Singapore Airlines.
I have lived at three location in the USA, one in Spain, several in the UK, and five in Singapore, and looked at many more. I shall tell you about London, England, the USA, Spain and Singapore.
The UK flag with the three crosses of England's St George, the cross of plus sign in red on white; the white x on blue for St Andrew of Scotland
UKWe had lived on the top floor, which in the UK would be called ground, first, second. But in the USA and Singapore, first, second, third floor.
We were young marrieds, under thirty, fit and healthy. No problem, yet.
The first problem was that when I had a baby my father carried a heavy weighing machine all the way to the top floor. He damaged his back and was off work. He had recurrent back problems for the rest of his life.
Our child aged one tried to climb over the balcony. We moved.
Spanish flag, red and yellow with the crown
SPAINIn winter we had a free holiday. My parents had a flat in Spain for many years. It was on the seafront and also had an outdoor pool. We were in walking distance of the shops.
When they bought it, at a reasonable price, it needed updating. My husband and I drove from the UK to Spain with a sink and taps for my parents. They knew some Spanish, but not enough to be sure of buying a moderately priced sink with the correct matching taps and all the fixings and basic tools.
Then my husband got a transfer from the UK to the USA.
USA
Our most enjoyable experience, though it seemed temporary and unsettled at the time, was on arrival, sharing a three-storey town house near Washington DC, with other members of the company. It was near where my husband worked, no rental cost because the house was owned by the company.
The US flag with stars and stripes.
Anything you needed could be bought from petty cash taken from the office. Iron, ironing board, toaster, kettle, duvet and pillowcases, towels. When you left you could take the items with you or leave them to be used overnight by new arrivals until they bought what they wanted.
We had instant advice on where to eat and shop. Sometimes somebody had a car, or a hired car. We had group meals out.
Somebody to chat to if you were alone at home whilst others were working at the office. Need the number of personnel? Want to phone the office janitor to go back to collect something? Somebody had it.
You could gen up on office politics and people you were meeting.
Signs were everywhere. How to use the washing machine, where to buy the cheapest washing powder or coffee. Vouchers for discounts pinned to the kitchen board. Boxes of things left behind such as coffee mugs with signs: Please borrow or take.
We called property agents and were shown properties with graffiti. We found a block with flats with balconies and pool. No lift so we accepted the middle floor. We had problems with hearing noise from overhead, and threats from the people below who claimed we woke their baby. Every block had people at loggerheads with people below or above.
I got threats from the people below. We reported this to the management. They sat in the flat below for an hour and told the renters below that we were just walking about normally. The next day the people below moved out, owing rent.
Then we went to Singapore.
Singapore LocationOur first rental property was in the centre of the city. That saved on taxis. I could always get home. Often I could walk home. If it was raining and no taxis were available, I could take the train.
I tried bridge groups and writing groups. Years later I discovered Toastmasters International.
The Singapore flag, red and white with a white crescent and five white five point stars
To find our present property in Singapore, we spent a lot of time with property agents looking at unsuitable properties.They told us we could not get what we wanted. We tried three different agents. We saw four properties with each. A week later we got what we wanted.
What did we see which was unsuitable?
No Window, No View
We were shown a property which seemed like a prison. No balcony. No outlook. High windows. One minute there was too much. Dark and depressing.
Surrounding buildings were noisy, noise reflected, all concrete. Noisy.
What I like about the outside of Singapore buildings is the colour. But what if you are inside? Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
Nope. Some buildings are very pretty on the outside, but not a place where I would want to live or work. Unless there is a balcony or patio or picture window on the other side
Steep Stairs
Next we saw a lovely property. Beautiful swimming pool. Great grounds.
But top floor with steep outside stairs, with flowerpots against the wall making it narrow and one thin guard rail to cling onto.
I remembered our fist flat in London.
So, years later in Singapore, I just knew steep stairs were a nuisance. And outside stairs subject to rain! Slippery.
Puddles. Getting wet. Fine in strong flat shoes. But what about going up and down in high heeled shoes in a cocktail dress for a friend's wedding.
Fortunately, Singapore is installing covered ways between the stations and nearby public housing and schools.
Stairs
For me now a block with outside stairs, uncovered stairs, is not an option. We could get up the stairs. Besides, what if granny visited us, with a stick. What about coming home with heavy shopping? What if it rained and got slippery. That was just the problems we could anticipate. What about delivering furniture? What if somebody injured their ankle? Could not gt back into the home? Could not leave the home?
Perfect For Us
Finally, we found what we wanted. A condo block with a swimming pool near an MRT. Two flats offered.
Block with a swimming pool in Singapore.
We chose the flat which had a balcony with high protective railings. No danger of dropping your hat, learning out to take a photo and losing your phone or overbalancing. Perfect.
The building has lifts. Also inside stairs, and ramps for a wheelchair or suitcase or trolley bringing heavy furniture.
We had balconies both sides with two exits in case of fire or smoke or blocked doorway. We could sit inside with the patio doors open to drink morning coffee and get our daily dose of vitamin D.
Perfection
Now I live in what for me is the perfect property.
Price
And the price? We gradually moved out of the city centre to older properties. The older properties had larger rooms, because older properties were built with larger rooms, more space because we could afford more rooms.
Finally, friends. I live in a huge complex so lots of opportunities. I could not believe how friendly people are. I talk to people by the pool, in the lift, walking up the drive, down to the station. I smile and nod. Once day I realised that in many cases I was the one who initiated the conversation.
You can search a city or a building from overhead with Google earth and get in close to the outside with Streetview. To see the interior you need to fly in and search with a property agent.
The moral is, keep looking. Know what you want, and what you don't want. Good luck in finding your dream destination.
For Quick Delivery of New and Secondhand Furniture And Goods
FOR UK
IKEA
Ebay
Worldwide
Amazon
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Singapore
Carousell
IKEA
Checking Out the Place
https://mapstreetview.com/
Getting There
singaporeair.com
Finding Friends
You can find toastmasters clubs in many countries speaking English, Spanish, French, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay and Tamil.
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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