Wow – we have already been here almost one week and so much has been going on. We know we’ll need a separate food and drink blog and we, more likely YAW, will work on that soon!
As far as the move, here is our short update. On Monday afternoon, we took possession of the apartment except for a few minor fixes and the fact they could only give us one of the three key card. I got the second on Thursday but no one knows where the third is. Luckily, the high tech door locks allow you to recode at any time. Therefore I have secured the apartment for the two cards and that part is done!
We expect to move in tomorrow (Saturday) IF the mattress, yes just a mattress, gets delivered this afternoon (it is Friday morning as I write). We did get some sheets and towels last night. The next set of furniture will be the new couch and TV stand which I hope to get delivered next Tues, Wed, or Thur. The fun thing about condos here is you have to schedule the delivery with the building management and they like 7 days notice! Even then, you have to pick a window between either 9a and 1p or 1p and 5p. I also had to pay a $500 cash deposit against any damage the delivery people incur. I kept it on file for a month since we still have to get some other furniture and our air crate should be here in the next 7 to 10 days. It arrives on July 22nd in Singapore and then it depends on customs.
Our next delivery will be the teak dining room table, chairs, and a very cool small coffee table made out of raw teak logs. We’ll have to post a photo. Because the fabric on the dining room chairs has to be completed, that is 10 days out. Next trip will be Ikea for the desks and guest bedroom furniture! Yes, they have 2 Ikeas and they are very similar to the US but they don’t sell beds bigger than a double.
Therefore this weekend we’ll be sitting on bunched up towels to watch TV (the previous owner left a 42″ LCD!) and sleeping low to the ground. Easier to tool out of bed I guess but now I think we are used to the time change.
Overall, so far so good. There are a few bumps such as we can’t get mobile phones or a local bank account until we get our employment passes which is tomorrow morning. We did get cable TV, internet, and a home phone. The speed over here is 100Mbs versus 15Mbs at home! Super fast – I can watch a movie with no lag time!
What else…the area is great. Everything is very close. We found a great local mall that is similar to Spectrum, store wise, back in irvine. The other closest mall is more like the expensive part of South Coast Plaza. It is attached to the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino. As we complete the transition from hotel to apartment this weekend, I’ll try my first video blog for the photos and area.
Ciao!
KAW