UrbaneSpaces

Luxury Travel Myanmar

2010-08-17T13:46:00.002+08:00

Luxury Travel in Myanmar is not quite as oxymoronic as it seems when in the

hands of a luxury travel company.

Yangoon, a name perfectly suited to the economic capital of

Myanmar as it signifies the End of Strife. Arranging for luxurious, special touches

here in Myanmar Between the charming surrounds of

The Governor's residence, the Victorian-styled

Strand hotel or the luxury hotel, Kandawgyi Palace where the suite directly faces

the famous lake in Yangon, marks a great start to your travel around Myanmar.

In spite of the fact that Bagan is not of the list of the Wolrd

Heritage Site, it will be a mistake to missing it during your luxury tour

of Myanmar. Bagan, in fact, has been nominated by the New York Times as one of the Top 10 Destinations to go to. Architecturally rich with an amazing amount of temples,

stupas and pagodas, this city is almost iconic for the tourist

visiting Myanmar. From a spectacular balloon ride early morning or evening or a suite

with spectacular views of temples, your experience of Bagan can be arranged

to capitalize on your surrounds and experience.

To complete your travel experience, a stop in Inle Lake will surely be highly

recommended where you will have time to admire the azure blue lake in luxury.

A lunch/brunch break at the Inle Princess Resort(with a spectacular

view of Inle Lake), along with a spa treatment overlooking the same lake- are some

of the extra touches that will make your trip to Inle Lake a memorable one.

Mandalay, yet another popular stop for most travellers to Myanmar, is recognised for its

artisanal culture. Transfers by a luxuriously retrofitted boat to another island close to Mandalay, picnics

on remote stretches of beach prepared by an advanced team and elephant riding through villages are some

of the activities in Myanmar for travellers keen on experiences and luxury.

End of the travel in Putao which is recognized as a veritable paradise

in the Burmese Himalayas. Your last nights in Myanmar will be spending

in the unexpected luxury Malikha Lodge given the locality.

Luxury Travel Dubai

2010-08-16T22:07:00.002+08:00

Luxury travel and Dubai have become somewhat synonymous what with the glitzy nature of the city. It is effortless to take pleasure in luxury travel to Dubai, what with the multitude of luxury hotels but what distinguishes a run-of-the-mill luxury tour with an ´insider´s access´ trip to Dubai would be snagging the

right connections and working with someone who knows the best places in the city.

Dubai combines well with other countries in the region- Abu Dhabi, Oman or Iran and would make for an excellent stopover, the convenient flight connections to and out of Dubai as well as its sophisticated infrastructure making it an ideal staging ground for any journey around the Middle East.

Dubai is one of the states of United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is much more capital invested in its progress than any other manufacturing site in the whole world. There are many projects still in Dubai which are under construction; and one of its major projects at this time in progress is the Three Palms, in which there are 3 non-natural islands are under construction in the form of palm trees, and at the top of these three false islands there is constructing a breakwater in order to give protection to each island. It is also fact that each palm of Specific Island will have more than one function; the Jebel Ali will mainly concentrate on entertainment, the Jumeirah on international hotels and restaurants, and leisure and the Deira on residential use. It is very famous in the world and people used to refer to it as the 8th Wonder of the World.

Luxury travel in Dubai would inadvertently involve a spot of shopping. Dubai, well known for its gold souks, the fashionable abayas and some of (if not the largest) malls in the world, has a lot to offer by way of shopping. From homegrown talents to international fashion names, cuisine that draws inspiration both regionally and internationally and a workforce that is equally diverse, Dubai is the easiest introduction for any traveller looking to initiate themselves with the Middle East

Luxury Travel Morocco

2010-08-16T21:44:00.001+08:00

Morocco, fusing influences of North Africa and the Mediterranean, looks from the northwest shoulder of Africa. It´s been the homeland of the berbers since second the millennium and today, you´ll find similar cross cultural influences of the Arabs, African and Mediterranean influences in Morocco.

The environment in morocco is having great verity according to geographical location, combining skiing and mountain ranges with the vast expanse of the Sahara desert. And the mountains are heavily wooded and in winter the mountains are covered with snow. This country is very important in the migration of birds that spend time of winter in Morocco.

