I'm doing this now, but somehow have stopped and fell in love with the Philippines.

HK, is expensive. Tokyo, is not, but I suggest doing a sharehouse, do not do an apartment. Serviced share house should be $350/month in Tokyo. You don't have to commute so who cares where, right? Manila/Philippines, cheap enough condo to rent a month for about $400.

Also, meetup.com and language school. I love Japanese, and need to continue picking it up.