looking for cheap 3/4 month housing in tokyo, hong kong and seoul

[xcoldricex]

i might be doing a trip next year going to these three cities and exploring their respective hip-hop cultures. i've got a budget, so i need to find some cheap places to live in these cities. do any of you happen to have any suggestions as to where to look? thanks a lot.

d

[M4TM]

hong kong = chungking mansions... if you dare.

strange highs and strange lows

[futuretalk]

lol...is there a lot of "kuwakchais" there?

[isla maia]

Quote:

i might be doing a trip next year going to these three cities and exploring their respective hip-hop cultures. i've got a budget, so i need to find some cheap places to live in these cities. do any of you happen to have any suggestions as to where to look? thanks a lot.

d

--- Original message by xcoldricex on Dec 7, 2004 07:39 AM

on cheap for hong kong, it depends really how long you'll stay and what your budget's like on a daily basis. you can always rent a place in one of the nearby islands in hong kong and commute to get to the main island (usually about 15-20 minutes boat ride), or go for a long-term stay in a hotel that's not centrally located, like somewhere in north point.

chungking mansion's tough. but if you can hack the scene there, it is one of the cheapest dig, central, but definitely not classy.

--isla maia

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

[xcoldricex]

i'll be staying at each place for about 3 months at a time. it doesn't have to be classy. just a good location, cheap, and livable... just not MAD sketchy.

[isla maia]

Quote:

i'll be staying at each place for about 3 months at a time. it doesn't have to be classy. just a good location, cheap, and livable... just not MAD sketchy.

--- Original message by xcoldricex on Dec 21, 2004 07:39 AM

right, so you can totally forget chungking mansion, it's a ... er ... slum, but hey, way back in the 60's it was the IT place and really happening. i should know, my dad's musician mates who were rocking hong kong then all lived there.

for three months, you can take one of those long-staying hotel rooms, or short-term apartments. what you should do is this ... if you can get a hold of hong kong's major newspaper, the south china morning post, check out the classified section, there's a portion on residential, and you get a lot of offers there, from short-term share-apartments, to other deals. if you can't get a hold of the paper, book at least a couple of days in hong kong in one of the hotels, there's rates from as little below US$100 a day, and then check the paper out. they move fast in hong kong, so once you see something, call the number up and get an appointment, then you can check out the place and if you like it, negotiate, and your moving in can be done in about 1-2 days.

then you're set for 3 months. short term leases go from a month to a year.

some creatives i know get introduced to friends there who know friends they know, and from that network, there's usually a room available to accommodate short term visitors. hong kong residents tend to be hospitable as they travel around often and bunk out in other friend's pads all around asia.

i'll be back early january, if you're not heading there by then, i'll post a place for you to check out.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

[xcoldricex]

hey, i won't be going till the summer at the earliest. so anywhere between july 2005 to july 2006. i'm just trying to get a sense. i've found some hostels for yokyo that are as low as $25 a night for the first week while i'm looking. i haven't looked into hong kong yet.

i see that you've traveled around quite a bit, i was wondering if you dabble in any of the music scenes in shanghai, hong kong, xian even... do you happen to know anything about the hip-hop scenes or any of the club scenes? i'm lacking in contacts and could use a lot more.

thanks a lot for your help, i appreciate it a lot!

[isla maia]

music scene - hmm. for hong kong, action is generally around the lan kwai fong and soho area, but the club scene's pretty fickle, some clubs are hot for a period then something else comes up and everyone goes to check that place and hang around there for a bit before they get bored. i've got friends who own clubs there but can't recommend now as they often end up changing the club names and interior just to get the attention of the clubbers back. i don't know if the name's still the same.

for shanghai, i'll have to ask our recording studio guys there as usually i'm tied up in-doors listening to new tracks instead of checking out the scene.

for xian, i'll post after january, i'll find out and let you know.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

[hongdae]

seoul's hip hop scene seems to be concentrated around the hongik university area (line 2 subway). google 'club day' and 'hongdae' for hip hop clubs.

in sinchon, there are a bunch of love hotels which are probably the best value for $. large tv's, sometimes broadband PC's, always clean, usually new looking interiors. you can always ask to see the rooms and unlike japan you can stay for a few nights. prices between w40,000 - w50,000 and more for saturdays.

enjoy!

[poly800rock]

$25 dollars in Tokyo is pretty ridulously cheap! But you might kind of be out in the sticks. I stayed out in a place in Minowa and it's a good 45-1 hour commute to get to Shibuya and trains close at 1AM i think....

But $25 is an INSANE deal

[daikonyama]

Ha, I think I know where you're talking about... The one hostel in Yoyogi right?

You gotta book before you get there, for sure cause it's always full. This place is close to everything too, like 3 stops (Sangubashi) from Shinjuku on the Odakyu line. It's clean and cheap, but it's kind of a pain that it shuts down for a few days of every month, and that you can't be in the place from 9am to 5pm... They will literally bang on your door to get you out of there... how they knew I was still sleeping I have no idea...

Don't stay in capsule hotels -- especially in Kyobashi. I found a roach in my capsule. Man that was a rough night.