Bingo!

Yes I finally found a place!
I did not want to bother you with my thought processes, like 'almost downtown is still not downtown'. Or 'the more square meters, the better'. Or 'money is overrated anyhow'. Anyway, the housing brings me to one of the few inconsistencies in this city, the city that seems to be planned to perfection. Yes, Singapore is metric! Meters, kgs, liters... without making too much of a value judgement on non-metric medieval (or is that a value judgement?) units, let's suffice with the statement: metric is a good thing. However, the moment we are talking about housing here in Singapore, everything suddenly changes to square feet!! Fortunately, I managed to get a 1100 sq ft (did you know that makes a 122 sq yard?) apartment. OK that means 102 sq meters.
It is downtown, 200 m away from Orchard road, also 200 m away from the nearest subway entry (I then still need a 5 minute walk underground). This is particularly handy for the frequent heavy rainstorms. The kind that we experience in the Netherlands a few times per year, during summer, if any. Here it can last anywhere from 5 mins to a few hours. And they can happen all year long, in the rainy season just more frequently. So yes, you do not want to have to walk too long!
I did some sightseeing, and Singapore is impressive indeed. I had seen it before, but it still hits me. I inserted some pics of the marina bay area, including the Merlion, the lion/mermaid, the national symbol. And the Marina Bay Sands building, a 207 meter high hotel/casino/resort, with a 150 m long pool on the top, with palm trees of course. The huge solar powered outdoor fan (pic on the bottom left) is a nice cool shady place for a rest during the 33C/90% humidity average day. The fence and lights of the recent Formula 1 are still there.
More to follow!