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Japan!

Hmmm....I'm not sure. If I'm being practical, Hong Kong because DH could possibly try to get a job there. For just kicks, I would say Singapore for the great food. It's a great disappointment that I have not traveled more in Asia, but I hope to do so at one point in life.

I've lived in Tokyo and Hong Kong. I'd definitely go back to live in Hong Kong or would consider Singapore. I would definitely visit Japan (I loved it), but think living there with kids would be a lot harder than it was living there as childless adults.

If I had to live my regular life, I would choose Singapore. If I were there for a year and didn't have to think about work and education obligations, I wouldn't have a home base at all, I would literally just constantly travel.

@looch: True! I think I would just rent a house somewhere for a few weeks at a time in each country I wanted to visit.

@BKCaribBaby: @lamariniere: @PinkElephant: @lamariniere: Wow I am so surprised all of you have Hong Kong on your list of places to live in in Asia...! I am from Hong Kong and while I'd love it in the 80s and 90s, after 1997 (British turned it over back to China), and especially the past 5-10 years it has become a very different place. Sooooo crowded, so many people from mainland China coming and the government doesn't care to control it, and how people are so unhappy with the government, not to mention it is so humid and hot. Schools may be great for expats, but the educational system has become so bad for the locals. I don't know, for me if there is no particular reason I would not choose to live in Hong Kong.... I miss the food so dearly though. But maybe for expats it is a totally different story.....

@irene: If we did live there, we would live as expats. We currently live as expats and there are definite benefits to the lifestyle that locals don't have or can't obtain as easily. Schools would be a huge factor, but we are putting our LOs in a school that has affiliates worldwide, and I know they have one in HK, which would be a huge selling point for us.

Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong

@irene: @Andrea: My experience in Hong Kong was as an expat. I love Hong Kong for the food (both the variety of Asian cuisines and the fresh local seafood available), the proximity of the bustling city to nature (our family did so much amazing hiking to gorgeous beaches), the fantastic private medical care we received, the affordability of having household help, and the opportunities to travel relatively inexpensively to other destinations in Asia. Life was definitely good! For just a few years, (four in our case), I was willing to put up with some of the annoyances and inconveniences.

We left Hong Kong due to many of the frustrations you mentioned, school being one of them. Since my DDs were born in HK, we were on our own for getting them into (and paying for) a private school, which is REALLY tricky - there are just way more families wanting international school spots than there are places. After volunteering to tutor English at some of the local schools, I agree with @irene: and wouldn't have wanted my kids in that environment. I felt it stifled creativity/curiosity and put WAY too much rigid academic pressure on children. If we were to go back, paying school tuition/securing us a debenture for desireable school spots would be a requirment of my husbands contract. I would, however, still have some of the same reservations about sourcing of meats/produce, air quality, etc. that I have now. As far as convenience, even in the two years since we've left there have been huge strides in the number of stores (Target!!) that ship to Hong Kong, and things have changed a bit in terms of Mainland Chinese being able to come over to take advantage of HK resources - for example, I know that the private hospital where I delivered my DDs was not overcrowded for the birth of DD2 because they started requiring patients to hold a Hong Kong identification card. But I'll be clear - it would definitely be another TEMPORARY stint - I couldn't give up Super Target and good Mexican food forever