The exoticism of Morocco has fascinated many western travellers- from icons like Talitha Getty in the 60´s to the fictional Penny Lane from the movie ´Almost Famous´, referring to Marrakech as the capital for privileged, bohemian chic.

There are plenty of sophisticated riads and hotels, facilitating luxury travel to Morocco. The Palmeraie area is Marrakech sees luxury incarnations of palaces, discreet luxury hideouts referencing Persian pleasure gardens and Andalusian architecture to the chic boutique riads in the areas closer to the Djemaa el Fnaa.

The official language of this country is Arabic. But the people there can speak French, Spanish, and English as well. The Religion is Islam and the mosque is center of all worship. The national drink is mint tea- instantly obvious once you get invited to the many rounds of mint tea whilst carpet merchants roll out their offerings. Industries include construction textile and processed food. Tourism earns foreign exchange as a result of millions of tourist. In the culture of morocco music and dance plays a vital role. And in the Islamic culture the architecture have resulted in great and splendid treasure- main hallmarks of which will be present in any luxury travel itinerary.

Trekking, climbing on mountain ranges, horse riding and during winter, skiing, are activities that can be undertaken during your stay in Morocco. Being a Muslim country there are many festivals and holidays according to Islamic calendar, New Year's Day, the end of the month of Ramadan, National Day, the Anniversary of The Green March and Independence Day are among the National celebrations.

Luxury Tours to Turkey

2010-08-16T14:13:00.001+08:00

If the world were one state, then Istanbul would be its capital- the words of Napoleon Bonaparte an indication of the reverence that he holds Istanbul in, is today, ultimately true. With the confluence of Eastern and Western cultures, Istanbul is an interesting city to explore and discover at your own pace. Straddling both Europe and Asia, Istanbul was the jewel in the crown for the Ottoman empire and today visitors can witness the various influences that the city has come under.
So this is the main feature of this country, because of which Turkey is so important as far as the luxury traveling is concern. There were many big and famous empires of the world, who ruled over turkey. Travelers are going to Turkey since last 8000 years and they discovered much wealth of
artifacts, which was left by those great empires. But nowadays the luxury travel to Turkey is going to become very famous and common throughout the world.
There are many attractive places in the country which ranging from beaches famous for its nightlife and party culture to ancient and famous cities of the world. Then there’s Turkish cuisine- considered as one of the finest as far as national cuisines are concern. The exciting mixture of culture, tradition, and natural beauty makes this country an unforgettable natural gateway to the all other countries of the Asia, and on the same time as the greatest destination of Asia.
Luxury travelers to Turkey would discover much in the way of privileged access. It is a country that reveals itself in different ways to different individuals and everyone would most definitely find their own way to enjoy Istanbul. Luxury tours of Turkey, based in luxury hotels(often converted from palaces and historical homes), access to private tours and collections as well as some of the most spectacular travel experiences available, Turkey is definitely well set up as a luxury travel destination.
The abundance of thermal springs in Turkey allows too for Turkey to be developed as a spa destination. Then there are many thermal springs, and especially the ancient culture are just one of the highlights for a luxury tour of Turkey.

Luxury Travel Malaysia

2010-08-16T13:58:00.002+08:00

Malaysia is one of the most beautiful countries of the world having every type of favor of enjoyment in it. Malaysia has a shoreline that is three thousand kilometers (i.e. almost 1,860 miles) lengthy and very famous and all in all rainforests that are thought to be the world’s oldest rainforests. The cultural diversity and natural attractions of Malaysia have drawn many tourists to Malaysia.
From Malaysia’s colonial influence, its Malay courtly heritage(especially writ large in the states of Trengganu and Malacca) to the luxury hotels that are now available in the country- the potential for luxury travel in Malaysia is endless. Nature enthusiasts are lured to Malaysian Borneo for its wild tropical jungles and the amazing cultures of its local people- quite distinct from peninsular Malaysia with tribes like the Negrito, Iban and Penan.
Langkawi, already a favourite with honeymooners, similarly beckons with its rich nature and under-the-radar beaches(although, having quite
recently been voted as one of Asia’s best beaches by a respected travel magazine, the ‘under-the-radar’ nature of Langkawi’s beaches looks set to
change.
Malaysia is full of a varied coastline. Beaches of Malaysia are as diverse as its original culture. This country has the brand that it has smooth pebble beaches, black sand beaches as well as powdery beaches. The luxury travel solutions in Malaysia similarly reflect the elements that draw visitors to Malaysia- from the colonial Carcosa Seri Negara, a heritage hotel perched on top of a hill, an eco-luxury getaway an hour’s drive from the bustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur to award-winning spa getaways that take inspiration from courtly Malay rituals.
There are many wonderful buildings around the country but KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) and very famous PETRONAS twin tower are most wonderful and that’s why they are so famous that if you are on a trip to Malaysia then you should not miss the chance to see them. It is a most recent wonder of the world and they symbolize the quick progress of Malaysia.
Luxury travel to Malaysia, whilst facilitating the best of luxury hotels, would also mean privileged access via stays in private estates or royal family homes.

