Water Place

Hallelujah!

We finally signed a lease on an apartment.  We don't have to move again for 2 years.  Hurray!

Our home in Singapore will be an apartment in the condominium Water Place - which is just outside the city center on the other side of the waterway that turns into the Singapore River and Marina Bay to the West and into the Kallang Basin and Geylang River to the East where our new neighborhood is enveloped by it and by the Singapore Strait.


View Larger Map

The complex houses 7 buildings between 15-20 floors with 4 units on each floor.  It was built in 2004 (not too new, not too old).  Our 3-br + 1 (that's the indication used for maid's quarters) unit is ~1350 sq feet with a master bedroom and a shared bathroom.  The fixtures are fairly modern and the apartment, even without our weathered Swedish furniture feels like an IKEA showroom.

The condo's amenities incude 1 main swimming pool, 2 "fun pools" - one with two floating goals and one with a basketball net - a Jacuzzi, and two children's pools with a water slide and other playful water fixtures.  There are 2 tennis courts, 1 multipurpose court used for soccer and hockey, a small outdoor playground, an even smaller indoor play area, a karaoke room, a reflexology path, and several BBQ pits (some with gas stoves in addition to the grills) and picnic areas.  There's even a nice koi pond and you can get food pellets from the guardhouse to feed the fish!

BBQ pits, tennis courts, and the karaoke room have to be booked in advance and there are associated (symbolic) charges.  The occupants of most apartments are foreigners, and of those about half are Western (and I include Australians and New Zealanders in this group).  That is part of living in a condo versus an HDB, which is, for one reason or another, where most Singaporeans live.

We saw this condominium in our first day of apartment hunting.  We liked it immediately, although at the time we felt it was too remote from public transportation - less of an issue now that we're addicted to having a car.  The apartment we are now moving into is also bigger than the one we saw originally; we actually ended up viewing ~8 in total once we decided on this neighborhood - there is quite a high turnaround in this expat-friendly area.  The surroundings are very family-oriented, have more of a feel of a suburb and not so gritty like the city center.  The complex is also a scenic stroll and foot bridge away from Kallang Leisure Center and the Indoor Stadium where there is good shopping and entertainment and some nice waterside restaurants - along with the nearest subway (MRT) station.