Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Fond Memories (Part 2) - Jalan Bahagia

Continuing from my walk around the place where I used to stay during my childhood, these old flats (Block 21) still exists, they are at least my age...lol
But these flats are upgraded and maintained and looked so new. In Singapore, HDB flats need to be re-painted every five years.

Those staying on the ground floor has the advantage of sunning their mattress or laundries in the open area.

The above row of houses looked like private houses but they are actually HDB houses. They have a leasehold of 99 years but these houses are about my age (49 years) so they have about another 50 years life and they dont cheap anymore. They used to be rented houses but HDB has already sold them to the tenants long ago.

They are so beautifully decorated just like those private houses.

You might like to view this Blog (I happen to stumble onto this blog) which showcase the interior of these houses.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Landed properties in Singapore must be very expensive at the moment. owning some land will make anyone an overnight millionaire...:D Happy week ahead..well, tomorow is Thursday..so I am counting already :P

Arija said...

So nice that at least the outside of the buildings is so well kept up. A nice post.

Jim Klenke said...

It looks like a nice neighborhood.

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Alicesg, Thank you for the continuation of our journey on the tour of Singapore. The houses look so beautiful for their age. You can see they are well kept. It is interesting to see a mattress and laundry airing out by the sidewalk. Great post. Thanks for sharing. Love it. Country Hugs, Sherry

Mableinsingapore said...

Believe it or not Alice, I worked in the area in the early years of my working life. Your post reminded me of a time when life was simpler and working with people was a lot more fun and less stressful. Thanks for such an interesting post.

Tom said...

Alice these flats look so good to say they are 21.... ;O)

I love going back into my past... times back then were very hard but I knew much happiness. I have friends who live ext door to the house I was born in... two years ago I was asked if I would like to pop round and see the old home... it felt very strange being there but I came away with a tear of joy in my eye...
Aother great postig Alice.

Tom
My blogs today show a Gypsy Waggon and a Weather Vane

alicesg said...

Thank you all for the nice comments.

Yes, it is indeed nice to go back to visit the places that I stay or visited during my childhood, it brought back fond memories.

Tom, the flats are about 50 years old. The flat that I featured is Block 21, I put the block number there to show that Block 1 to Block 20 had all been demolished and these Block 21 onwards flats are still there.

alicesg said...

Mable, surprised you worked around there during your early years. :) St. Michael's Estate is one of the pioneer housing in Singapore.

Photo Cache said...

A 99-year lease, that's not bad :)

Unknown said...

I agree with Kate. Big smiles all the way to the bank owning a landed property in Singapore. Have a good day!

alicesg said...

M. Kate and Sunshine, yes, some people over here actually make money out of HDB flats or private houses. But one must not be too greedy. You must have heard of successful stories but there are also many people who lost a lot of money by investing in these properties. I know of many who lost few hundred thousand to few millions dollars in their properties. I am a low risk investor, I dont invest on properties but I do make some thousands each time I shifted house...lol.

I invested in shares in the stock market but am very contended just making a few hundred bucks that I quickly sold the shares but bangs my head when the share prices was so much higher than I sold...lol.

That is one reason I am never a millionaire...sighs....but great news too am not a bankrupt too...hahaha

Alexander said...

I'll let the cat out of the bag a little. I used to live in one of these terrace/row houses. Surprising the first two houses in the 3rd photo from the top have not change. Amazing how did they maintained it.

Thanks for bringing back the memories. :D

Alexander

Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Hi Alice,

still recuperating from my trip. So sad that john Little is no more, but I like those long escalators on the outside of OC.

Eat plenty of durian lately?

Cheers,

Ann
p/s got your flag up yet?