Luxury Travel India

2010-08-16T12:01:00.003+08:00

Luxury travel and India sounds like a perfect mix/composition of words   for describing a dream experience in the real word proposed by luxury travel company.  No one can ignore the existence of this land of treasure symbolized   by a population who lives with her rich culture in a respect of her   traditions.  Hindustan as India is called by her inhabitants, retains an amazing   amount of luxury hotels from the heritage part of India to the   renowned hotel chains without forgetting to mention the safari lodges, making luxury travel

to India a unique and culturally enriching experience.  In the land of Gandhi, the entire rainbow colors will be found on the   women's saris(most synonymous with the Rajasthani women- something you'd notice as you travel

throughout India) as in your plate full of a local meal. Tasting the

traditional chicken Tandoori will certainly be the first step of a   long discovery of Indian?s cook based on an incredible mix of several   different kinds of spices and herbs.  Without these delicious moments spending around the table, in   accordance with luxury, you will be transfer wherever you would like   to go by a luxury limousine with a chauffeur for discovering the historical   places.  After these long days walking in Delhi streets or visiting the iconic   Taj Mahal, you will enjoy your stay in the most luxury accommodations   existed in India where you will be treating as a maharajah and a   maharani. Boutique hotel or Palace, the places proposed will have the   luxury that you are looking for during your luxury tour of India.

Luxury Travel Thailand

2010-08-16T11:52:00.004+08:00

The Buddhist country of Thailand is one of the greatest destinations of Asia. Thailand is a place of remarkable places and has a well-developed infrastructure for tourism. The life in its capital city Bangkok is very fast and full of actions of nightlife. An easy introduction to South East Asia for the first timer, Thailand is a country that provides all the visitors with modern advantages to ease and facilitate their travel experience.

Renowned Thai hospitality and the sophistication of the luxury hotels in Thailand, allows for luxury travel to Thailand to be within the reach of many.

The official language of Thailand carries a beautiful quality and inflections, which, even to the casual observer, would reveal the gentle attitudes of its people. The currency used in Thailand is named as "baht". Thai people are very conscious about their traditions and one

tradition is "wai" i.e. to press your hands like you are in prayer and bent yourself a little. This greeting is possibly a cultural influence of India, indicating the cultural trajectories around Asia.

The visitors of Thailand have one big advantage that they a wide variety of choice in every field i.e. to live in an eco-beach resort, a wellness getaway favoured by celebrities like Elizabeth Hurley to the dizzying array of luxury hotels and beach resorts to activities like visiting the archaeological ruins in ancient capitals, a private blessing ceremony in Ayutthaya or visiting monasteries involved in the preservation of the Thai traditional performing arts. And it is well known about Thailand that is always had something new even for the persons who have already visited- with many regional travellers opting for weekend getaways to sample the shopping, spa and luxury hotel experiences of its capital Bangkok to the international traveller who visit Thailand over and over again, doing it a little differently and experiencing something new each time.

Many visitors come to Thailand for shopping and it is too easy to spend a lot of time shopping for exotic souvenirs in Bangkok and other favoured tourist cities like Chiang Mai and Phuket.Luxury tours in Thailand is easily facilitated by the efficient domestic flight connections within the country.

Wicker in Singapore

2007-10-24T21:39:00.001+08:00

Every upscale development's made the conversion to wicker poolside lounge chairs in place of the pleb white-plastic chairs(that gets really greasy and reminds you of unsanitary public pools).

