Bukit Timah - condos to avoid?

[JR8]

With practice online backed up real world visits you'll quickly be able to wade through the condos and work out which ones you'll accept.

Yeah trouble with that is, most have just landed*, are getting stuck right into a new job, and have 4 weeks (max) to figure this place's offerings out.




* wouldn't know the difference between Bukit Batok, and Bukit Bintang, or indeed Bukit Bumi if such a place existed...

[migratingbird]

What is it??? WOuld love to have a nosey!

[zzm9980]

What is it??? WOuld love to have a nosey!

Bukit Batok is a remote neighborhood (also referred to colloquially as "ulu ulu") in Singapore. Bukit Bintang is a neighborhood in Kuala Lumpur popular with tourists, backpackers, and westerns for street food, bars, and hookers.

[Strong Eagle]

What is it??? WOuld love to have a nosey!

Bukit Batok is a remote neighborhood...

Had to laugh at that one, considering that it's 4 or 5 kilometers down the PIE from Watten Estates, and especially considering that 50, 60, or 80 kilometer commutes aren't out of the ordinary in Houston.

[Hannieroo]

My kid used to do 30 miles each way to school in Houston. I live in Bukit Batok and I can drive my kids to school in 20 minutes in rush hour and get to orchard in 15 outside of rush hour. It's well located.

For easy to nexus in the Bukit timah area you need to be looking in the beauty world area. If you don't mind two buses (but quick ones) then the condos at the top of toh tuck work, a few staff live in that area. A lot closer is the condos at the bottom of sunset. If you want to walk it there is a condo next door to the school called pine valley, a lot of staff live there.

[Hannieroo]

Can I ask, do you not get a settling in book with feedback on this stuff from the school? Where's good and easy to live etc? Because if you don't our parent group has one that wouldn't be hard to modify.

[zzm9980]

What is it??? WOuld love to have a nosey!

Bukit Batok is a remote neighborhood...

Had to laugh at that one, considering that it's 4 or 5 kilometers down the PIE from Watten Estates, and especially considering that 50, 60, or 80 kilometer commutes aren't out of the ordinary in Houston.

My kid used to do 30 miles each way to school in Houston. I live in Bukit Batok and I can drive my kids to school in 20 minutes in rush hour and get to orchard in 15 outside of rush hour. It's well located.

Relevant parts highlighted. Most people won't be driving. By US or whatever standards it may be close distance wise, or under an arbitrary commute time, but it's still more remote than not compared to other areas of Singapore. For us foreigners, most areas of Singapore are 'convenient' compared to what we're used to.

Besides, the whole post was a joke to answer OP's rather serious concern over JR8's own joke. And I figured I'd have some KL-local bitching at me about hookers in Bukit Bintang

[Strong Eagle]

And I figured I'd have some KL-local bitching at me about hookers in Bukit Bintang

There are _hookers_ in Buki Bintang? Do tell.

[zzm9980]

And I figured I'd have some KL-local bitching at me about hookers in Bukit Bintang

There are _hookers_ in Buki Bintang? Do tell.

Well, so I've uhm...heard...

[x9200]

Ahhh thanks people. Springdale looks like a good option, to be honest. The Lynx - we've been shown a few properties around where you are suggesting, and none of them were any good, which is a shame as it would be ace to live so close to work. It would help if estate agents posted pics of the rooms themselves rather than just the condo facilities!

First, within a condo the quality of the units varies. It varies a lot. This whole "Hume Ave" cluster of condos got some nice units too and I am a bit sceptical what could you get for 3.5k money in the Queenstown / Clementi area. I would say the main problem with the Hume Ave cluster is that it is generally overpriced and it may be even more overpriced after the MRT line is completed.
I would suggest to check Bukit Batok area condos (there are 2 next to the MRT stations) as well as those sitting along Jalan Jurong Ketchil and Bukit Batok East Ave 6.

[the lynx]

And I figured I'd have some KL-local bitching at me about hookers in Bukit Bintang

There are _hookers_ in Buki Bintang? Do tell.

Well, so I've uhm...heard...

There are. The ones that are much much subtle... Expensive ones. But very likely you're looking for ONS with consenting (hot) partner if you're all blinged up (or suited up for men) in classy way and hanging around a very expensive bar up there.

