Our New Home

We have recently moved from our lovely home by the sea to our new home on the hill. The reason? We used to live across from Sentosa, a resort island in Singapore, which won a bid to build one of Singapore's new Casinos back in March 2005. The bid led to major construction in the area and the opening of Vivo City, the largest mall in Singapore (1 million sq. ft of retail space, see http://vivocity.com.sg/). The mall is so huge that it's disgusting. (How much can one shop?!) The effect of this monster was that it jagged up the price of real estate nearby, including our condominium. Our rent has risen more than 40% within the last 6 months. Since we were already paying a premium to live in our small 2 bedroom for the location (close to resort island, smacked in the center of town), we really could not further justify paying more at the rate rent is spiking. We decided to move to the suburbs.
Living in the burbs, though, only means that we are a 10-minute drive from downtown. Afterall, Singapore is an island of 26 by 13 miles. But I'm amazed by how much variety can be crammed in such a compact space. Our new home is on the hill, and instead of buildings, we are surrounded by green and lush hilltops. Instead of mall complexes, we have strip malls. Instead of large restaurant chains, we have quaint neighborhood eateries where you go in and actually meet the owner himself. It is so laid-back as if we were transported back to a suburb back in the States, only that everything is so close that you can walk everywhere instead of driving. Our new neighborhood takes on characteristics that are very different from where we moved from, ths hustle and bustle of city life, which is a welcomed change, but also captures the best of both urban and suburban living, since we can hop back into all the action conveniently by taking a 10-minute taxi ride.
The only drawback, and the greatest, is that we moved away from our neighbors who have almost become family to us. The community in our old condo is very tight-knit, especially among the expatriate families with young children, as we expat moms seem to be the only ones staying at home with our kids, and we are always on the look out for friends in similar situation. I really do miss the convenience of being able to call up a friend late at night for help, who lives just a few blocks away, when, say, we run out of fever medicine for Luke, or whatever emergencies arise. On the other hand, with people whom you can disturb at wee hours, they are certainly friends to stay, especially when we live less than 26 miles away from one another. :)