For your roof terrace, poolside or even the balcony, turn to:

Ohmm and Gloster

Gloster has very good-looking love seats(with optional sail) at reasonable prices and the sole distributor as I understand it is Fun's Florist and Nursery at Andrew Road.

Fun's Florist and Nursery

551 Thomson Road (Junction Of Andrew Road) Singapore 298180
Tel : 6253-7023
Fax : 6251-1027

Maharam in Singapore

2007-10-24T21:08:00.000+08:00

More on the thread of finding previously-unavailable decor brands in Singapore, FabricNation; a company with a cute name strategically situated on Haji Lane, now carries Maharam textiles.

Maharam, with collaborators like Paul Smith and Andree Putman(Paul Smith allegedly having "approached Maharam in 2002 after seeing I Morosi alla Finestra, a Gio Ponti designed silk, at a Ponti retrospective at the Design Museum in London") delivers fabrics backed by a certain conceptual resonance and progressive use of materials.

Fabricnation (Singapore) Pte Ltd
57A Haji Lane Singapore 189250
Tel : 6299-0538
Fax : 6299-3719

Where to Source Interesting Tiles in Singapore

2007-10-24T20:42:00.000+08:00

Previously I'd always have turned to Rice Fields- a small, well-designed tile and bathroom fittings outfit that's recently re-located to the much-hyped Tiong Bahru Neighbourhood.

Recently however, I'd discovered GFA Global as well. With an interesting website, gorgeous accompanying visuals and possibly the only store that carries tiles imitating the textures of leather and metal, GFA Global also carries my much sought-after Bisazza feature tiles.

Check out GFA Global's website here

Another Fengshui ad- Cannot explain: Only Special People Understand!

2007-10-23T14:08:00.000+08:00

The cornerstone of most forms of advertising- you 'get it' because you're special...

Alec Baldwin calls the Real Estate Agency

2007-10-22T13:09:00.001+08:00

You need 'brass balls to sell real estate'?

Borat-Buying a House

2007-10-22T12:29:00.001+08:00

And Sometimes I lament the lack of interesting customers?

Herald Newspaper Real-Estate Ad, 1984 (with cute blonde)

2007-10-22T12:13:00.001+08:00

To use an oft-employed phrase, a 'retro' ad.

Mocca Bodybuilder Ad - Guy Selling House

2007-10-16T10:05:00.001+08:00

A guy trying to sell his house does it by showing off his pipes. Why are Mocca ads so crass?

Invisible City

2007-09-27T06:13:00.000+08:00

A documentary about space and memory and how we stake our claim on spaces, no matter how temporary-from the graffiti on the wall or the tissue paper in a food court.
The official website here:

Style:Nordic

2007-09-26T15:54:00.000+08:00

Alvar Aalto at Style:Nordic

Kateha- which, according to the Style:Nordic website, references pile rugs in Arabic. A good, modern substitute for my Berber pile rugs, I think- the latter a look I'm getting rather tired of, unfortunately.

Style:Nordic is a Scandinavian concept store, selling everything from Scandinavian furniture to fashion.

2007-09-22T17:04:00.000+08:00

Following up on Shawn's post:The website is up- suitably designer-ish, Flash-based, interactive site. Check out the resident artists- Xin&AnnGee, Sokkuan&Kuanth and the ongoing Le Monde est Nous exhibition.

Other blogs that refer to the new gallery cum bar are:
EeShaun's

and Patlaw's

Modern Tropical Luxe

2007-09-21T21:59:00.001+08:00

Designed by one of Singapore's top architectural firms- a practice whose signature modern tropical styles have become synonymous with Singapore's emergent architectural identity. This house displays all the 'classic fingerprints'- the powder rooms overlooking a lush garden, a water feature through the walkway and luxuriously sized bedrooms.For more info:http://www.urbanespaces.com/tropicalluxedetached.html

1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial

2007-09-21T16:13:00.001+08:00

It's hard to believe that a brand with such a niche, almost deviant message with an ad that references literary works could have almost mainstream appeal.

