moving to singapore with toddler and twins from Japan

[overseasmomma]

I have been reading alot of posts on this forum but have yet to find answers related specifically to my situation with a toddler and twins. We will be moving to singapore in June with a 3.5 year old toddler and 1.5 year old twins. Dh's company is looking for a furnished apartment for us in central singapore for about 6000 dollars a month rent. Most likely a 2 bedroom. Seems like asking for a 3 bedroom would be pushing the rent up to about 8000 and they are being wishy washy on that. We currently co-sleep with the kiddies anyway so could probably swing it with 2 bedrooms but how cramped will we be?? Also, my stroller is a Mountain Buggy Urban Double and it doesnt fit through the door of our condo here in Japan. Will we face the same problem in Singapore? Should I bring this stroller or make do with the light but flimsy and pain in the arse to use umbrellar stroller. Also, we will not have car...how hard will it be for me to get around with the twins. These days, it is a big production for me to bring the twins to the park across the street here, how easy\difficult will it be in Singapore? I will be bringing some harness type backpacks to keep them from dashing out onto the street should I dare to take them out on foot by myself. We will be enrolling our oldest in kindergarten and I am worried about drop off and pick up. Taking a bus/taxi would be quite impossible with 3 kiddies I fear.

Any help or tips would be appreciated.

[JayCee]

$6000 for a 2 bedroom place???

Seriously, tell them that you don't need to live smack bang in the middle of Singapore and want to live somewhere (for example) like East coast, you could get a very nice 3 bedroom 1200sqf place in a condo such as the Seaview in Katong for roughly $5000 and in the area you have lots of amenities including a large mall over the road (parkway parade), lots of restaurants (in katong and down the road in siglap) and very close proximity to east coast park. It'll take you 20-30 mins to CBD or orchard road on a bus.

Seriously, Singapore is not that big so paying exhorbitant rent just to be central is really not necessary

[overseasmomma]

yes, i also thought 6000 for a 2 bedroom was a bit much. they are putting us in the same area with the other families-everyone commute to the east coast for work. but, they are footing the bill and it doesnt seem like there is much negotiating room as to where we want to be located. I would actually prefer to be in the suburbs and in a bigger plｇace just cause of the kiddies but as it is a short term placement (6 months to 1 year) we will just have to make do.

[durain]

your first priority is to look for a pre-school/kindergarten before anything else, then look for a place nearby. that would save you so much time in the school run. or if you dont want to do the school run, most school will have school bus.

for S$6k, you can get better places than just for 2 bedrooms. do a little research on rental prices vs locations vs size, etc. older condos are much bigger and spacious.

[grego]

May want to consider using the 6K to get a bigger place juz outside the city area. 2 bedrooms for your family may be a little cramped, don't you think?

Depending on location, 6K may even allow you to rent a house instead of just an apartment.