[JR8]

With practice online backed up real world visits you'll quickly be able to wade through the condos and work out which ones you'll accept.

Yeah trouble with that is, most have just landed*, are getting stuck right into a new job, and have 4 weeks (max) to figure this place's offerings out.

* wouldn't know the difference between Bukit Batok, and Bukit Bintang, or indeed Bukit Bumi if such a place existed...

What is it??? WOuld love to have a nosey!

Ah sorry, I was horsing around a bit there. Though I was also making the serious point that I do not think it possible to decide where to live prior to arrival. I think the best thing to do is prior research and narrow it down to a short-list of candidate areas, or a rough geographic area that includes a few neighbourhoods. Trying to narrow things down further, before arrival, is like looking through a foggy lens; you can only see part of the picture.

---

For the record, Bukit Batok is as ZZM writes 'ulu ulu' which is Malay for 'really back-woods!'. [Example: 'I thought my place was pretty ulu, but his is totally ulu ulu man!']. I'd reckon most expats would recognise the name Bukit Batok, but wouldn't know where it is... and indeed I've just had to look it up on a map too

Bukit Bintang is as mentioned a high-end district of central KL. That said, I was using it as an imagined district in SG, with reference to Bintang beer, #1 seller in Indonesia. Bintang means 'star'.

Bukit Bumi. Bumi is short for bumiputera, again a Malay word/term. It translates literally as 'son of the soil', and means a Malay of the indigenous Malay race. I.e. Not Chinese, not Indian or Other. It crops up in politics as there are government policies (housing etc) that positively discriminate in favour of bumis. To me bumi means, well, all of the above, but also someone who is a bit of a yokel/hick/farm-boy, patriotic but easy-going with it.

Lastly Bukit. Bukit translates literally from Malay as 'hill'. As hilly areas tend to get more air-flow they historically are more comfortable places to live (in Asia!). So areas named 'Bukit [XYZ]' suggest they're probably pretty high class. This is certainly the case with Bukit Timah.

p.s. 'Bukit' is also a mildly offensive Malay insult, used against some Chinese people (Chinese people from China, aka 'PRCs', not Chinese SGns - big difference!). It means 'hill', and in this instance means 'he comes from the hills' [aka back-woods]. So you could say 'The supermarket was a nightmare this afternoon, it was filled with bukits wondering about in groups inspecting every single item like they're in a flippin' museum or something'. [real life example ]

Ain't language fun ...

[x9200]

I missed the Bukit Batok part. It is not a remote area at all. It is a well balanced location in terms of rental prices and the distance to more central areas. Many expats are affected by a flock behavior and they tend to go where they know other expats go. This has some good and some bad sides. Bad ones, they miss some other very reasonable places. The Hume Ave/Hillview area has large clusters of condos attracting this kind of crowd also based on the fact that this cluster is around for many years already. Now, this ulu-ulu Bukit Batok is only few hundred meters away from this well established cluster.
On top of this, majority if not all the people speculating about it in this thread probably never been there not to mention living there.

[the lynx]

I missed the Bukit Batok part. It is not a remote area at all. It is a well balanced location in terms of rental prices and the distance to more central areas. Many expats are affected by a flock behavior and they tend to go where they know other expats go. This has some good and some bad sides. Bad ones, they miss some other very reasonable places. The Hume Ave/Hillview area has large clusters of condos attracting this kind of crowd also based on the fact that this cluster is around for many years already. Now, this ulu-ulu Bukit Batok is only few hundred meters away from this well established cluster.
On top of this, majority if not all the people speculating about it in this thread probably never been there not to mention living there.

I worked there. Even slept there for better part of my working days there

[x9200]

I missed the Bukit Batok part. It is not a remote area at all. It is a well balanced location in terms of rental prices and the distance to more central areas. Many expats are affected by a flock behavior and they tend to go where they know other expats go. This has some good and some bad sides. Bad ones, they miss some other very reasonable places. The Hume Ave/Hillview area has large clusters of condos attracting this kind of crowd also based on the fact that this cluster is around for many years already. Now, this ulu-ulu Bukit Batok is only few hundred meters away from this well established cluster.
On top of this, majority if not all the people speculating about it in this thread probably never been there not to mention living there.

I worked there. Even slept there for better part of my working days there

No worry. That's why I used the word "majority".