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American Club - is it worth joining?

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tanusa
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American Club - is it worth joining?

Post by tanusa » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:55 am

Hello. We are considering joining the American Club once arriving in Singapore. We have a four and two-year-old and know almost no one in Singapore. We think it would be a nice way to meet people. Is this correct? Is it worth joining? Are there other nationalities represented? We are American, but want to meet and socialize with people from all over the world. The membership would not be included in our expat package, so we'd be paying for it ourselves. Any input/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Re: American Club... is it worth joining?

Post by hibri2 » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:10 pm

tanusa wrote:We are American, but want to meet and socialize with people from all over the world.
singapore is a wonderful place to meet people from just everywhere; there are many gatherings in this forum or at the couch surfing site, singapore charter.

my opinion about "nationalities" clubs is not particularly good in general but i will spare you the preaching. my advise will be, come here, check how you do socially and if you really cant get a hold on the situation consider paying money to that or any social club.

you may be surprised how easy it is to meet people around here, but again, that will depend on how are you to start.
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Post by ScoobyDoes » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:46 pm

A lot would depend on where and how you intend to live.

As far as i'm concerned these clubs are only useful if you intend to live in landed property instead of the customery condo. You are more likely, through your kids at least, to meet many other nationalities around the pool at the condo than you are at any of these "clubs" where most would be the nationality of the club, or Singaporean.

Depending on what your housing budegt is, then i might take what it would cost you to join and maintain mebership at the club and add that to the said housing budget to find a place that fullfills both functions.

Alternatives are water parks and play parks dotted around Singapore where, again, through the kids you'd likely meet many sorts.

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Post by hibri2 » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 1:19 pm

ScoobyDoes wrote: Alternatives are water parks and play parks dotted around Singapore where, again, through the kids you'd likely meet many sorts.
correct, also the East Coast Park and a day trip to pulau ubin will do wonders... just at the jetty to the pulau ubin you can meet a bunch of families with kids going there.

in East Coast Park you have places to eat, play, swim (if you dont mind what it passes as a beach here :-) ), you can rent bikes, skates, double bikes, there are sport pubs for the hubbie :-) and well (not my cup of tea but... ) a mcdonalds.

apart from that, i remember having seen some thread about mums and kids gathering somewhere in this forum...
Last edited by hibri2 on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Strong Eagle » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 3:47 pm

The American Club offers pool, tennis, and other sports facilities. Many people with kids use these extensively. There are restaurants and bars and quite a number of organized activities. There are meeting rooms, exercise rooms, and more. Many trailing spouses use membership as a meeting place and a place to meet people.

The majority of members are Americans but there are significant numbers of other nationalities. Membership aint cheap. Be prepared to fork out northward of $20,000 plus a monthly fee... and then receive monthly bills for food and drink.

With no kids and a wife who is active in several organizations the costs of the Am Club outweigh potential benefits to us. I'd join if it were cheaper, but as others have noted, there are lots of ways to meet other people... one of the best being to volunteer... the Friends of the Museum is an excellent way to meet many different nationalities.

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road.not.taken
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Post by road.not.taken » Tue, 28 Jul 2009 6:05 pm

I would go onto the website and really, really look at it. Would you use the spa? Would the kid's take classes offered, would you? Would you and your husband sign-up for 'Mardi Gras' night or whatever? Then consider:

~Where will you live? If it's not convenient to where you live, or if you have a pool at home then it becomes less appealing.

~Will you have a car? Parking is free, a big plus.

The Club is filled with people from different nationalities. The staff is excellent. The facilities are great. We have been members for years, and we use it now more than ever. The kids, teenagers now, eat there with their friends once or twice every weekend. We've taken all kinds of classes, use the spa, the gym, the restaurants, library, computer lab, travel desk, the gift shop, the drycleaning service, the business center, the bowling alley, the private dining rooms.

Being expats of the 'old school' our memebership is paid for by the company, but the monthly fees are on us. Do we need the Club? No. All of the things I mentioned are readily available in Singapore now. But if we didn't have it, we'd miss it a great deal. It's very, very nice having it all under one roof, with free parking and the prospect of running into a friend or two while you are there.

The after school activity bus stops at the Club, so I can pick the kids up there after school, or they can walk home. The whole thing just works for us. Hope this helps.

