Owning your first home!
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what's with Singaporeans and Perth ? .... It's machiam like a cliche already ...Originally posted by LazerLordz:I still want to live at Dandaragan Bay, or Scarborough Beach, Perth.
whatever the case, my house/flat must have rustic elements.. -
good weather, great sun, open land for astronomy, close to SG for the mandatory shopping and summer holidays.Originally posted by Fatum:what's with Singaporeans and Perth ? .... It's machiam like a cliche already ...
good to raise a family and near enough to leave them while you work in SG etc..
and lots of my family is Down-Under. -
It's also quiet and laidback...no one who moves there wants to be reminded of hectic city life.
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countryside style with seaside view and open air concept.
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not mention cheap, compared to other Australian citiesOriginally posted by RaTtY81:countryside style with seaside view and open air concept. -
think mentioned this before - dream retirement home, small kayak rental shack by the sea thus, training for the small lack of space by getting first home of small 3-room flat! I love my home.
My first Home
I get to see a few inches of sea perforated by expensive condominiums in the distance from my kitchen window. If i concentrate and the weather is good, I can see which direction the big ships are facing.
My living room is has a nice blue wall and my sofa is blue and white striped, and my curtains are make-shift bathroom plastic curtains with blue flowers... and its almost always windy and i love to fall asleep on my big huge plushy sofa oh and a beautiful stained glass lamp we splurged on.. we use an old cable drum for coffee table and my cat will jump inside the hole and out again for fun...
We chose the smaller bedroom for our bedroom cos it has a huge window that faces the sea too.. and at the bottom of the window, there are cactuses and other small plants in metal baskets and every morning when I wake up, I see the blue sky and the green plants and feel that every morning is a good fresh morning!
The kitchen is hugeee and still I find it is not big enough The hubby painted the old owner's kitchen cabinets white and we put a new wooden top on it...
But i have a nice stove.. and a nice spice rack... and a nice oven.. and a nice Tajine.. and a nice rice cooker.. and soon, i am considering getting a nice bread maker! 
But best of all is my black kitty who is the 'moving ornament' around!!!! -
Wow... an outdoor kitchen! *stars in her eyes...Originally posted by elindra:Well my first home turned out pretty much what I wanted (It has a tatami, it has a pond (tiny one)). I'm never a big fan of the walk-in wardrobe unless it is as big as a room
One thing I didn't get which I really one is an outdoor kitchen which we had in my old place (parent's home) The space and the feeling of cooking "outdoors" is fun, plus you do get interesting visitors like inquinsitive birds when you're cooking and the neighbour's cat .
Anyway my dream home is not one by the sea (the corrosion to metals is not a myth) but one near a forest/park, near a lake with mountains in the background (Something like those nice quaint villages in Austria....or something like Queenstown in NZ) where I Can have a GIANT koi pond with a pavillion in the middle , a nice garden with a BBQ area which leads to an outdoor kitchen.
I've flipped through a lot of interior decoration mags and always oogle at the kitchens! I know that Violet Oon has a large house with two kitchens - one indoor, one outdoors! Wow!!
It's my dream too, to have two kitchens! The outdoor kitchen can be useful when you're thinking of cooking stuff like sambal... at least the pungent cooking fumes can dissipate and not remain 'trapped' inside the house!
Your description was really cute, elindra! Inquisitive visitors of the avian kind, curious (and greedy) cats trying out their gastronomic luck... -
Shrodingers Cat, your home sounds like a dream home already!
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I've just realised that I have made typing errors in my post again but I'm too lazy to edit.Originally posted by Rhonda:Wow... an outdoor kitchen! *stars in her eyes...
I've flipped through a lot of interior decoration mags and always oogle at the kitchens! I know that Violet Oon has a large house with two kitchens - one indoor, one outdoors! Wow!!
It's my dream too, to have two kitchens! The outdoor kitchen can be useful when you're thinking of cooking stuff like sambal... at least the pungent cooking fumes can dissipate and not remain 'trapped' inside the house!
