Futsul Delight – 9am Sunday

27 January 2013 Exercise No comments

What a way to spend a Sunday, playing some football (on the astroturf – so it is called Futsal) – with some great folks in the Cage just Mount Batten area. It was great fun, and I remembered to bring my footie stuff, which I forgot to bring along previously.

It was also good to sweat it out of the system, and try to keep fit. I definitely need to do more of the same, to get myself feeling fitter and more relaxed – and also get myself out and about.

I hope it turns out to be a regular event…just need to get my arse out of bed each Sunday – oh in-between going to Church!

Old tenant picked-up their furniture

20 January 2013 Apartment, New Chapter No comments

I must admit, it should never be advertised as ‘fully furnished’, as the items that belonged to the previous tenant should not be listed on the property listing.  I think the landlord’s agent wasn’t that truthful, or really understood the definition or the difference – but alas, I gave the feedback 🙂

Well the agreement that I reached with the previous tenant was that they would pick-up their furniture by 15th January, having giving them about 2 and a half weeks grace period.  The challenge is that I didn’t make the purchase straightaway, as Ikea give you a date for delivery which you cannot choose – well at least if you change it, they charge you, so I had to make sure the apartment was clear of the previous furniture before I committed the purchase.  The previous tenant wanted to sell me their second-hand items – the sofa-bed, dining table, 2 dining chairs, 3 cabinets, a book case/side unit, and tv stand – for S$1k – but I said no to this.  Luckily, I didn’t make this purchase, as the items I am looking for only equate to about £$650 which is a nice saving 🙂

So before the Ikea delivery – the apartment looked a bit empty…

On the positive, I was able to use their items (dining table and sofa primarily) whilst they were in my apartment, but I also now need to make a purchase 🙂  So have already looked at the Ikea SG website, and think I know what to buy.

  • Solsta Pällbo Footstool for S$10.90
  • Bjursta Extendable Dining Table S$149.00
  • Lycksele Lövås 2 Seater Sofa-Bed S$315.00
  • Lack Side / Coffee Table S$12.90
  • Börje Dining Chair (x2) S$130.00
  • Laiva TV Bench S$25.90

All for S$643.70 exc S$65 delivery charge.  And I get a S$50 voucher for spending over S$500 🙂

I even managed to build the items myself without major issue…it finally feels like home, and I have some nice new items that make it personal to me now – perfect 🙂

Collection of my 2 Year Employment Pass

11 January 2013 New Chapter No comments

Well, as efficient as always, the Ministry of Manpower confirmed that my card was ready for pick-up on Friday, 11th January – only took a few days, having provided my biometrics on Monday.

I can now work legally for a couple of years (at least) in Singapore.  The final piece has slotted into place very nicely.  It does feel good!

Mum returns to Hong Kong

10 January 2013 Family and Friends No comments

Well it’s time to say good bye to mum for the moment.  She enjoyed her holiday and I think it was good that she was able to help me settle in to my apartment – it was such a task to do on my own, that an extra pair of hands was very helpful.  Even just visiting the dozen or so apartments took it out of me.

So mum now returns to Hong Kong this afternoon before she makes her way back to the UK on 15th January.  Lets see when she returns back out 🙂  Hehe!

Getting used to the local area

9 January 2013 New Chapter No comments

After a couple of weeks, I have finally settled into my local area – I’ve found the local shopping malls, the supermarkets, the wet market, the food courts.  I just need to find out a few things to do (sports, events, photography, language courses) to keep me busy.  On a serious note, I was thinking of learning Mandarin, but I think this is going to be a bit tough going – but I think I might give it a go.

Now, I just need to start booking those little side trips again – I’m keen to start exploring more of Asia – and Singapore is an ideal base.  I want to visit Indonesia, Philippines, Burma (Myanmar), Laos and more of Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.  I better get cracking – hehe.

SingTel Installation brought forward and successful!

4 January 2013 Apartment, Shopping No comments

I received on 31st December from SingTel saying that the installation was brought forward from 8th January to 4th January – now that’s what you call service.  It was scheduled for the 2pm-4pm slot, but when I was in Ikea browsing through for Sofa’s and Dining Tables, and buying some bits and bobs for the apartment, the engineer called saying that he was keen to come earlier…So I arranged a 1pm time.  Nice!

About an hour later the installation was completed – a bit of wiring on the phone box and the phone exchange in the building hall-wall, and I had 2 phonelines (one for the broadband and one for the TV (also on broadband)), MioTV, and the 10MB broadband installed.  I just need to buy a cheap phone so at least if there are any calls, I can receive the calls and make outbound calls accordingly.

NOW, I feel at home 🙂  Good on ya SingTel, a satisfied new customer…just make sure that you services remain as efficient as the installation process.

Need my Internet – haha :)

2 January 2013 Apartment, Shopping No comments

The world is the world of the Internet, and when you remove this, it becomes a bit different and strange – actually, it is quite refreshing too – hehe.

