stanford and now, london: HOME

108C Newton Court. A 5-storey walk apartment and we were on the 4th storey. We were fit in those days, carrying you guys up and down. Our very first home, bought in a very smooth process. God was watching over us for sure.

Those were very different times, in an era when financial controls were a little more relaxed. We got married in 1990 after working for just a couple of years, entering the job market during a recession. Buying a new flat meant a long wait, not unlike today. Buying a resale HDB flat involved taking a loan from the HDB, and paying the difference between that and the selling price in cash, which was about $20-30,000 at the time, depending on the location and size of the flat. We did not have that much in savings, not on our low salaries at the time.

But the strange thing was that for private property, you could get a loan for the entire amount, and so we decided to start looking at what we could afford. It would have to be something in the $200-300,000 range. Actually we hardly even got started. We looked through the classified ads in the newspapers (yes it was a very different time) saw an ad for this apartment, went to take a look and that was it! It was the only apartment we viewed!!! We even got a decent price for it because the lady who owned it was migrating (and wanted to close the deal quickly) and by sheer coincidence, knew Aunt Chris too, though I don't think that was a factor in the sale.

The owner had done quite a nice job with the interior decor and we did not have to change very much. We liked it so much we took the front door with us to Pinewood Gardens! It was also a nice quiet neighbourhood in those days which was another attraction - until a karaoke bar opened just across the street! Every time the door of the bar was opened, you could hear the music blasting out.

United Square in those days was a ghost town after office hours (not sure if you have any memory of that) - the only shops open would be some small restaurants (including a Korean one because I think the embassy was nearby in Goldhill Square), Cold Storage of course, and MPH the bookshop. All the shops were on the lowest level. Oh and there was Yesterday's - a nightspot with a live band (Thunderbirds? I am not sure) that we hung out at a lot with my friends (Peter, Allan and Ser Song).