The Next Neighbourhood-Again

2007-09-17T08:09:00.000+08:00

At around the same time that I was touting the virtues of Pasir Panjang, the Sophia/Niven enclave was of particular interest to me as well. The developments in the area, however, turned out uninteresting and commodified, and, like an out-of-favour stock, I stopped backing it.

Recently, however, I'm hearing news of the formation of a creative enclave involving some of the most respectable names in the industry. Taking advantage of its centrality and the curiously undervalued real estate prices could well be a reason. The seeming 'discovery' (and completion) of neglected conservation buildings could be another. Shawn's post referencing a new bar cum art gallery within a restored 1950s Art Deco building and the recent opening of Air's flagship store(in a breakaway from Park Mall's traditional stranglehold on luxury furniture stores) has me convinced once again as to the neighbourhood's potential- in commercial real estate.

Graffiti'd video

2007-09-16T05:56:00.000+08:00

To put this in context, the original video can be found here:

graffiti.vidavee.com allows you to apply graffiti on any video. I'm hoping there'll be a wider variety soon.

Luxe Bachelor Pad

2007-09-14T06:10:00.001+08:00

For sale and for rental.

Avant Garde Geylang

2007-09-13T22:37:00.001+08:00

Muccchhh better with the new photos. photo of bald guy from playitasfred.com and photo of guy pointing gun barrel to screen from trexor14 on stockxchng

Avant Garde on Geylang- To the Tune of Scarface

2007-09-13T22:13:00.001+08:00

Am not quite sure about the soundtrack. I could have added better photos to it...

Boutique Hotel Terrace

2007-09-13T21:03:00.001+08:00

Rented Out but Still Fun as a Subject of a Mashup

Child Friendly Modern to a Teenage Mutant Track

2007-09-13T20:23:00.001+08:00

You either love or hate the soundtrack.

Designer Bedsheets

2007-09-13T17:15:00.000+08:00

Straits Times' Urban pages today, the nation's self-appointed purveyor of all things hip, did a cover on Designer Bed Sheets today and educated us on the differences between cotton percale, cotton jacquard, cotton sateen and pure linen('cotton percale is made from high quality cotton and is crisp and cool to touch, launders well, lasting and durable, cotton jacquard comes with an alternating matt-sateen pattern in the fabric, cotton sateen made from a finer thread than percale and pure linen for its crispness, coolness and breathability). I'm not familiar with the terms but cotton percale comes closest amongst the options above vis a vis what I'm looking for in my bedsheets. I love Egyptian cotton- and sadly, not all egyptian cotton is the same(don't ask me why- it just doesn't feel the same) and as far as I'm concerned, threadcount does matter.

A neophyte running her fingers through the sheets at Takashimaya's bedlinen section whenever there's a sale, my favourite is Karen Neuberger's. This year, Armani Casa comes close- I love the colours and the coolness of the sheets come close to Karen Neuberger's but I'd take Karen Neuberger's odd spacey blue colours(the brand does have white, but I will not live with two whites) than the fashionably muted tones of Armani's. Karen Neuberger's website looks like it caters more to the Martha Stewart crowd but nothing in my takashimaya finger-running experience beats the cool, crisp, amazingly high threadcount sheets. A salesman ran the threadcount by me- was particularly impressed but I daren't recall it online in case my memory reveals a tendency to exaggerate

I do not understand the deal with Frette other than its particularly inspired marketing point-of-experience(is that a new marketing term?) with boutique hotels and I do tend to remember houses with Frette linens;-)

All white Modern

2007-09-12T16:57:00.001+08:00

I like this the best by far. The alternating images of the blindfolded guy and the legs peeping out of the bed- couldn't have asked for a better mashup.

Fengshui'd modern

2007-09-12T16:25:00.001+08:00

The soundtrack might be a little corny but I liked the acid-trippy backgrounds that seem to accompany it.

Glamorous East

2007-09-12T15:43:00.001+08:00

The First Animoto Installation

Designer HDBs

2007-09-01T23:24:00.000+08:00

Everytime I comment on how some HDB units are starting to look better than condominiums, my friend starts ranting about the 'unconscionable appropriation of public money' . (Note for the uninitiated: HDB is the local form of public housing. First-time buyers whose income does not go beyond the required level receive a grant for purchase from the government).

