So here's the sitch. For the first two months I was here, I was living at Dan's house because his parents are super-awesome. I realize I never put up any pics of that either, so throughout this post, I'll occasionally juxtapose the two locations! I don't know exactly how long I will be able to stay in this new place, because my job and visa run out in April and I am not allowed to live where I do if I don't have a visa, so if I don't have a job lined up at that point I'll need to move out. Since I didn't know exactly how long I can stay, I decided that instead of looking for roommates and then looking for a place, I would just look for a place that already had roommates in it! In other words, I moved in with a family who is renting their extra room. They own the place (it's like a condo it that sense, but not spacious or fancy like condo usually infers!), so they're also my landlord. Because it is government-subsidized (like over75% of all the housing in Singapore), it's called an HDB flat. (Housing Development Board.) However, "flat" doesn't mean that it takes up the whole floor, it just means that it's only one story. Phew. Now that we've got the terminology taken care of, on to the pictures!
This is my new room. Kind of sparse and pink. Of course I told myself I would decorate it all cute, and of course I haven't done anything yet except buy two cheap white lamps from IKEA...by the way, the bed isn't a mattress. It's a "dilam", which is very common here. Basically, it's like a futon but not as firm or heavy. So kind of like a giant flat cushion. However, see my little stuffed animals on the bed? I use them as pillows/body supports in places where the bed sags, and it all works out great since I barely move when I'm asleep :)
These are pictures of my old room in Dan's house. It is actually his eldest sister's room, but she's working in Australia, and the guest room was occupied by Dan's cousin for awhile, so it's temporarily mine. I still usually spend the weekends at Dan's house, since it is pretty far between his place and mine, and we also go to church together near his house on Sundays, so this is still where I stay on most Friday and Saturday nights.
This is Dan's dining room, and past that you can see some of the living room.
This is my new dining room/kitchen/laundry room. Quite space-efficient, no? I'm allowed to cook here, which is great because many families who rent rooms don't allow you to cook, but I haven't yet, except for making noodles once last week to make with my instant curry.
And here's the living room! I don't actually spend much time here; when I'm home I'm usually in my bedroom. The TV is always on, and you know I don't particular relish that, AND I steal free Wi-Fi in my room, so why be anywhere else? :)
Here's the bathroom that I usually use at Dan's house. The biggest difference between the two places is in the bathrooms, I think. Dan's place has 4.5 bathrooms, and three of those have fully separate showers. I know that doesn't sounds crazy by American standards, but by Singaporean standards it's absolutely extravagant.
Here is my new bathroom. As you can see, it is right off of the kitchen. Very efficient because the plumbing can be all in one place, but not very pleasant. I've gotten used to it now. As you can see, the bathroom is so small that there is no room for the sink inside, so it's outside, in the kitchen, right next to the washing machine.
Yes, the picture on the right is the entire bathroom. You can kind of see the showerhead on the left. It isn't separated from the toilet, which is a squatty potty as you can see. The result is that the entire bathroom floor gets wet anytime anyone showers. (I have rubber flip flops outside the door for showering and for using the toilet if the floor is wet.)The only thing omitted is a tiny bit of the bathroom on the right side, which is full of assorted plastic tubs. I have no idea what they're for, but they complete the trashy appearance of the whole thing. :) You can't stand underneath the shower-head, you have to hold it, which is inconvenient. I hear that most people just fill up one of the aforementioned tubs and use that to rinse instead of the shower-head, kind of like you do when you're washing a young child's hair. Interesting.
So, that's my new place! It's pretty cozy when all is said and done. The family I live with is just one couple (between 40 and 50) and their 11-year-old daughter. They're nice, and we chit-chat sometimes (in Chinese, which is good practice for me), but oftentimes we just greet each other and go about our business. I'm glad that it's so relaxed and I don't have to feel like they're waiting up for me or glaring at me for coming home late or anything! The mom is particularly nice, helping me hang my clothes up to dry correctly (nobody has clothes dryers here, letting me use their pots and pans and glasses, helping me if I have a question, etc.
My total rent is 600 Singapore dollars per month, which is approximately 400 USD. My room has AC, which is why it's more pricey than some other places. (The rest of the house doesn't have AC. They don't have central air here; everyone uses individual AC units in the the separate rooms.) It's a very good price, especially considering that it's so close to my work. There is a direct bus which only takes 10-15 minutes, which is incredibly convenient. Plus, the area of housing I am in has everything I culd possibly need downstairs--a little grocery store, a wet market, two small hawker centers, a bakery, a couple of tailors, small furniture stores, Chinese medicine shops, salons, and a couple of convenience stores. Oh, and bakeries and a BUBBLE TEA store. (One dollar bubble tea! Not as good as 40 cent bubble tea in China, but not bad either!)So yeah, it's pretty much the best possible place for the price and location. I'm very pleased with it. Yay!
