Newsletter 03: The Sail; cell phones

Wednesday, 29 October: More apartment shopping. This time, we saw a myriad of apartments at the Sail, a pair of fancy-schmancy, brand-spanking-new skyscrapers overlooking the Marina Bay development construction.

Well, actually, it overlooks pretty much everything.

City View

Construction View

Shipping Port View

Bay View 
(including Merlion park)

We really liked the views, although clearly some would eventually be obstructed by new buildings. We also liked the idea of having a brand-new place (so new that the proverbial paint's still drying). The amenities at the Sail were also pretty impressive.

Interior 

Amenities
(also including a regualr pool, gym, and indoor/outdoor lounge with a view)

 

Great views, great interior and amenities, also, great access to transportation; there's a tunnel that connects to the Raffles Place MRT station. What's not to like?

In my future apartment?

However, the apartments we could afford were either not as big as we'd have liked, or not as high up as we'd have liked. High, large, and cheap; pick two. (Or actually, more like one and a half.) Furthermore, the location of the building is not so interesting. It's in the financial district; we had already witnessed the dead quiet that falls on the area during the weekend. Now, they say that all the construction will eventually become buildings devoted to leisure and entertainment; in particular, I think the neighboring building will be a casino. Still, not the sort of environs I would necessarily prefer.

Did I mention the bomb shelters? Some units (many, actually) have a reinforced closet-like room that was built to serve as a bomb shelter. That's all very well and good I suppose, but my idea of a bomb shelter incorporates the idea of being underground; a bomb shelter fifty stories up seems a contradiction in terms.

Next we saw an apartment in Emerald Garden, a condo complex in Chinatown. Here, we could afford an apartment that was both relatively large and relatively high. It was "walking-distance" to about four different MRT stops, which means, not really that close to any of them.

 

The next two complexes we visited were unable to show us inside actual apartments, but we didn't mind.

We ate lunch at a food court at the Great World City mall, returned to the hotel for a while, and then caught the shuttle to Orchard Road to visit Borders, and then took the MRT to Newton, where we again had satay (and fruit drinks) for dinner at the Newton hawker center.

Thursday, 30 October: We went to NUS for lunch, and then had a paperwork afternoon. We checked with NUS to make sure we will be covered by health insurance for November. Then, we went in pursuit of cell phones. We signed up with M1 and bought fancy Samsung Omnia touchscreen phones. They're supposedly quite comparable to the iPhone, only they run Windows Mobile instead of an Apple OS (which to me is a positive thing).

You thought you'd never see it: me with a cell phone.

Well, try and think of it as my portable computer. Because the other thing that will never happen, is me getting a laptop. 

Took the MRT to Newton for dinner.

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