Your description was really cute, elindra! Inquisitive visitors of the avian kind, curious (and greedy) cats trying out their gastronomic luck...
Yeah my neighbour's tabby is one greedy cat. It either comes to our kitchen or it goes to the front to see if she can have my dog's dog biscuits.
Btw it's weird coz my dog could get along with the cat but not my neighbour's dog Anyway I think he is a dog with the personality of a cat. -
Originally posted by elindra:I've just realised that I have made typing errors in my post again but I'm too lazy to edit.
Yeah my neighbour's tabby is one greedy cat. It either comes to our kitchen or it goes to the front to see if she can have my dog's dog biscuits.
Btw it's weird coz my dog could get along with the cat but not my neighbour's dog Anyway I think he is a dog with the personality of a cat.
Cuz the cat's not his 'competitor' mah... totally different species altogether!
Besides, maybe, your dog fell to the cat's feline charms! -
Originally posted by Rhonda:
Cuz the cat's not his 'competitor' mah... totally different species altogether!
Besides, maybe, your dog fell to the cat's feline charms!
Maybe. Or maybe because the cat digs the food he hates.... dog biscuits -
I do like a home where the master bedroom is big enough for a couple to place all their barang2
Then an recess area at the living room to store wine
Another corner to keep doggie's hut -
Have you ever experienced living in Perth? I live in Sydney, but I eventually hope to move back to Perth. So do my brother & his wife, and some of my other palsOriginally posted by Fatum:what's with Singaporeans and Perth ? .... It's machiam like a cliche already ... -
Perth is our Little SingaporeOriginally posted by SydneyLibrarian:Have you ever experienced living in Perth? I live in Sydney, but I eventually hope to move back to Perth. So do my brother & his wife, and some of my other pals -
How long since you've been back for a visit, LL? I recall you went there sometime last yr?Originally posted by LazerLordz:Perth is our Little Singapore -
My First Home in point form....by Gentlerock .
Age 28+: Did a heck of a lot of research and calculations to see if I could afford a place of my own. Made sure that every angle was covered and that there would be no surprises later.
Age 29: Bought a small apartment at the East Coast as a bachelor's pad. Small bedroom, small living room, small kitchen, small bathroom.....HUGE balcony. Thats why it was cheap. It faces the beach directly (which is about 400 m away), but I can't see anything because I'm on a low floor and blocked by trees. What I liked about the place were the facilities and the environment. All colours, all nationalities (including Africans!), all languages....makes life a bit more interesting and colourful. Everyone finds the surrounding landscaped garden pleasing.....including, unfortunately, the pregnant lady mosquitoes.
Age 30: Property bubble continued to grow and my apartment appreciated by S$30-40k. Was going well on the job front and kept two cars by myself.
Age 33: Asian currency crisis struck. My apartment lost S$150k in paper value. Business started to fall. New management in the company brought in a new set of politics. Feeling insecure, I decided to get rid of one car so that I can have some cash to partially quench my thirsty property mortgage loan. Unfortunately, no one wanted to buy a 2.2-litre car in times of bad economy, so I was stuck.
Age 34: Got married Started giving angpows every CNY 
Age 35: Got retrenched, house aircon broke down, water pipes started leaking, car gearbox broke down, and everything else bad which you can think of happened. Quickly ran to wife and lovingly suggested making this apartment our matrimonial property (ie. "honey, please contribute some CPF money to our home" ). Was jobless for 8 months, spent some time backpacking and going for cheap tours, then came back and got employed again.
A *short* while later: Also known as 'present time'. Now more mature and thinking of more important things - eg. how to keep long-sightedness at bay, how to prevent balding.....how to keep it up till at least 65 .....
I'm still living here and still loving it. I mean we're at the east coast.....parents are at Upper Thomson, in-laws are at Choa Chu Kang - implies no surprise visits by naggy elders (When are you all gonna have kids huh? How long you never sweep the floor har? etc etc). And we get to see free cheapo fireworks every new year (emergency flares of ships), we can go cycling at the beach, etc. When Metro or Robinson's have their warehouse clearance sales at Singapore Expo, we can be the first ones there too. Yes, we're also very near Ossia International, which holds clearance sales at their carpark twice yearly. I never go to all this cheapo places lah....just heard friend say only.
