I absolutely guarantee that you will not have any sun here in the afternoon

House hunting was a great experience. I was with a local agent, Jane. Jane is friendly and efficient. Jane managed to squeeze 7 appointments into 3 hours, including lunch.

As in any big city, the closer you are to downtown, the more expensive it gets. Or, as for most mortals that have a limit to their budget, the less space you get.

After I had seen them all, in my head I made the ABSOLUTE perfect condo, consisting of location #2 (2 minutes away from Somerset), the kitchen of #3, the facilities of #6 (looked like a holiday resort, big pool with little BBQ peninsulas) and the inside space of #7.
The master bedroom of #2 would barely fit my double bed, but walking around it would not be an option. And no, I am not exagerating.

Some kitchens are not meant to really use for cooking, as I noted. They look impressive, but are impractical. They are only used for heating up take-away food and instant noodles, for the few days you are not eating out. Food is one of the few things that are really cheap here, unlike most European countries. The service however, is usually really good, again unlike most European countries. Many people here just do not cook very often. And, I must say, my take-away Nasi Lemak (Coconut Cream soaked & steamed rice with chicken, veggies and spicy sambal sauce) of yesterday evening, for EUR2,50 surely tasted nice!
The lack of dishwashers, even in these luxury apartments, as Jane explained, was because most people in this price segment pay someone else to do their dishes.

Anyway...back to reality, I realize I will have to make a choice. My choices are actually now between#1 and #7.
#1: Downtown, walking distance (10 mins) of Somerset and Clark key (one of the main places to go out) but small space. I would definitely have to get rid of some of my stuff. Also my new big espresso machine plus grinder would pretty much fill up the little counter space available in the kitchen.
#7: Novena Area, two subway stations north of Orchard. Jane insisted to show me the Novena area, as a new upcoming area. And indeed, the apartment was amazing!!! The kind where you say: yes, I would like to live here. Split level, high ceiling in living room, two bathrooms, separate guest room and quite spacious. The landlady, as she was 'selling' her property, told me: "I absolutely guarantee that you will not have any sun here in the afternoon". Great irony... I remember that recently I told my real estate agent in NL to emphasize the nice evening sun that I get in my house over there!
But here in Singapore I fully understand that you do not want the sun shine into your apartment; it will just turn your place into a sauna, and rack up your electricity bill in order to cool it down,

It seems I will go for #7.