here that offices are often combined with bedrooms, unlike Canada where there’s a separate room for each (unless you’re a student). Furnishing a place would be much cheaper though, since empty areas get filled quickly. I imagine that it’s hard to be a pack rat when storage areas are at such a premium.
Hong Kong is one of those places where space is very limited and properties cost as much as 2 legs and 2 arms!! I guess for the same price, you’d probably get a house in Canada with a front garden and a backyard and a basement and a garage that fits at least 2 cars, LOL.
Actually, you can get a much bigger house in Canada, depending on where you used to live in Hong Kong. After the economic collapse of the States, Manhattan stopped being the most expensive place to live, and has been taken over by Hong Kong. My aunt told me that many people look at rent prices here and think, “That’s not too bad”, until they realize that it’s for a month and not a year.
I am simply drooling with these pictures. You know I’m going to study Interior Design.… and I actually love working with small spaces. This was just fabulous. Your pictures are always bautifully yummy-liscious. Maybe you can be my photographer when I’m a designer. Specially when I publish a book.
Do you love working with small spaces because you’re small? :D Interior design photos are hard, especially small spaces, because you need to use wide-angle lenses, which make the spaces seem even smaller. There’s also the issue of balancing the colour temperature of outside light with artificial light, so you have to use special light bulbs.
And I thought I had claustrophobia here!… It would bother me, really, after a while.
Some things outweigh it though — you can be outside in HK a lot more easily and safely than here in L.A. where everyone drives through parts that aren’t considered safe. Or just… drives. I miss strolling through HK plazas of grandmas and kids.
There is definitely a sense of claustrophobia possible with these apartments. Even though expensive, some are TINY! Apparently my uncle’s maid lives in a closet!
I was told that Hong Kong is safe for me because I’m a guy. It’s only the girls who get kidnapped.