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-   -   Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp (https://britishexpats.com/forum/middle-east-60/dubai-singapore-heeeeeeeeeelp-509821/)

annann Jan 28th 2008 5:41 pm

Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
Well it looks like we may be moving to Singapore later in the year.
Can anyone give me any advice..............You know the usual............where to live, cost of living, price of cars and furniture, nice restaurants, club or clubs to join.

Really panicing about the move, so any help, advice or recommendations would be great.

The Dean Jan 28th 2008 5:52 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by annann (Post 5849915)
Well it looks like we may be moving to Singapore later in the year.
Can anyone give me any advice..............You know the usual............where to live, cost of living, price of cars and furniture, nice restaurants, club or clubs to join.

Really panicing about the move, so any help, advice or recommendations would be great.

Watch out for the 'Troubadour Club' (I think - my memory may be weak, and it was about 20 years ago).

I chatted up a lovely-looking lady in there one night - and soon regretted not giving her the 'Crocodile Dundee' test.......

As a female (?) you'd probably be OK though..........

annann Jan 28th 2008 6:08 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
It's a bugger when ladies (?) hide their assests. Still I hope it didnt cost you too much.!!!!!!

No, I dont suppose I'll be visiting that club..............uneless I' m piddled and DH thinks he can get away with it.

Englishmum Jan 28th 2008 8:05 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by annann (Post 5849915)
Well it looks like we may be moving to Singapore later in the year.
Can anyone give me any advice..............You know the usual............where to live, cost of living, price of cars and furniture, nice restaurants, club or clubs to join.

Really panicing about the move, so any help, advice or recommendations would be great.


Your questions are too broad to answer in full here! What is your lifestyle currently like - for example do you have small children, teenage children or are you just a couple?

Do you want to live in a house or in a condo? Do you or will you have pets?

There are terraced houses or detached houses and the old colonial Black & White houses do have large gardens - and often snakes, monitor lizards etc! Do you want to live near the CBD or near Orchard Road or happy to live further out? If a condo, low-rise or high-rise? What kind of facilities do you want - would you be content with just a pool or would you expect 'full' facilities ie. tennis/squash court, clubhouse, mini-mart, playroom, playground, barbie pits etc. The most expensive areas tend to be what was known as Districts 9 and 10....Orchard Road area heading out towards Holland Village, Jelita and Bukit Timah. The River Valley Road area is also popular, or heading north the Novena, Newton, Chancery areas. People tend to choose where to live based on either proximity to the office or to the international schools and travel time. We initially lived in the Duchess area (Dist 10) but had to battle through horrid commuter traffic to/from my spouse's office, so we then moved south to District 5 (Pasir Panjang) and lived in a wonderful condo within a short drive of my children's schools and the Science Park.

Where in Singers will you or your spouse be working?

Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy a car and they almost all get scrapped at 10 years old - we were very lucky in that we had a company car, but I had to chauffeur my spouse to and from work everyday (he was working at the Science Park, not in the CBD) and it is very common for expat spouses to do this in Singapore.

You can even get some cars registered which can only be driven in off-peak hours. Otherwise, taxis and buses are cheap and plentiful and if you live in some areas there is the MRT (subway/underground trains).

I left Singers a few years ago so you might like to check out the Singapore edition of Time Out, or check the IS weekly magazine when you arrive for dining and entertainment:

http://www.timeout.com/sg/en/

Orchard Towers is known as the 'Four Floors of Whores' - it's opposite the Hilton Hotel. Lots of hookers ply their trade with expats and when the US naval ships are in port, many of them are the 'Thai Takeaways' visiting as 'tourists' for the weekend LOL! It's quite safe there, I've been to a few bars in OT and have had some good laughs with my girlfriends there...:)

Furniture.....well there's IKEA of course, and Courts (blah) but if you want to buy antique Chinese furniture or Indonesian furniture (take care, a lot of the wood hasn't been seasoned and will crack when you move back to a more temperate climate) then there are loads of shops in Dempsey Road, off Holland Road - it's quite near to the Botanic gardens and the US Embassy. Lots of oriental carpet shops there too...actually everything in Dempsey Road is an old colonial British Army base, so it's all scattered buildings. Other antique furniture shops are on Bukit Timah Road in the Swiss Club Rd vicinity.

Clubs; quite a few to choose from. The snobbiest expat one is the Tanglin Club - I sometimes went there with a friend who was a member and would run into my husband's boss who looked shocked that I was in there LOL! Lots of rules and a tad 'stuffy'.

We were members of the British Club...but we had kids so there was a lot for them to do there and it's more casual. We really liked it as they had a formal dining room, a pub where you could eat and the terrace adjacent to the pool so you could eat with just a sarong over your cossie. The club is in one of the greenest and highest areas of the city and felt more like a country club than say, the American Club which is in the city centre (Scotts Road) with all the hubbub and traffic noise. It's almost like a nature reserve, the green macaque monkeys were often swinging from the trees and often trying to steal food from the bins!

http://www.britishclub.org.sg/Public...?id=2005000021

Other clubs include the Hollandse Club (Dutch) - quite nice, the Swiss Club, Singapore Cricket Club at the Padang - not much to do there really, ok for lunch with a member though; the Pinetree Club - mostly locals, Singapore Island Golf & Country Club (expensive and mostly locals).

