Apartment Hunting - Now Fingers Crossed!

It has been a wild week of apartment hunting! The prices are as expected - VERY high and thus, the limits of what we can afford ranges from small (~1000 sq. ft.) to very small (<600 sq. ft.).  We have also insisted on locations that will provide a commute under 30 minutes for John and preferably near an MRT (subway) station and decent food shopping. That eliminates altogether some outlying neighborhoods that might provide more space for the money but we are willing to make that trade-off for a more optimal locale.

Here's a sample of some places we've looked at...

A studio flat with a divider for the bedroom
(our property agent shows us how it works)

A typical kitchen
but this one has an oven!

A nice kitchen but another
studio flat with a divider for the bedroom

Nice living room but the rest of
the apartment was rundown

Now this is a tiny kitchen!

The other reality that becomes very apparent is that cooking and meal preparation is a whole new ball game. Most kitchens in our price-range are efficiency designs, some without ovens. Not only that but so far everyone insists that because of the cost of food here, it is as cheap if not cheaper to eat out (at local eateries; not a fancy restaurant). So most eat out several times a week and if they cook at home, they prepare only very simple fare. This will be my new motto! And in lieu of making my own bread I will have to try to find a suitable retail outlet (though as mentioned in my previous musings this may be impossible). But for meals there is an endless array of restaurants, local fare at hawker-stands of every variety.

So we have narrowed it down and today are making an offer on a place that is 750 sq. ft. "big". It sits on the 24th floor with a lovely view of the water and the city, has a very nice pool, a decent gym and an added plus of an almost private garden and jacuzzi just outside the apartment. It's part of a walkway between two apartment blocks that has been landscaped with tropical plants and provides a quiet place to have a glass of wine and relax without the luxury of our own balcony. Fingers-crossed our offer is accepted!