Rental Property Singapore

[ShouldBeFun]

Hi,

Now that I have my EP P1 visa approved I've started to look at places to rent in Singapore. From what I've read I like the idea of living in Keppel Bay as it hits a few of my requirements.

1) Near a golf course...
2) Near Harbourfront MRT (13 minute journey to where I'd work) and seems relatively easy to get to central Singapore from there.

Now the two complexes I've seen around this area are the Carribean and Relections. The both seem to fit into my budget even if its suggested they are a bit overpriced from the threads I read. I'm a single 31 year old Caucasian male (Funny I'd never say caucasian usually but just reading about Singapore makes me feel like I need to say it ) and I know absolutely no one here. So I was wondering if staying in one of these condo's would help me meet people? Are there any bars around this area?

I almost fell off my chair when I saw how much it is to run a car so I think I'll make do with cabs/mrt (Live close to London so used to commuting).

However a deal breaker for me coming over to Singapore is I have to find somewhere that will allow dogs (A Boxer). I found a thread mentioning that there are many people with dogs at the Caribbean complex so that may be my best bet.

Appreciate anyones thoughts on this or any opinions of things I may not have considered!

[Strong Eagle]

I don't know about the apartments but you won't be playing much golf at Sentosa unless you have a LOT of money. Memberships are S$50,000. If you are invited to play by a member it will cost you S$230 on the weekend, S$400 if you are just a lowly visitor, and getting a weekend booking as a visitor will be fairly difficult to do. Keppel Golf will cost you $175 as a guest, S$205 as a walk on.

All on island golf is expensive with the public course at Marina Bay costing "only" S$185 on weekends. Other private courses that allow members to invite guests will cause you to incur similar amounts, and the private places that allow you to play weekdays are of a similar cost.

A lot of people go to Malaysia or Indonesia to play golf. Living at Keppel would allow you to quickly catch a ferry to a couple of courses on Batam but if you want to play other courses on Batam or go to Bintan, you must go to the Tanah Merah ferry terminal which is very near the airport.

Most of the golf courses in Malaysia are reached through the Woodlands crossing, although there is a nice course near Senia that is reached through Tuas.

[JR8]

I know absolutely no one here. So I was wondering if staying in one of these condo's would help me meet people? Are there any bars around this area?

That's not a part of SG I know well. But you're not far from the quays (Robertson, Clarke, and Boat), where you'll find scores of bars and entertainment.

The topic of 'Meeting people' has been discussed not long ago. Expats can be an aloof lot in this country. I remember last time I arrived here greeting another expat when I got into the condo lift, and he looked at me with utter derision as if I were mad.

My impression is that at condos people pretty much keep themselves to themselves. On my first time here we did get up a group of multi-national neighbours who went down to the pool, popped beers and hung out (so it is possible), but I've experienced/seen nothing like it since.

Rather likewise at bars. People go out as defined groups, couples, families, colleagues. You don't (IME) go out and expect or wish to start meeting new people. It's different from the concept of having a 'local' pub in England, where you can settle in, get a recognised face and make acquaintances ('pub friends').

IME the way you make friends is in more of a 'collective' way. So you can make friends with existing friends of colleagues (i.e. the mutual friendship greases the tracks). I think it might come down to SG being both a conservative and a very transient place for many people. We come, we go, 'you're my neighbour this week, a stranger, next week someone else lives in your unit and you've gone, so why should I bother...? It's a bit like walking into a bar in Manhattan and expecting to make friends with people...

But as I was mulling over recently, I think the way to make friends here (apart from at work, and via colleagues) is via shared social activities. The entire social dynamic changes. Perhaps most of all when status is not on show or required (horse riding, diving, a running club, cookery school).

[x9200]

Are there any bars around this area?

The nearest, a bit larger complex with a number of bars is in Pasir Panjang. Almost a walking distance (I reckon 20-30 min from the Caribbean). It gathers more "local" people than the overwhelmingly touristic Quays. It serves mostly two communities: NUS uni staff/students and off shore workers - really nice mixture.