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Post by Chris.Haynolds » Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:28 am

Personally, I'd recommend not joining any nationality clubs.
If you can help it, dive into the deep end and take in the new culture.- Theres no point in cutting yourself off from the world your living in.
Having said that, it is nice to see a friendly face/culture if you've never lived there before!
I have family relatives who signed straight up to the american club and regretted it, its way better to make friends with the locals.

best of luck to all
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road.not.taken
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Post by road.not.taken » Thu, 30 Jul 2009 6:23 pm

^^ Chris, I think it would be a mistake to suggest to tanusa that joining any Club is cutting yourself off or that it limits your ability to make friends with Singaporeans. Clubs are social places, yes ~ but I think it's the services that keep members.

tanusa, I urge you to consider the services offered as sugguested and see if they line up with your projected needs.

Good luck.

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Post by cbavasi » Fri, 31 Jul 2009 8:02 am

We lived here for over a year before deciding to join the American Club. The first condo we lived in had amazing facilities and as previous posters mentioned we really didn't have the need for the club b/c there were so many children around all the time and great playground, pool, gym, tennis...etc. We then moved into a place with very limited facilities and virtually no children and decided to bite the bullet and join. We also looked at joining another club but found the American Club really great for families. We have 2 children 5 & 2.5 and I'm there at least 5x a week - not to spend my entire day - but definitely for the kids activities - my husband and I meet up there for dinner/drinks... and they have a great gym/classes. There are tons of events - wine tastings, cooking lessons, golf outings...etc. We just figure since we paid all this money we'll use the facility as much as possible - but we tend to socialize outside of the club too. I would agree with other posters to get here first - see where you are living, what the facilities are like and how much you would actually use the club. You need to figure how easy it would be to get to for you as well...

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Post by Zeenit » Fri, 31 Jul 2009 1:38 pm

cbavasi wrote:We lived here for over a year before deciding to join the American Club. The first condo we lived in had amazing facilities and as previous posters mentioned we really didn't have the need for the club b/c there were so many children around all the time and great playground, pool, gym, tennis...etc. We then moved into a place with very limited facilities and virtually no children and decided to bite the bullet and join. We also looked at joining another club but found the American Club really great for families. We have 2 children 5 & 2.5 and I'm there at least 5x a week - not to spend my entire day - but definitely for the kids activities - my husband and I meet up there for dinner/drinks... and they have a great gym/classes. There are tons of events - wine tastings, cooking lessons, golf outings...etc. We just figure since we paid all this money we'll use the facility as much as possible - but we tend to socialize outside of the club too. I would agree with other posters to get here first - see where you are living, what the facilities are like and how much you would actually use the club. You need to figure how easy it would be to get to for you as well...
I agree, first wait until you arrive and then take one step at a time. You might find you do or dont need it. Find your feet first a then decide.

:D
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tanusa
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Post by tanusa » Sat, 01 Aug 2009 2:06 am

thanks to everyone for all the replies. I guess it's that same as joining a club here. It really depends on your circumstances. It's nice to know it's easy to meet people without it. We'll be going with young children, so I'd really like to get settled as quickly as possible for their sake.

Thanks again!

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Post by movingtospore » Tue, 18 Aug 2009 7:25 am

Original post we are arriving soon as well from Canada. We might join the club but we're going to check it out first as it is a LOT of money. But with two little kids in tow I thought it might be worth it for all the swimming lessons etc they offer.

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Post by AngMoKio » Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:26 am

movingtospore wrote:Original post we are arriving soon as well from Canada.
Since when is Canada part of America? Do they really let your types in?

<kidding>

Someone recently told me a funny quote : "A Canadian who emigrates to the US raises the IQ of both nations."

tanusa
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Post by tanusa » Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:48 pm

movingtospore wrote:Original post we are arriving soon as well from Canada. We might join the club but we're going to check it out first as it is a LOT of money. But with two little kids in tow I thought it might be worth it for all the swimming lessons etc they offer.
hello movingtospore, i think i saw some of your other posts and, if I remember correctly, we have kids around the same age. we're planning to arrive in Singapore at the end of the year. Good luck with your move!

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Post by movingtospore » Wed, 19 Aug 2009 1:02 am

Good luck to you too. Send me a note when you arrive and maybe we can get together.

Laura

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