Food here is good too. Kangkong Jiuhu (?), satay, fanciful cafes, Killiney Kopitiam, rojak, full range of Indian foods, Siglap area, Bedok Central, Bedok Corner, Katong Tau Kwa Pau, CMC coffee shop, Hill Street Char Kway Teow (yes, its in Bedok), UMDC Seafood Centre by the beach, etc etc.
Lets see....what else.....ah yes, if war comes, Changi Airport is just 5 minutes away. -
gentlerock, you've weathered a few storms but glad to see that all's well now.
After reading about the struggles you had to endure, somehow, you seem more ''human'' now. Erm... not that you were inhuman previously but... hmmm... how to put it... you seem more 'real' to me.
Hey, thanks for sharing! -
Originally posted by gentlerock:My First Home in point form....by Gentlerock .
Lets see....what else.....ah yes, if war comes, Changi Airport is just 5 minutes away. I love that line.
I'm also waging war against poor eyesight and balding. -
Gentlerock, your post is hilarious (I don't mean your mishaps). Made me chuckled several times. ...guess I could share some of your sentiments.
But hey, what's this fighting of long-sightedness in your 30s by you and av98 who is even younger? I thot that happens only when you hit 40s'?
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Originally posted by gentlerock:Lets see....what else.....ah yes, if war comes, Changi Airport is just 5 minutes away.
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Um.....regarding my age, I did write that the Asian currency crisis struck when I was 33. That was in 1998Originally posted by Wanda:Gentlerock, your post is hilarious (I don't mean your mishaps). Made me chuckled several times. ...guess I could share some of your sentiments.
But hey, what's this fighting of long-sightedness in your 30s by you and av98 who is even younger? I thot that happens only when you hit 40s'? Now old liow...... -
The battle here is still under control, but I'm losing it surely and slowly. Still have a full head of hair, but noticed some thinning at the crown (its just slight and no one notices it unless I'm stupid enough to joke about it - and unfortunately, I'm often stupid enough).Originally posted by av98m: I love that line.
I'm also waging war against poor eyesight and balding.
Regarding the eyesight thing, it came so suddenly! Just last year, I was laughing at a friend who switched from contacts to glasses....and she said "try laughing at me again in 1-2 years from now". Heck! Anyway, at this moment, its limited to dim conditions only....in bright conditions, my sight is still perfectly healthy.
Will report back next year regarding these battles, provided I can still see the words on my PC screen.... -
I dunno. My eyes seems to have lost a lot of their close-focus ability in the past couple of years. Now I need to remove my glasses to stare at near-distance wording and objects, like the way ah peks do. My hairline has also been beating a hasty retreat from my forehead.Originally posted by Wanda:Gentlerock, your post is hilarious (I don't mean your mishaps). Made me chuckled several times. ...guess I could share some of your sentiments.
But hey, what's this fighting of long-sightedness in your 30s by you and av98 who is even younger? I thot that happens only when you hit 40s'? -
If war were to come to Singapore, you can bet that communication and transportation targets would be the first ones taken out by the enemy. By the time the sirens sound, Changi Airport would probably be a hole in the ground.Originally posted by gentlerock:Lets see....what else.....ah yes, if war comes, Changi Airport is just 5 minutes away.
You'd probably be better off building your dream home on Pulau Ubin. -
Originally posted by Meia Gisborn:
/me puts on a huge straw hat and dresses red-neck style...
If war [b]were to come to Singapore, you can bet that communication and transportation targets would be the first ones taken out by the enemy. By the time the sirens sound, Changi Airport would probably be a hole in the ground.
You'd probably be better off building your dream home on Pulau Ubin. [/b]
* sings with a fake Southern twang...
''Ooooh! Gimme a home, where the buffalo roam!!''