My Early Years in Hong Kong Part 1

Back in 1993 as I struggle to find a place to live in Hong Kong, I found an interesting configuration of a Condominium Tower: A One-Bachelor suite per floor Tower!…and even a 2 floor One-Bedroom suite for the price of HK$2.668 million!

The only other city one would probably find such a plan would be in Tokyo. Seems this Developer is convinced that his Hong Kong property is of prime importance, and that the spectacular view from the apartments would sell the units. Such buildings are dubbed “Pencil  Towers” in Tokyo.

The promotion was a full page advertisement in the South China Morning Post news paper. The net to gross floor area seems very poor, but it appears the developer is confident the market would support such a building. It did not say if the building was already completed. A site plan was not included, but the address was given as 26 Court, Chancery Lane, Mid Levels,  Hong Kong.

As I continue in my struggle to find a place to live, my luck changed when I came across an interesting flat on Hill Road that overlooked the Pok Fu Lam overpass, just North of Sai Wan and to the East of Mid Levels. However I could only stay there for a short period while the owner was away in South Korea. Since I was desperate, I volunteered to stay there in spite of the short term.

It proved to be one of the more memorable places I lived in. The elevated Pok Fu Lam flyover ‘ran’ past my 7th floor living room window, and I could tell the time of day according to the traffic noise. Neat I thought. Never had this experience in North America, and the views of activities through my windows were always interesting.

Views from my 7th Floor Windows.

My Ground Floor Neighbourhood.