The 2 dollar shop - Daiso

Yes you heard it right everything in this shop is 2 dollars . And the best part is it's huge and there are many different things that you will never go empty handed once you enter this shop .

I will miss such shops back home . We do have a one dollar store in Bangalore which I visited once but there is nothing worth buying there plus the shop is the size of a room . Very small !!
We should have our own version of such shops like - 50rs storewide.

Anyway back to daiso , it's a Japanese store and has many branches here in Singapore

There you go - rules again....

All the ladies out there ...this one is for you :)

Some fancy stickers for mobiles I guess.




Yep all of them for 2 dollars only.



If you are new here and setting up a home you should definitely pay a visit . They have everything right from kitchen ware to decorative items to flowers and few things like below whose purpose is hard to explain


When we came here in beginning we ended up buying quite a few kitchen stuff . And trust me given Singapore standards you won't get some stuff outside even if you give twice or thrice the amount outside .

Whenever I come across this shop I make it a point to visit bc it's just fun exploring it !!

Blogger Tip 3- Post comment stopped working . Help!!!!!!

I shouldn't be actually freaking out it's not like I get comments left and right . Then one of my friends too confirmed that she indeed could not post any comments. Well it was working fine few days back .Suddenly this feature stopped to respond,it seems to have a mind of its own .

So I googled to find out that the below options should be set for the comments to be posted properly.

The usual fix



But hey everything is as said above then what's wrong ????

So I found a workaround after breaking my head to fix the comments .
Well this is the workaround


Select the option "Pop-up Window " instead of "Embedded below post".
So now this is how the post comment option looks when either of them are selected

Pop up Window
Will display a hyperlink which will navigate to another page where you can post comments


Embedded below post

Cats cats everywhere !!!!

Surprisingly there are no stray dogs in Singapore but when it comes to cat they are everywhere . They can be sometimes found in group or alone and you get intimidated by them because they are so comfortable in their space and around humans .

I don't know how they end up on streets , maybe since cats are most loved pets here some owners might just decide to give up on them .

People don't seem to mind the presence of so many stary cats not that I am complaining its just something new to me .You won't find so many cats moving freely in your block back home , dogs YES but cats NO !!!!

Taking picture of cat is bit tricky. It looks as if they are staring at you and are ready to pounce you anytime .Still I managed to take some .

Its pretty obvious from below how far I was standing while taking this snap.

This one for sure is staring at me and it looks like Garfield. Its actually quite fluffy!!!!

They are usually fed by some people so every cat will have it's own area . I know this bc every morning I come across them at the same place . They are like my morning visitors .

On the way to my bus stand I am greeted by atelast two of them .
And I know that there are around 8 cats around my block , they cannot go unnoticed .

How to find a home in Singapore

The most important thing to keep in mind before starting your house search is the kind of house you want and of course your budget . Naveen found a house in just three days before departing to India for our marriage so we decided to share our experience on how things work here .

Below are the kind of housing options available in Singapore

1. HDB

80 % of Singapore population lives in HDB (housing development board ) . They are something similar to apartments in India minus the guard . They come in all shapes and sizes . Almost in every street in Singapore you will find blocks of HDBs clustered together .

But you have to be cautious while selecting a HDB . Some of the old ones have lifts between alternate floors or do not have dust bin chutes in the kitchen , the feature which is so common in Singapore . Anyway these are just minor hitches .

The HDB are usually fully furnished but do take a note of condition of all the items in house before deciding to stay . If necessary take a pic of items just in case something was broken before and you forgot to notice it .

These HDB have their own car parks , mini park for kids , a outdoor gym ( doesn't look exactly like a gym to me ) which is for public use .

The HDBs are maintained well , once in a month someone will clean all the floor, they call it floor sprinkling here, I don't know who pays the money though . Recently ours block was repainted so you need not have to worry about living in a old looking apartment . Singapore govt is high on outer beauty !!! .

However the HDB won't have any security guards and you won't find the need to have one Singapore being such a safe city a little precaution from your side will be enough .

The prices of HDB starts from anywhere between 1500 to 2800 SGD per month .

2. Condos

These are bit high end apartments with many facilities like actual gym ( not the one shown above) ,swimming pool,tennis/badminton court etc.

The types of condos varies from normal condos to executive condos.The rent of condos starts from 3000 SGD.The main difference between condos and HDB are mainly the different facilities provided by condos over HDB,and ofcourse
the increased price.

3. JTC

Jurong Town corporations(JTC) is a company which has build HDB style houses and these are available at very low prices.

