Katongirl wrote:I'm wondering... how much of "the good life" of the relaxed suburban lifestyle can one replicate in Singapore? I'm talking about cooking healthy meals at home most days
Sure, if you have time after your work-day. Use local ingredients for local dishes and it needn't be expensive.
Katongirl wrote:barbeque
If in a
condo, you book the BBQ pits. If in a landed
property (house), dunno, maybe you stoke one up the back garden.
Katongirl wrote:having a dog, walking the dog
The in/outs and cultural issues of that have been discussed many times before.
Katongirl wrote:nature space
There are some, though all are managed to some extent (this is SG!). From Botanic Gardens, to Changi Boardwalk, to the reservoir/forests (McKenzie etc), to offshore islands like Pulau Ubin. The wilder and more real it is the harder it is to get to, as a rule of thumb.
Katongirl wrote:private space
Inside your home with the curtains drawn (and windows closed if noise is an issue vs privacy).
Katongirl wrote: relaxed atmosphere
This one made me pause for thought. There don't seem to be so many of these. Hiking around McRitchie is to some extent, though you have to gauge hydration and UV carefully. Dinner at a nice restaurant can be, it helps if it's one I'm familiar with (hence no surprises/disappointments) and we're successfully seated at our pre-booked table. Beers out with the regulars here, because via the collective experience/wisdom there won't be any major surprises that cannot be dealt with.
And maybe that's it. SG is not an inherently 'relaxed place' due to the nature and culture of the people who make up society here. I'll give you just one example. At our home we're lucky to have a lovely big balcony and I like to take work-breaks out there, having a coffee, reading my post or a paper, and having the occasional cigarillo. And every couple of months if we're having a house-party the glass doors are slid right back so people can come and go as if one space, lounge >< balcony, with food served on a table on the balcony. - But. - The adjacent unit on one side faces at 90 degrees right down this terrace. At the nearest point maybe 4M away, but close enough that there is a feeling they're always there (7am-11pm) observing what's going on. And if it's something they don't like they're going to make that known. I have a cigarillo, and that's the cue for much childish OTT 'death-coughing'. We have friends over, they stand and stare bobbing in and out of sight, and talk loudly, then slam all their windows and draw their blinds down. Doesn't matter that what I'm doing is all 100% permitted, they don't like it and want us to know. Meanwhile we get it back in spades from them. They haven't a balcony on the side facing us, but they keep their windows open all day. Banging around in the kitchen/bathrooms 7-11, including the fumes from ... presumably them boiling up dog stew or something that's smells as bad. Their children playing piano very badly for several hours a day, and so on, and so on... If I choose to keep our windows/doors open, that's life (i.e. I allow for some level of anti-social behaviour, that would
never be tolerated in the West). I close our windows when they're mosquito-fogging, or it's really stormy. I.e. I do not keep them open 24/7 and then
demand that any matters I don't like arising from that must cease. So there's something of a simmering kiasu thing going on. They'll never come and seek to discuss any concerns (though I had a dream a while back the bulldog-faced lady of the household had!

So real I'm still not
100% sure it was just a dream). The end result is that
one little potential oasis of calm, part of our very home, is in fact an inter-neighbour battleground. What a shame.
Katongirl wrote:myob yet supportive community, etc. (Not eating out, clubbing, drinking, shopping.) Or more relevantly, how much household income to have to have my preferred "good life"?
'Mind your own business'? As above, very unlikely IME.
Without knowing what kind of home you'd want, and what your income might be, there is no way of saying. But it might be fair to say that in general terms your ability to achieve
your wish-list correlates well vs your household income.
p.s. Edit to add. I just want to be clear. As with anywhere there will be facets you dislike, but on balance hopefully the positives will far outweigh them. I enjoy living here. What I describe is a minor negative amongst the whole, that is specific to
my current experience.