2 of us heading to SG

[Bake]

Hi everyone! Me and the missus are debating a job based in SG. It is a promotion but we'll be leaving Tokyo where we've been for the last 12 years. Looking to make sure we love our new home. Thanks!!!

Priorities:
- rental budget is 4-5k sgd (flexible)
- Employer is in one financial (Raffles)
- Just the 2 of us for now- no kids. Looking for reasonable sized 1-2 bedrooms (1 for home office). Very comfortable, good view, good amenities, esp gym, food markets, etc. We are kind of foodies (prefer comfortable bistros etc to fancy Michelin star restaurants and enjoy a good bottle of wine with dinner).
- No car, would prefer to live in a great walking area / cab lifestyle.
- Relo covered by company.

Nice to have:
- Wife is Japanese. Access to Japanese resources (markets etc) are nice but we don't want to live in a 'Japanese community'.

Your current home and commute:
- We live in a 1 bedroom condo in Ebisu, in central Tokyo. Current commute is 45 min but new job will be hectic so hoping to have fast access to the office.

Thank you!!!!

[the lynx]

Roughly based on your requirement, I would recommend living at River Valley Road area (specifically close to Mohamed Sultan Road area). You will be close to Liang Court, where the Japanese supermarket (Meidi-Ya) is, plus other Japanese-friendly establishment.

I do not know which condo will have good gym. But River Valley has nice jogging route along Alexandra canal and parts of Park Connector Network (great for bikes and running). You will close to fancy restaurants in Robertson Quay, Clarke Quay and Boat Quay (in descending order of proximity), and also Orchard Road shopping belt (yup, fancy restaurants too).

Depending on which section of Raffles, you can literally take bus door-to-door to your office. Plenty of gyms and yoga/pilates centres all over Raffles so at least you've got that part covered.

Budget-wise, you're probably over-budgeted because rental market has hit low so some people can get SGD3k for simple 2-bedder condo for probably 800sqm (without huge gym or huge pool) at RV Road area.

Let's see what others have to say.

[rarkins]

the lynx's advice above is good - you would probably like living within walking distance of Liang Court, and the areas along the river are nice regardless.

A few condo suggestions you could check out, all of these are on the south side of the river:
- The Riverwalk Apartments (walking distance to both Raffles Place as well as Liang Court)
- The Riverside Plaza
- River Place

By the way, apartment sizes can sometimes be surprisingly small, although if you're coming from Tokyo then you're probably familiar with the challenge. Best though to work out your minimum square feet requirements are and make sure you check that first before seeing any in person.