A three bedroom house can be rented for around $1800 pm which is very cheap for Singapore standards.The only hitch is they are unfurnished.
Even then it works out cheaper for people who plan to stay for long term in Singapore.

However I guess the waiting time to get a jtc owned house is long as there will be high demand for these houses.

4.Sharing

This is a common arrangement followed by both Indians and Singaporeans alike.Because of the increased rental prices people prefer to rent out one bedroom and choose to live in rest.

This option works out best for bachelors. If you are a bachelor and have friends in Singapore then you can choose to rent out apartments on sharing basis.

If you a newcomer here and do not know anyone than the best option is to stay with a family who is willing to rent out a room for you. Usually the rental charges will be around $500 p.m. Some families also provide you with one time food and internet access.

The sharing option works out best if you are comfortable with this arrangement.Although families renting out a room in their living space to another person is very unheard of in India, its very prominent here and many opt for this option to lessen their financial burden.

The points which you should keep in mind before searching for a house is

1.How far is the place from you office?
Singapore is well connected by rail and bus network. And you are sure to find some accomodation near your work place. Its always better to get a house closer to your work place.

2. How far is MRT(rail network) from your house ?

If you cannot find a home near your office atleast try get a home near MRT. usually HDB or condos are built in such a way that there will be bus stand in every alternate block and the MRT will be not more than 15 min away from home.

3.How far is school from your house ?
The government has put in lot a planning before constructing apartments in Singapore. So usually you will all the shops,school ,MRT near your house. So make sure your house is near all these facilities.

The main question now is from where to start the procedure of searching a house.The first and foremost thing is to search online.Everything is computerized in Singapore so for the houses both the owner and the tenant will look online for help.

We particularly started our house search by going to below website-

http://singapore.gumtree.sg/

http://www.ezlinksingapore.com/ - This one has lots of ads by Indians.


This is a famous website which gets loads of traffic every minute.Once you find something on the site you then call the agents(usually its though agents) who will set up an appointment.You then go to view the house and mind you ..you are not alone in rat race :) . On the day of viewing there will be 4-5 groups who will come to view the house.

Then you start bidding ...now its the owner's wish whom he wants to rent out.You will be informed by the agent whether the owner has selected you to rent out the house.
Its like job searching .You go .... view...then wait patiently for the result.

This time around it took us 10-15 days with atleast one viewing on weekday and 2-3 viewings on weekends.

Before finalizing any deal be careful to check all the documents. Even though Singapore is considered to be very safe we faced personal experience of cheating.

The owner had asked to pay rent in advance .Since this happened before marriage and Naveen was in a hurry to find a house he decided to trust the owner and pay the rent in advance. All the documents seemed to be fine.

We later came to know that the owner did the same thing with may others and is currently in jail .Even though we registered a case with Singapore Police ,its been 6 months and still we have not got our money back.
So no matter how safe this place seem to be ,always be careful!!!

But then it does not end there ,the owner will try to squeeze out as much money from you on context of some stupid reasons.well ours said the bathroom metal pipe top was not clean(was does that even mean !!!) ,scratch on the floor,fridge top not clean ..blah..blah.. We wanted to move out peacefully so gave him the money but if its a unreasonable amount fight for your money !!!!

As I write this article we again changed our house because for some personal reason our owner wanted his house back. Now this time even I was involved in the process of house searching. Let me tell you its a nightmare !!!

The prices has sky rocketed in Singapore. You wont find anything decent living below $1500. Luckily for us we found a house within our budget.

The no of people coming to Singapore will not stop hence I dont think the housing prices will drop in the near future.

Good luck with house hunting.

The Rush Hour

Fancy tittle !!!

No matter how developed a country is , the problem of transportation at peak hour is there everywhere .

Thank goodness I don't travel in MRT anymore or else at certain junctions the crowd is overflowing during peak hours both in morning and evening .


Not that it's any easier on roads . The buses are crowded around 6pm . There is traffic everywhere .



Well I am not complaining bc first of all the buses come on time and they are very frequent too .

But people here sure are complaining . Recently there were talks of increase in ticket prices so everyone started blaming govt . There is one peculiar thing about way people complain here . Well many believe it's because of foreign immigrants --more people more traffic !!!


Well I believe any developed country will have people coming from all over the world esp in Singapore wherein the locals were once immigrants .

So is the govt doing anything ??

Looks like it is . There are new MRT lanes being created and then there are pricing on buying new cars which are 10 times the original price .

Even if you buy one there are license awarded which restricts owners to drive cars all the time . For eg some if them can be driven only during weekends !!

It's good and bad both , depends on how it is perceived .