Week 2 - Will we find a place?

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<sup>Singapore Quiz - Question 2
* According to Singapore building regulations, which one of the following must be included in a new build?
a) flood defence; b)bomb shelter; c) sprinklers; d) disabled access</sup>

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^{This week, we'd like to find a place to live permanently!
We're so glad we have a competent agent looking after us. Maureen works for a relocation company so she's not trying to push for an agreement, she just wants us to find the right place.}

We found out over the weekend that the Holt Road property has gone. Though we loved the flat, we're not too disapointed as the commute for Andrew would have taken 1h+

<sup>On Wednesday, we visited 7 places. We asked Maureen to home in on areas close to the North/South MRT line.
http://www.transitlink.com.sg/images/eguide/mrt_sys_map_3.jpg
To give you an idea, Andrew currently takes an hour to get to work - walking to Somerset - MRT to Admiralty - taxi to work
From the Holt Rd place, he would have had to walk 15 mins to Tion Bahru (green line), change at Jurong East to Admiralty + taxi to work

So having gone from wanting a</sup> place away from Orchard Rd area, we're now wanting a place near here so we're near the N/S red line convenient for Andrew and in a central location for me to get out and about with the girls.

We saw lovely houses and condos in great locations. A house near Botanical Gardens MRT was beautiful and came complete with a deckpool. But it was a stand alone house and I think I may have felt a bit isolated.
The other property was a 5 bedroom duplex condo in Elizabeth Heights, located between Orchard and Newton MRT so perfect location for all of us. We had a second visit there on Friday and loved it. It's an 80s condo so looking a bit dated compared to some state of the art places we've visited, but it's got such a great feel to it. Because it's a old block, the public areas are also better than in some properties (large pool, kiddies pool, tennis and squash court, fish pond, hairdresser,...).

The second visit is used to make a list of requests to the landlord. Things we would like done before we move in. Originally, we asked for an "unfurnished" place. Maureen put us straight immediately:

<sup>Unfurnished – It means that the premise is completely empty. If you decide on an unfurnished premise, you will have to provide some or all of the following:
- Water heater
- Air-conditioners (if no central system is provided)
- All kitchen equipment (cooker hood, hob, refrigerator, washing machine etc)
- All laundry equipment (washing machine/dryer)
- Light fittings to all areas
- Curtains and tracks
- Floor covering, if the finish is not marble, tile or parquet
- Cupboards
- All loose furnishing
Upon lease expiry, Tenants are sometimes required to reinstate it back to its original state.

Partial Furnished – If you decide on a partially furnished property, these are the items that you would expect:
- Water heater
- Air-conditioner
- All kitchen equipment (eg refrigerator, washing machine etc)
- Light fittings
- Curtains and tracks

Right! So Partially Furnished it is then...</sup>

We're not sure it's ours yet, but the landlord emailed today to ask what colour we'd like him to paint the walls in so fingers crossed we've in with a good chance.

^{Below are some pictures.}

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Photos

E. Heights
Lobby area

E. Heights
Living room (1)

E. Heights
Living room (2)

E. Heights
Kitchen

E. Heights
View from balcony

E. Heights
Staircase between downstairs living area and upstairs bedrooms