Either way, my mum and I managed to find an ingenious and free way to get access to our emails and the Internet – free wi-fi is available through Singapore, but you need to look for it.  So we spent our time visiting a local shopping mall and some of the establishments within the mall had free wi-fi services available, so we stragetically located a seat near one wifi hotstop and relaxed, checked out emails and the latest news and events back home in the UK, and made plans for the rest of the day…and most importantly, we used someone else’s air conditoning to keep cool in the process…hehe!! Thanks to those establishments for a great service 🙂

I just need to be patience for the installation of the SingTel services – counting down to the 8th January, when the scheduled installation will occur…

SingTel or StarHub…which one :)

30 December 2012 Apartment, Shopping No comments

There are 3 main suppliers of Internet, TV, landline and mobile services in Singapore – SingTel, StarHub and M1.  Apparently, M1 is the last of the 3 in terms of everything, so this really leaves the choice between Singtel and StarHub.  There doesn’t seem to be much between them price-wise, but I’ve heard that SingTel is pretty good (and I used their prepaid mobile services previously).  Haven’t said that, StarHub is more of a cable supplier, rather than SingTel who use the telephone line to supply their Internet broadband services (similar to Sky versus BT in the UK, respectively).  StarHub also seems to have the BBC channels and a few more of the movie and although SingTel had obtained the non-exclusive rights for the UK’s Premiership footie matches, so I think SingTel has the edge.

We visited both shops in the Plaza Singapura shopping mall in the Dhoby Ghaut area, and whilst StarHub was slightly cheaper by a about 5-6 dollars a month (and had the BBC News channel), the waiting time was about 10 days, whilst SingTel was about 7-8 days – and the guy at the store was far more supportive.

Ideally, I wanted to get a quad-package, home-line, broadband, TV and mobile – ideally, I could forego the home-line, but knew it came as default and in most cases was a prerequisite for the broadband, but the two suppliers generally bundled (and were pushing for) the TV, home-line and broadband set, versus the alterative (and more costly) home-line, broadband and mobile set.  I think it’s because they were promoting offers to push their TV services, so without this, there was limited incentive and as such monetary benefit to forego the TV service.  So I decided to play-ball with them and go with TV, home-line and broadband – with mobile as an additional service – the beauty is that you get a discount on the mobile service subscription too, so it worked out okay in the end.

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 (Android)

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 (Android)

I got the cheapest handset possible, Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 – it is a Google Android handset, my first Android device, and seems okay.  I just have to get used to it, I guess, having had iPhones for the past 4 years.  Either way, it only cost me S$18 as I received a S$50 discount from SingTel.   If I don’t like the phone, I can always switch the SIM card to my unlocked iPhone 4S, and then use the Samsung one for my UK SIM – which I will only check to see if there are any messages received 🙂  I will see how it goes…hehe!

The good news is that SingTel are giving the 4G (LTE) service upgrade for free on new mobile contracts, the challenge is I don’t have the phone that can receive it (boo-hoo)…BUT I get a S$300 free upgrade after 12 months, so can make the 4G plunge then.

At least I have a local number and can stay in touch with family friends and work colleagues using a local Singapore mobile now!!

New Apartment – Picking Up the Keys

29 December 2012 Apartment No comments
Suites@Shrewsbury

Suites@Shrewsbury

Today is the day that I can finally pick-up the keys to my condominium – hooray!

I’ve arranged to pick-up the keys (and key-card) for my new apartment early in the morning – meeting up with the agent at my apartment.  It is located at Suites @ Shrewsbury, 84 Shrewsbury Road, Singapore, 307842.  It is opposite a Chinese Temple and Buddhist Monastery – as well as nearby to a Christian Church – so I hope this means I am under the fortune of good luck and prosperity.  Well one can but hope 🙂

As soon as I pick-up the keys and sign the original copy of the lease, I can then look at what I definitely need to buy to make sure I’m sorted in my apartment for good.  It ended up being a partial furnished – so white goods (fridge/freeze, microwave, washing machine) are supplied, as well as the TV and bed – but the dining room and lounge furniture aren’t (so I do feel a trip to Ikea is in store!).  In fact, I’ve agreed to “look after” the previous tenants furniture until 15th January, so they have permitted me to use them until then, but I still need to window shop before then.

I just need to wait for the TV, Phone line & Broadband services to be installed – and then I will be at home.  The agent kindly arranged for the supply of water/waste & electricity to be activated on 24th December (the actual day that my lease starts) – so everything seems to have been in working order as soon as I entered the place.

Photos of my new humble abode will appear here soon 🙂

Return to Singapore – time to settle into my apartment :)

28 December 2012 Apartment, Hotel Re! No comments

Well, after a very relaxing trip to Hong Kong, eating, drinking, sightseeing and shopping (repeating this continously!), it was time to say goodbye to the cooler climate (that is “cooler” than Singapore – but “warmer” than the UK) and enjoy the time back in my new location.  I should really start calling Singapore my new “home” location – hehe.

Anyway, having arrived late on Friday, 28th December – the JetStar flight was quite uneventful, although slightly more turbulent than last time.  I decided to book the Hotel Re! at Pearl Hill (in Outram Park district) for the night, as I wasn’t sure I was able to pick-up the key of my new apartment on Friday from my agent.

It was nice being back at the hotel – and we had one final meal in and around China Town, before making it back to the hotel.  On Saturday, we decided to make those final purchases around China Town before returning back to the hotel to collect our luggage to go to the new Condo Apartment.  I think I’m getting there with all of the purchases – but until I move in and unpack, I really don’t know what other things I need to buy (apart from things for the kitchen and lounge area).

Going to definitely be a bit stressful for the next couple of days before I start to prepare my mind for my first day of work in the new team.

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