I would love to tell you the tales, good and bad of living abroad in Hong Kong, from the heady, hot days on junks to the aches and pains of living in a concrete jungle alongside 7 million others. I have lived here for nearly 4 years and have experienced working in a large corporate environment to a small local company, I write a fashion blog for girls who are keen for something more affordable than Gucci and I know everything about fake handbags!

We pay HK$ 28,000 (approx £2,000) a month. That is pretty good for the valley. We signed up for it in October last year and we are locked into a contract for 2 years on that amount.

I have just turned 30 years old (well in February) and have been in Hong Kong since April 2005. I moved out (not having been to Hong Kong ever!) with a large international law firm where I worked in marketing communications, leaving the comforts of my flat in Balham, friends and family. The boyfriend, who I had also left behind (telling him that I needed to do something insane and 'find myself'), was amazingly supportive. He came out six months later, we moved in together for the first time and started fighting over who was going to lug water up the longest escalator home (we lived at the top of Conduit Road in Midlevels). This flat was in an old building, small, but clean and it took seeing 40 others to find it so I cherished it, even if it did have old men's pants hanging in the back window.

Two years in and I was loving Honkers, travelling round Asia, partying like mad and sailing regularly in sports boats regattas in the harbour. But something was missing, I craved creativity so I started my fashion and shopping blog in my lunch breaks and began freelance travel writing (for publications such as Escape travel magazine, Hong Kong Tatler and Metropolis in Japan). It took off and I realised I may have a little bit of talent there. Enthused with energy and being paid pretty well in professional services I saved and saved and made a huge career change, taking a 50% pay cut, foregoing bonuses, the comforts of a plush office in Central and the lovely tea lady, to move to a very small luxury lifestyle PR agency in the red light district. Wow. What a culture shock.

During that time the boy and I moved to Happy Valley (dubbed 'the valley'). Having got slightly tired of the Midlevels expat hub, we moved to another one! We could be closer to 'the club' (Hong Kong Football Club) for regular weekends by the pool with the rest of the valley crowd, not to mention two great locals, an amazing sushi restaurant and a roof terrace to bbq on on Sunday nights under the stars (in the pollution). The only negative is taxi rides to central now cost 40 dollars (approx £2.50) as opposed to 15 (approx £1.00)!

Seven months into the new job and PR is great, I am so glad I made the change. I am still partying but have curbed the booze and kebabs after consulting a lovely Chinese lady, Mimi the nutritionist. She told me I had a fat personality. I've since lost over 4 kg and no one recognises me, which is perfect after a night out in Lan Kwai Fong.

The blog is going really well and I am now the 'go to' person for unique party venues, holiday advice, wedding outfit dilemmas and tailor expertise. I've been dubbed 'the bag lady' and regularly have to escort people to find the best handbags, tucked away shops and custom made shoes in HK.

Hong Kong isn't for everyone, it can be la la land. It's definitely fun and exciting but it can drive you crazy, and you sometimes wish you lived in a small village in the Outer Hebrides. But I love life here.

For a race course view you are talking more around HK$ 40,000 - HK$ 45,000 a month (approx £2,900 - 3,300). Of course a lot of people get a housing allowance written into their contract if they move over but that is becoming less common, especially in the current economic climate.

We do have a maid's room, most flats have these. It is small and cramped and we use it as a storage room as we do not have a live-in maid. A lot of my friends do though, especially if they have children.

I have a friend who is an estate agent so I can ask her re buying, the cheapest rent in the valley for a studio, at a guess, would be around HK$15,000 (£1,100) or maybe less if it was just 1 room - HK$10,000 (£737) but that would be a total bargain and would probably be around 500 square feet or less!

When you rent here you have to be quick off the mark to secure flats. Friends often tell other friends when they are moving and you hear on the grapevine and move in so to avoid missing out on the good places and hopefully to costly agent fees. You normally sign up for a 14-month contract and that doesn't have a break clause in it. I found it a real shock when I arrived as to how much places cost to live in and the state of some of them was unbelievable. It takes a while as the agents tend to show you all the nasty flats which have been on the market for months and months in the hope that you will give up on your dream and settle for a manky home!

www.secretstylist.blogspot.com

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