Housing, heat and MRT

[Mom2one]

Ok bunch of seemingly stupid questions but they do matter to ignorant folks like me wanting to make a realistic transition to singapore-

1. What is a Service Apartment ? Is a regular maid type service the real difference between a regular and service apartment ?

2. Can a non PR ever get hold of an HDB lease (I hear they are better) and should one even try ?

3. What is the airconditioning scene in cabs and MRT ? I am assuming they are airconditioned. How crowded are they generally ?

4. How bad is the heat for folks who have becomed accustomed to aircon living ? For example does one need to keep the aircon on most days ?

Thanks so much !

[x9200]

3. What is the airconditioning scene in cabs and MRT ? I am assuming they are airconditioned. How crowded are they generally ?

All are AC. How crowded? Well, depends of course. Rather not that crowded in general and as a thoughtless average.

4. How bad is the heat for folks who have becomed accustomed to aircon living ? For example does one need to keep the aircon on most days ?

This really depends on the individual and may be hard to guess even for yourself. I do not like warm/hot weather at all but am not using AC at home on regular basis. Fans are good enough if I don't eat too much or drink alcoholic stuff excessively . I would say the balance between humidity and temperature does the trick for me.

[road.not.taken]

Ok bunch of seemingly stupid questions but they do matter to ignorant folks like me wanting to make a realistic transition to singapore-

1. What is a Service Apartment ? Is a regular maid type service the real difference between a regular and service apartment ?

Service apartments are sort of a hybrid between a condo or apartment flat and a hotel. They are small usually, but have kitchens with some pots and pans and dishes, etc... There is usually maid service, sometimes daily. They can have laundry facilities, swimming pools, etc. The are very expensive and usually require week or month long stays. Look for a link in Sundaymorningstaple's post for useful info - there is a link there for Serviced Apartments.

[beppi]

Non-serviced apartments here are (legally) only available to people with proper residency visas and are seldom rented out below one-year terms.
Serviced apartments are for shorter stays and/or people without residency, meant as an alternative to hotels and priced accordingly. They are not an alternative for non-serviced apartments, unless you don't care about the financial side.

Anybody (with a residency visa) can rent an HDB from its owner. Renting from the government is strictly reglemented and you probably won't qualify.

[matthewmom]

1. What is a Service Apartment ? Is a regular maid type service the real difference between a regular and service apartment ?
* I normally use a part time cleaning service in regular basis, it's more flexible and alter whatever you need to be done, and there's a lot of services here

2. Can a non PR ever get hold of an HDB lease (I hear they are better) and should one even try ?
* HDB looks bigger and more *I think* but I still prefer private, as it's more security

3. What is the airconditioning scene in cabs and MRT ? I am assuming they are airconditioned. How crowded are they generally ?
* all airconded, but due to crowds during peak hours, seems feel just stuffy during peak hours its pretty hard to find taxi, but you can do call and get taxi within acceptable time, all depends where you are and how available empty taxi around the area who's willing to take your call order, my experience...from malls, during peak hours the queue simply tooooo long and sometimes takes time to get taxi even by calling the hotline, overall it's still a good system

4. How bad is the heat for folks who have becomed accustomed to aircon living ? For example does one need to keep the aircon on most days ?
* it's pretty hard at first to do outdoor for me, but indoor was also a struggle since if I use fan, I actually got flu and cold easily, if I dont use any, it feels really stuffy even with window open, so I use aircond whenever I need and keep the temp at 24 all the time, the heat is actually not too bad, the humidity is the one I find become problem for me, so depends whether you are use to it or not