Downsides to living in Sentosa

longhorn0915 · Post by **longhorn0915** » Wed, 25 May 2011 11:46 pm

My family is relocating to Sing, and we are thinking of moving to Sentosa. Most likely we will get a car, but not until we can figure out driving/licenses. Do the grocers there deliver to Sentosa? I know I will probably be buying wine or beer by the case when I can find a reasonable price. Will that be an issue trying to get someone to lug around several bottles of wine?

If anyone lives in Sentosa I would love to hear some pros and cons to being on the island. We are a family of 4 with two children (4yrs and 7 months), so any added advice for getting around with my boys would be appriciated!

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Thu, 26 May 2011 12:57 pm

If you like to live in a bubble with the only contact to the real world being goods delivered to your doorstep (and if you have the financial means for it), then Sentosa is the right spot.
But all others are wrong there!
I once visited somebody's private baby playgroup in a Sentosa seaside condo: Getting there took 1.5 hrs carrying my daughter through almost all public transport options Singapore offers - longer than to any other farflung location in Singapore (we live fairly central at Bukit Timah). I declined to go ever again.

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 26 May 2011 2:17 pm

All of Singapore is like living in a bubble and I don’t think that there is such a thing here as reasonably priced beer or wine. Personably I would like living over there if I could afford it. Seems to be more room to breathe. This cramped little Cracker Jax box condo living is killing me.
A car would pretty much be a must if on Sentosa. A drivers license won’t be a problem. You can drive on your US license for a year. Ten you just take a quick test and convert it.

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 26 May 2011 2:26 pm

With a 4yo and a 7mo you will most likely want a car. We lugged a car seat around everyplace that we went for almost a year to use in Taxis. We we finally gave up and just got a car. Life is so much easier now. We kick ourselves for not just getting a car when we got here.

scarbowl · Post by **scarbowl** » Thu, 26 May 2011 2:38 pm

You might want to check out schools first. Getting off the island can take more time than you might imagine.

It would be nice to live by the ocean. But you are isolated from the rest of Singapore. Perhaps Sentosa is a "bubble within a bubble"?

JayCee · Post by **JayCee** » Thu, 26 May 2011 3:09 pm

If you want to live near the ocean just get a place in East coast near one of the underpasses to the park. Most areas at East coast have a supermarket, cheap places to eat etc... and it's generally just a lot more accessible. The beach at ECP might not be quite as good but then Sentosa is hardly Boracay either

Post by **nakatago** » Thu, 26 May 2011 3:18 pm

JayCee wrote:If you want to live near the ocean just get a place in East coast near one of the underpasses to the park. Most areas at East coast have a supermarket, cheap places to eat etc... and it's generally just a lot more accessible. The beach at ECP might not be quite as good but then Sentosa is hardly Boracay either

But Sentosa has those panoramic views of those commercial and tanker ships! And beaches [un]surprisingly devoid of wind!

longhorn0915 · Post by **longhorn0915** » Thu, 26 May 2011 8:43 pm

My thoughts exactly Calmday. Most of the anxiety I have about moving involve travel... Taking a 20+ hour flight with a connection in a large airport I have never been too, or just getting around Singapore with my children has me worried!

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 26 May 2011 9:02 pm

I wouldn’t worry. Singapore is good place. Just way to sterile and crowded for my taste. There are a few other minor draw backs but all in all it’s a great assignment.
I’m from Houston also. Get a few more posts (five total) so that I can PM my contact info to you and I will help out all that I can.

Oh and Japan and Hong Kong are really easy to get through. Everyone speaks English and are all very helpful. We travel with a (now) two year old and believe it or not. It’s not that bad.
I would recommend avoiding Moscow. Singapore Air is great but not worth the trouble.

longhorn0915 · Post by **longhorn0915** » Thu, 26 May 2011 9:08 pm

Thanks for letting me know about Moscow! That one had me worried. I figured I would just connect on Tokyo since my husband has done it several times and recommended that route. Meanwhile he will be sitting somewhere having a cocktail while I drag our kids around the world by myself--- lucky dog

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 26 May 2011 9:14 pm

LOL MY wife just flew home two days ago with our two year old son. I’m glad for my sake that things went good.
You will like Singapore. There are lots of play groups and lots of other moms in the same situation. It also has to be if not the at least one of the cleanest and safest places on earth. Also lots of great places to see in the reign.

longhorn0915 · Post by **longhorn0915** » Thu, 26 May 2011 9:26 pm

My husband was thinking about several places to relocate (Brazil, Norway, UAE) and when he mentioned Singapore I pounced on that one! I'm pretty adventurous, but with two small children safety is my first priority!

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 26 May 2011 9:34 pm

We spent a couple of years in Brazil (Rio). Our son was born there and has duel citizenship but I definitely wouldn’t want to raise him there. We had a bullet proof car and a security guard/driver. We had two company cars take bullets and too many coworkers got mugged to remember the number. I also spent some time in UAE and it was OK but hotter than you know what.

aster · Post by **aster** » Sat, 28 May 2011 9:08 pm

Calmday wrote:I would recommend avoiding Moscow. Singapore Air is great but not worth the trouble.

I never take Moscow into account when flying to Europe. You might want to give Finnair a look as they are starting a daily service to SIN... in two days' time! And HEL is a nice airport, especially if you want to buy some smoked salmon trout and other goodies before flying out.

Singapore Air is great for everything except for night flights with kids. If they turn on the seatbelt sign, which they do at the slightest ripple in the stratosphere, their flight attendants come running to parents with kids in basisnets faster than Usain Bolt. This is extremely annoying, and I chose Lufthansa for my last flight just for this reason (which I probably wouldn't do when flying without kids).

longhorn0915 · Post by **longhorn0915** » Sat, 28 May 2011 9:56 pm

aster wrote:Singapore Air is great for everything except for night flights with kids. If they turn on the seatbelt sign, which they do at the slightest ripple in the stratosphere, their flight attendants come running to parents with kids in basisnets faster than Usain Bolt. This is extremely annoying, and I chose Lufthansa for my last flight just for this reason (which I probably wouldn't do when flying without kids).

Do they make you take kids out of the bassinet? You will have to excuse my ignorance- Last time I flew international I didn't have to lug kids with me

My 7 month old will probably be 9 or 10 months old when we fly. I saw the measurements of the bassinet and it seems to be big enough for him, but who knows until we actually get there.

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Downsides to living in Sentosa

Downsides to living in Sentosa

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