Moving furniture

[HEALY]

Hi

Myself and family are looking at all the options regarding moving to Hong Kong from Australia and wondering what people do with regards to furniture.

1) Do people leave some in storage and get some shipped over?
2) Does CX provide any compensation for such expenses?
3) If it is not practical is it fairly easy to find good furniture and such in HK?

Answers really appreciated

[superfrozo]

Healy, some answers below:

1) The proverbial "how long is a piece of string"... Some people bring everything, some bring no furniture (like me!) Are you "attached" to your stuff? Bring it over, but be warned - there 'aint much room, so the 18th century french chiffoniere grandma left you might look pretty silly on the 1m x 1m balcony (if you're lucky to rent an apartment which has one). I would say most guys bring some stuff and store the remainder back in Oz - you'll have to do your own sums on storage costs and bear in mind, the Oz basings are being filled with DEFOs so who knows how long it'll be before you return. It may not be worth your while to store that old couch that Davo puked on back in '95 for more than a couple of years!

2) CX gives you $10,000HKD as a "gift" to assist you in your move - with the 6.7+ exchange rate to the Oz dollar that will give you 3 fifths of fvck-all back in Oz, but will get you a nice flat screen telly over here! (You can also get a $10,000HKD interest free loan from CX when you arrive if you want to get a really nice flat screen telly. CX also gives you a freight allowance of 180kg per adult & 90kg per child. This can be used to bring stuff over for free, assuming your home port is also a CX port. Bear in mind this is weight, and the formula for bulk (ie furniture items) is calculated differently - contact the CX benefits centre for more info. As an indication, I brought over 60 (!!) standard cartons (no furniture) up to HK and it cost me about $200 Oz as I was slightly over the allowance.

3) Well, it is practical - but should you decide it's not worth the hassle and/or you just want to update your stuff, there are PLENTY of furniture purchase options in HK. Everything from Gucci-rama to Ikea-sh!te (went with the sh!te myself - filthy kids can vomit on it all they want).
Won't even bother to attempt to list various furniture options, trust me, you'll be spoiled for choice.

Hope this helps,

SF.

[EngineOut]

superfrozo (or anyone else who can answer it),

Obviously we go to ADL first then live in the headland until we find our new abode in HK, but how do we get our stuff from storage in our home country to CX (at SYD for example)??

Or do they have temporary storage at CX cargo at each airport, and just get it sent when you find an apartment? I am just curious as to how you get it to the airport if we will already be in HK and all our stuff is in temp storage back in home country.

...I hope that question makes sense

[superfrozo]

Here's where it gets tricky...

First, you need a (easily intimidatable) relative or a (sucker for a) friend who is able to organise your stuff to be taken out of storage and sent to the CX freight terminal whilst you are in HK.

Failing that, you can travel ID90 back to your home port on one of the few days off you have in training, work like a blue-arsed fly organising the move logistics yourself, and shoot back in time for your next training event!! Clear as mud??

Put simply, there's no easy way to do it and everyone's situation varies. With a family/young kids you will probably want to get out of the Headland ASAP and set up shop so your family can join you, in which case; get your game face on for the first couple of months in HK 'cause you're gonna be busy. If you're a singly whose only concern is where your next Russian whore and "eight-ball of Crack" is coming from, then take your time living in the hotel and wait 'til LFUS starts, by which time you'll have 5-7 days between trips leaving plenty of time to jet back and organise your furniture.

And no, the company won't come and collect it from your Oz temp storage for you - it's your responsibility to pack it/get it to the CX freight port.

Who would have thought moving internationally and starting a new career could be so complicated?!?;)

[EngineOut]

thanks for that, I thought that might be the case (unfortunatley)...must be tough for those who are not in a CX port already!!!