Voices from within

Hunt-A-Room Mission

Date: 01-Aug-2009
Place: Yishun, Singapore
Purpose: To hunt for a room to rent during my employment in Singapore

My mission began at 6:30AM that day. Special thanks to Mr. Low Tong How for being the cabby (oh, Bit, please get him some Dark Ferrero! :D). I landed on Changi Airport and KC was already waiting at the arrival hall. The feeling was just indescribable.

We were late for our first appointment with an agent. The appointment was fixed at 1:30PM but we were roughly 10-15 minutes late. Oh, and his name is Joseph. Joseph was very kind and friendly. He drove us in his Mazda 3 to the first flat, at Block 275. The first house belonged to a Chinese family, a couple with a kid (or was it 2). The room had a bunk bed, a study table, a table fan and a wardrobe. Everything looks okay to me. The house was also very close to my workplace which is approximately 5 minutes walk away. Next up was the visit to another flat at Yishun Block 259. When we were at the doorstep, no one answered our call. Joseph tried to call the owner, and Mr. Owner confirmed that his wife was in but our rings went unanswered. We waited for about 10 minutes at the doorstep and left soon after as I still had another appointment coming up. As we walked towards the next block, Joseph was chasing us from behind. He must be searching really hard for KC and I, because we were few blocks away already. Mrs. Owner was apparently showering when we knocked on the door. So, we gave it another try and turned back. Once I got into the house, I realised that I had no regrets turning back, more like, I would regret if I did not turn back. Haha. Mrs. Owner was very nice and continuously apologized for not answering the calls. She was also a friendly lady. They are a young Indian couple with a baby.

Next visit was to a flat situated on the ground floor. I didn't like the interior of the house when I first stepped in. Moreover, the house was very crowded. There were two old folks, a few kids (I cannot remember how many now) and the elderly uncle is bedridden. I have no problems staying with elderly tenants but I wasn't sure how safe it is to stay with a bedridden patient. The room that was supposed to be rented out didn't have bed, only mattress. Ughhh...

It was almost 3:00PM when we finished visiting that flat and we decided to feed our calling stomachs. We took a bus to a nearby shopping complex called Northpoint Shopping Centre. KC recommended that I should try the food at Ishi Mura Japanese Food Court. As the name suggests, it is a Japanese themed food court. I liked the interior a lot, very warm and cosy. They play relaxing music too!

Visited these places later in the night, guided by Woon Tian, my ex-coursemate cum villager.

KC and I decided to spend the night at the Changi Airport since my flight was the earliest flight that Sunday.

That was the end of a hectic day.
I decided to take the room with the Indian couple owners :D