moving to Singapore, need your advice :)

[Emin_kn]

Greetz ladies and gents! This forum is probably full of such topics already, so I'm sorry for inconvenience
I will be moving to Singapore for 4 months in October, and need to start looking for an apartment. Here is the tricky part - I have never been there before and have absolutely no clue about the local "geography". So I'm not even sure where to look for an apartment. I would ideally need something not too far away from Changi South Ave (that's where our office is). Could you please share your experience in this sense? Where (in which districts) would it be better to look for a place? I have been told that Changi South Ave area is quite far away from the city center. What is "far away" in Singapore terms? I will certainly spend time in the office during the weekdays, but on the other hand would love to be able to commute easily to the city center anytime I want. A colleague of mine told me that the following districts would be suitable:
1.Bedok
2.Paya Lebar
3.Simei
4.Tanah Merah
But aren't they too far from the centers of social life?
Please share in case you have ideas in this regard My budget is approx 1000-1300 sgd.
Thanks a lot!

Cheers,
Emin.

[nutnut]

They are all in the vacinity of your work, they would be perfect, bear in mind to get to the city centre from the MRT in any of those locations is around 20 mins, so it's really not that far!

I take it you are looking for a room, not an apartment to yourself, 1.3K will get you a room, but you'd be struggling to get anything more!

if you are here for 4 months, you may find issues, what kind of pass will you be on? You cannot rent without a residency permit, there are plenty of threads with this information in, if that's the case, your options are Serviced Apartments, or hotels.... they definitely won't fit in to your budget!

Good luck!

[Emin_kn]

Hi! thanx for the reply!
I will have a residency permit, namely a Training Employment Pass. Not sure if it's the same thing
So for 1.3 k I won't be able to get a single apartment, is that right? I've been renting shared apartments all around Europe for the last couple of years, and would definitely love to enjoy some solitude this time
Another question - I've seen pretty many offers of condo apartments, all on high floor, "windy", with a nice view, pool, gym, etc. Is it really as good as it sounds? And what does the "windy" thing actually mean?

Cheers!

Emin

[zzm9980]

$1300 will be a room in someone else's unit, *maybe* equal footing roommates in a semi-decent condo. No way you'll live alone.

If it doesn't say "nice view", assume you will have a view of only someone's drying laundry. If it does, you will have anywhere from a clear view of the sea or a park, to a partial view of 'something else that isn't laundry' if you crank your neck 120 degrees while halfway out the window.

Windy is important because a nice breeze means you won't need the aircon or fans on non-stop to prevent yourself from dying. Be skeptical on how nice the breeze is. The strong breezes tend to come seasonally (three month stints), only two of the seasons, and those two come from different directions. So it is fair to assume you will only have a good breeze a quarter of the year, if you're lucky enough at that.

Pool and gym can be anything from a pool and a gym to a dried-up fountain and a broken exercise bike in a closet. Basically the theme is, be extremely skeptical of anything they say in the ads unless you see photos. And if you see photos, there is a good chance it's not the actual unit, but another unit in the building. (Somehow that passes as 'legit' here)

Good luck! If you have questions about specific locations or properties, feel free to ask.