Making a house a home

How does a country girl who loves gardening, hiking, camping, and the outdoors in general end up in an urban Asian city? Good question! The good thing is I love culture, diversity and trying new things. That is what is going to make this adventure a good one!

We started the house hunting process here in Singapore. Let me correct myself, apartment or condo hunting process. Having a house here (landed property) is an amazing luxury. Homes of any sort are outrageously expensive to buy. (Millions! Even for a small condo) Therefore, we will be renting. Rent is also quite expensive ($5000/month for a decent 3BR/2BA). We have a great agent. Richard is originally from Poland, but has lived in Singapore most of his life. He has really tried to help us find "the right" place. We have looked in several parts of town: West, Holland, Bukit Timah, River Valley, and East. It appears as though you get more for your money in the East which is good since we like that area.

A few things that are standard here are: marble,granite, wood or tile floors(no wall to all carpet here); small kitchens (many with NO oven or dishwasher) and a maids quarters (includes an all in one bathroom and a small closet for a bed) I'll elaborate on that another day for sure!

We saw an amazing property in the West the first day. It was brand new and had lots of space (1500sqft, big on Singapore terms) A huge balcony, which we loved! One major drawback is that it was in the West. Not where we want to be.

Most of the properties in the central area were smaller and were not as updated as we would have liked. The central area also poses some walking issues. We thought that you would be able to walk out of the building and out to the street to shops or restaurants etc. Like in NYC, but honestly, this isn't as easy as we would have thought. Central Singapore is not always pedestrian friendly and not at all bike friendly. Busy with lots of traffic, at least in the central areas. The botanical garden is great though and is walking distance from several properties.

There were a couple properties we liked in the central area:
Tanglin View - walking distance to a waterway walking trail that takes you to the Clarke Quay area. Although this was the smallest at only 1100sqft.
Duet - our favorite in this area! Had lot of space (1700+ sqft)and a balcony overlooking the pool that spanned the entire frontage of the apartment. This property was over our planned budget though.

The East provided more options. We have determined we really like the modern look and feel and we really would like to have a decent sized balcony that you can actually use. A nice pool and kids play area are a must as well. I really want an oven (need to be able to make cc cookies!), but could do without a dishwasher. (can't have it all)

Our favorites (all in our budget):
The Belvedere - it is decorated very modern, comes with decent furniture, great views (Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore flyer), nice balcony, updated kitchen w/oven, private elevator, and great decorating and window treatments. The bedrooms are a bit small and I didn't see a lot of little kids while visiting. Although, they have 2 small playgrounds one right next to the pool. Another great feature is that it is right next to Katong Park, you can walk to the underpass to the beach, and I think we can walk to the Eton House school.

We also liked Waterplace - the pool here has 2 kids pools and a waterside and play area for the kids. It is fairly modern as well and has an oven. It is a little darker inside and the views face the pool and not the city. There isn't a balcony either. It is a little further walk to the park, underpass, and school, but you can walk to the arena area where there are restaurants and entertainment.

One Amber is another option - great layout with a more open kitchen, modern updated interior, small balcony. It was not as close to the school, park and beach. It also had a lot of built-ins that were odd looking, obstructed the view in the master, and were plum colored (strange color choice).

So, those are our best options all of which seem pretty good! For some reason I can't post photos from my iPad, but will when I get home. We leave Saturday am here and get back Saturday evening there. We are pretty exhausted, but feeling good about our options. We'll have made our choices by the time we are home and can fill you in on that later.

Can't wait to get home as we miss our little E tons!!!!
See you back in the states!