There is also the British Association (which was a bit 'sedate' so I never joined it!) but I was a volunteer in the office at ANZA - the 'Australian & New Zealand Association' which has lots of social and sporting activities....for any expat association you can be of any nationality, but may have to go on a wait list if not from the 'host' nationality, which usually must consist of 51% of the total membership. There is also the American Womens Association and the American Association.

http://www.anza.org.sg/

http://www.britishassociation.org.sg/

http://www.awasingapore.org/

I loved living in Singapore - I would go back in a heartbeat - even so one does get 'island fever' but hey, it's just a couple of hours flight to Bali and even less to Phuket, Bangkok, Ko Samui etc, sadly I'm currently in New Jersey...:blink:

Do check out http://www.expatsingapore.com or http://www.singapore-expat.com

I do know that rental prices are very high right now (due to a lot of condos due to be demolished for redevelopment) but I've heard that they're beginning to stabilise or even come down a little in price. I guess that ultimately your housing budget will determine where you're going to live, but there is a lot of choice.

Sam FTQ Jan 29th 2008 1:53 am

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
Wow Englishmum, you make it all sound so nice!

My only experience of Singapore is of the airport on my way to Sydney once. I was queueing for the loo, and obviously getting a bit impatient, because this scary, toothless hag with a broom came up and poked me. She was pointing to a door, and said, "you want squatting room?". For some reason, this really freaked me out and I screamed and ran out.

That experience put me off Singapore for life...

Madam Medusa Jan 29th 2008 3:02 am

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by annann (Post 5849915)
Well it looks like we may be moving to Singapore later in the year.
Can anyone give me any advice..............You know the usual............where to live, cost of living, price of cars and furniture, nice restaurants, club or clubs to join.

Really panicing about the move, so any help, advice or recommendations would be great.

annann, don't panic, i'm sure you will love singapore...!! I was just there last month staying with some friends who moved there from dubai and they love it, much prefer it to here...

it is expensive, rents are high and if you want to be right in the centre of things, then apartments tend to be fairly small...Further out, there are some lovely areas and driving anywhere doesn't see a problem. And taxis are cheap and efficient, unlike here...

there are loads of clubs, but waiting lists i think...my friends are members of the American club (it's got restaurants, bars, pool, gym, kids creche, etc etc), and there seems to be some sort of system for buying membership, i'm not quite sure how it works but i could find out if you wanted...

there are loads and loads of fab bars and restaurants, and a lively nightlife. It's also easy to get get out to sentosa for the day...Ohhh, and of course, shopping is good too!!!

If you have any more specific questions, let me know and i can ask my friend...

MM, xx

arbroath_abroad Jan 29th 2008 4:18 am

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
I have spent lots of time through work in Singapore. It will be our next port of call on our expat adventure.

I love the place, its clean, pretty safe and the ladyboys in the Ipanema bar in the 4 floors are sooo welcoming....

its a bloody expensive place to live thou...

Meow Jan 29th 2008 11:32 am

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
I love Singapore - spent much of my childhood there & it's on the list of 'possible places to move to one day'. Used to go to the Tanglin Club all the time :D

It is a fascinating city with some of the best food in the world (love the hawker centres).

arbroath_abroad Jan 29th 2008 12:08 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 5853291)

It is a fascinating city with some of the best food in the world (love the hawker centres).

The Hawker centre at Changi Village is the best. If anyone has a long stopover in singapore and can leave the airport, head there:thumbup:

Paidtoplease Jan 29th 2008 12:09 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by arbroath_abroad (Post 5853411)
The Hawker centre at Changi Village is the best. If anyone has a long stopover in singapore and can leave the airport, head there:thumbup:

What is it ???

arbroath_abroad Jan 29th 2008 12:11 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by Paidtoplease (Post 5853419)
What is it ???

they are local no frills food stalls, with plastic tables and chairs etc. But the food is just amazing and the Tiger lager is cheap.

Its where all the working class locals tend to eat

Paidtoplease Jan 29th 2008 12:12 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 

Originally Posted by arbroath_abroad (Post 5853432)
they are local no frills food stalls, with plastic tables and chairs etc. But the food is just amazing and the Tiger lager is cheap.

Its where all the working class locals tend to eat

They do say follow the locals anywhere and that is where the best food is....

Madam Medusa Jan 29th 2008 1:13 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
they also do the best chilli and black pepper crab in the whole world in singapore...and it costs nearly nothing...

MM, xx

typical Jan 29th 2008 2:41 pm

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
Aaah, I miss it... never ever missed having a car, except for heading to the rowing club...

Great nightlife, great atmosphere. Was chatting to a friend who was over in the Kingdom with Lee Kuan Yew last week - good memories.

lionheart Jan 30th 2008 10:21 am

Re: Dubai to Singapore ............heeeeeeeeeelp
 
You lucky thing...personally I would give my left arm for a move to Singapore.


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