Ex-Londoners: where is SNG's equiv to Brick Lane ?

scarlettisis · Post by **scarlettisis** » Fri, 13 Oct 2006 5:39 pm

Planning to relocate from London at end of the year. Currently live nr Brick lane - which we love as its close to funky spitalfields and hoxton area .... close to city for shops ... also not far from river....

If we want to be in a funky part of Singapore but close to MRT .... with added bonus of either beach/river views .... where would you recommend?

Bearing in mind one of us will commute to Orchard Rd for work, other work from home so need interesting distractions .... no kids to worry about ....but gym/pool would be nice

Not sure of budget yet but ideally 3 bed so one room can be office

seasider · Post by **seasider** » Fri, 13 Oct 2006 6:29 pm

I'm not sure we do "funky" in Singapore. Holland Village pretends to be, often referred to as Boho, but IMHO it falls far short.

If you hadn't said you wanted condo facilities I would recommend you look at shophouses - the cheapest ones are in Geylang, on the edge of the Red Light District. I know because I live in one. Close to MRT, buses, taxis, local food stalls, and a lot of house for your money. About 3000sq ft I think. We have two HUGE bedrooms and use one as a study/guest room. Some of the houses are used as home offices and art spaces. It's an interesting place to be. (There are a few small condos in the area too.)

Joo Chiat is another area you may look at but not so convenient for the MRT. I know a few artists live there.

With a bigger budget I would live at Blair Road, but it would have to be a much much bigger budget.

The property pages on this site are very informative. You could also look at can.com.sg - I think there are a few articles on different areas.

Bonbon · Post by **Bonbon** » Sat, 14 Oct 2006 7:26 pm

clarke quay/boat quay/robertson quay is my best bet!

I love the area, it can be arty farty, but can't say it can be compared to bricklane. but got river...

or maybe bugis? thought bugis got some funky shops ,but not sure about the river part...

boumbo · Post by **boumbo** » Sat, 14 Oct 2006 9:58 pm

hi there

I ve been living in the brick lane area for 1 year something.
I can tell you there is nothing like it in Spore...

if you want to find the indian area: Little India in Spore...
but nothing like Brick lane with funky shp, nice places to have a tall soya latte, designers everywhere and Cafe1001 with its djs...

sorry but it zill be tough for you too

boumbo · Post by **boumbo** » Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:02 pm

if you fancy Gym/Pool go for any nice condo... they all have that.

Tanglin is a nice and quiet place (but pricey).
you have a nice restaurant (PS cafe)*but a bit remote from MRT.

otherwise Bencoolen is pretty nice and more central.

and no: singapore is not Funky (go bangkok for that

)

Samone B · Post by **Samone B** » Sat, 21 Oct 2006 5:15 pm

From what I can tell, (new here too) you won't find anything with the same Brick Lane vibe ... there are lots of cool little areas though. Holland Village is touted as the 'cool' area, but nothing like Brick Lane. Maybe check out the superfuture website to see the distribution of shops to get a better feel of what the city's mapped out like ...

Charlatan · Post by **Charlatan** » Mon, 30 Oct 2006 7:26 pm

There is nothing like Brick lane in Singapore but that's kind of the point, no? If you want Brick Lane, stay in London.

If you are looking for some thing a bit funky, I'd agree with the shophouse idea... perhaps in the Little India or Chinatown areas (i.e. you get the hussle and bustle of those areas as well as an interesting space). You could also look into the Studio space in Chip Bee Gardens up in in Holland Village.

Sunrise · Post by **Sunrise** » Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:25 pm

Hey there

I am a fellow brit living right on clarke quay which I love. Always lots to do, everything within walking distance including the financial district, chinatown etc and there are some great 3 bed places going in my condos.. they tend to be around $5000+

Holland village is most definitely NOT brick lane! I dont think its all that at all. I would recomment clarke quay and robertson quay area.

Happy house hunting!

EmpressPlace · Post by **EmpressPlace** » Thu, 09 Nov 2006 3:58 pm

I don't know much about the Brick Lane area but from my searches on Google, it appears to be a funky ethnic area and also known as Bangla Town.

The closest I can think of is the Little India area. There are some condos in the area within walking distance to the Little India and Farrer Park MRT, which are on the NE line. They are both just a few stops from the Orchard station with a change at one interchange.

NE7 Little India

Located beside Tekka Centre, this station is popular with Indians. You can find many Indians gathering and meeting friends around here every Sunday. Nearest condo is the Mackenzie Mansion. Condos located at Sophia Road and Wilkie Road (Wilkie Regency, Sophia Court, Le Wilkie, Fairhaven, Sophia 98, etc.) can use this station too.

NE8 Farrer Park

In the vicinity of Little India, nearest condos are Kentish Lodge, Kentish Court, Dorset Court, Serangoon Mansion.

Above references are from the following page of Singapore Expats:
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/housing- ... ar-MRT.htm

I have a friend who stays at Kentish Lodge, a smallish condo. It is within walking distance of the Little India or Farrer Park station. Also within a short walk is the hustle and bustle of Little India with lots of Indian restaurants, interesting shops and an Indian departmental store called Mustafa, known for cheap electronics goods.

However I must mention that it is not an area that Western expatriates traditionally seek out.

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