Coming to Singa, SOOO many questions, take pity??

[Lynnel]

Hi

Well after a few months of reading these posts I have finally got approval and am coming to Singapore from July - December.  I am a 42 year old female Australia (bereft of bad Australian behaviours referred to further down this page!).

Questions at the moment:

Can somebody PLEASE tell me where on the web I might find a map of singapore with those districts on it.  HOw am I supposed to know where a D5 condo is? Yikes!

I will be an exchange PhD stude at the National Insitute of Education at Nanyang Uni.  Can anyone tell me the names of the surrounding suburbs (districts?)and any suggestions about where would be good to live in order to commute to there.  DOn't mind MRT travel daily.

Of course, anyone wanting to rent out a room would be good to hear from.  Am seeking something with access to a pool at not too totally extortionate rates.  I am not a clingy person, very independent.  I do hate single beds though!

Glad to hear from anyone

[CatLady]

try can.com.sg  

If it means anything, I love Australia and the people there. Perhaps the others who had bad experiences were just plain unlucky ... or ... they could be too quick to point a finger at racism when it was nothing more than a simple case of cultural clash

Good Luck!

[Glyn]

Hello!

How is Melbourne at the moment?  I am craving a latte by the Yarra right now!

I have just looked in the street directory and if it is NTU you will be attending it is way out west, nearest MRT is Boon Lay (W12) (last station on the west line of MRT). I don’t know the district but maybe someone else who has a news paper on them could tell you what the district is.

We live near MRT stop W4 which is close to Orchard (can walk it) and on the same line as NTU (ie no change of line)–although it is a fairly long trip on the train, and is actually not in a tunnel once you get out this far and seems much slower than the travel on the MRT closer to the city.

Where in Melbourne are you from?

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 09-03-2002).]

[Rakshasa]

Lynnel,

  I studied in NTU and from a travel point of view its a rather inconvenient place to get to. I stayed on campus so travel was not a consideration for me.

 There is no direct MRT to the NTU campus. The nearest MRT station is Boon Lay and you will have to change to a bus which takes 20-25 minutes to get to NTU. If you want apartments with a pool, it might cost you around SGD300-500 depending on the location and how much travel time you are comfortable with. Jurong East and Clementi might be good locations to look at with travel time of around forty minutes or so. For low cost apartments Jurong West is a good option. You can just walk into campus or take a bus ride for 10-15 minutes.

 NTU provides accomodation for Graduate students on campus and outside campus. I am not sure if it applies to Post Graduate students but if you havent checked it out, might be a good idea to try.If you do stay on campus, there are a couple of pools which are easily accessible and are free for students.

NTU is close to Jurong and is on the West side of Singapore

Hope that information helps   .

Cheers

[This message has been edited by Rakshasa (edited 09-03-2002).]

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 09-03-2002).]

[evehow]

NIE/NTU - look out for names such as Jurong, Boon Lay, Clementi.... I think anyway to the east of Clementi MRT station would be too far and inconvenient to access NTU by public transport, although I stand to be corrected  

Anyway near the Boon Lay MRT station station (? the one next to Jurong Point Shopping Centre) is good because I believe there are some direct buses from the bus interchange there.  NTU/NIE is not served by MRT so you need to take a bus.

Please see www.smrt.com.sg  for a map of the MRT system (click SMRT Corp -> Travel Information)

District 05 refers to the Clementi area.

[VS]

Hi Lynnel,

If you want to see an interactive map of Singapore go to www.streetdirectory.com.sg

As for NTU, you need to take an MRT to Boon Lay and change to bus services 179, 199. Directions for going to NTU are also on their website www.ntu.edu.sg

If you choose to stay in the city area, you will need to travel. Alternatively you can choose to stay in any of the west areas..Jurong, Clementi, Bukit Batok etc.

[Lynnel]

Thank you so much for this very useful information.  

I am checking out my options.  I am actually tossing up whether to ask about Post Grad accommodation at the uni, because I am very independent and like my space I just want to see what else is around. Also a lot of my research will be done off campus at people's workplaces so I don't only need to consider getting to and from the Uni. But one is always best to ask someone who lives there, and the comments about time taken to get to NTU are really important.

Glyn: I am from Seddon, in between Yarraville and Footscray.  The weather in Melbourne today is, unusually, beautiful. Sunny and clear. In fact I am off to Brunetti's in Lygon St for a coffee and lunch.  But can't WAIT to get to Singapore.  Guess we always wish we were somewhere we're not!

Thanks everyone, I am bound to have lots more questions!