I believe it's more a reflection of the increasing sophistication amongst HDb dwellers- the in-betweens who have just started working and are seeking to reconcile their tastes in interiors with their budgets.

The move to bring the local version of starchitects WoHa and SCDA on board to design HDB blocks is a reflection of that trend. The above photo is an artist's impression of WoHa's proposal, with a choice of planter box, monsoon windows, balcony or bay windows by the occupants. The asymmetry and emphasis on outdoor spaces is reminiscent of Moshe Safdie's Habitat complexes.

Am partial to WoHa's proposal based on looks, the ability to customize a facade and the potentially interesting overall facade based on the residents' requests.

Photo below is SCDA's proposal. Photos taken from The Straits Times' 1st September.

Bungee Jumping Agent

2007-09-01T19:42:00.000+08:00

I wouldn't trump up strength in numbers if the team consists of 4 people.
Especially appreciate the 'team orchestrated by...' bit.

2007-09-01T13:01:00.000+08:00

Seth Godin blogged about real estate agent's business cards.

I remembered my manager telling the class to included 'useful information' like calendars or 995(or 911- depending on which country you're in) type numbers on the back of the card just so that owners will have a reason to keep your namecard in their wallets. That doesn't actually work when the whole class takes him up on his advice and all real estate agents' cards come with the panic button numbers, calendar and a pack of tissues.

Seth suggests Moo for something different-a very interesting looking company although I do remember another company based in Barcelona that had better looking templates.

I don't quite agree on the point of steel business cards though- I loved Kevin Mitnick's:

and of course New York's #1 Escort must agree that steel business cards bring in a lot of- business.

Ours is lenticular(or rather mine is- with plans for other agents to use the same namecards later ):

God is above all

2007-09-01T10:55:00.000+08:00

Like in everything else, God is invoked in very odd circumstances in real estate.

And it's good to know we're not the only ones with the 'uber alles' mentality.

Owner not in anyhow sell!!!

2007-09-01T10:20:00.000+08:00

I like the inflections.

On bejewelled balconies and getting a life

2007-08-26T01:11:00.000+08:00

Dead geckos and the state of the real estate agency industry

2007-08-24T23:42:00.000+08:00

(More on) Real Estate Movies

2007-08-24T22:12:00.001+08:00

Stephen Malpezzi has a very well-written essay on real estate movies.

It's a topic that I did not feel up to tackle- preferring instead, to limit the domain to movies concerning real estate agents as opposed to real estate as a whole- that'd definitely include every haunted-house story(my favourite's La Casa dalle finestre che ridono, or The House with Laughing Windows- my introduction to the genre of giallo, the latter being something that I have maintained a morbid fascination with ever since), the carpet- baggers in 'Gone With the Wind'(taken up by Malpezzi) as well as stories on every evil real estate developer out there(Fountainhead- or is that about evil architects and Superman's Lex Luthor?- there's a precious quotation cited in Malpezzi's essay:'Stocks may rise and fall. Utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good. But they will always need land, and they will pay through the nose to get it'. Sure beats Mark Twain's 'Buy land. They've stopped making it.') and just about every movie where the house somehow plays a central feature. - I'd start with Mr and Mrs Smith or that cool loft in Hitch(Hollywoodbitchslap says that 'the loft interiors were shot from real lofts in TriBeCa and SoHo, with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline') Malpezzi cites Citizen Kanes' Xanadu and Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress.

Anyway- do check out Malpezzi's essay. I found the inclusion of HouseSitter and Beetlejuice to be especially inspired.

Discount Brokerages

2007-08-24T22:04:00.001+08:00

There's a lot of buzz going on about discount brokerages on US-based real estate blogs. At 6% commission on a sale, I'm sure there's a market for discount brokerages.

In Singapore, where the standard agency commission is between 1-2% on a sale, talk about discount brokerages has hardly registered- although recently there has been a lot of debate on the practice of buyer's agents paying the 1% commission for a purchase transaction on a HDB flat.(Read about the debate here )

I do remember though, an agency advertising cash back schemes (not to be confused with HDB's cash back ) where the buyer does his/her own property search through calling up various seller's agents through the classifieds, arranging for their own viewings with these individual seller's agents and then inform the seller's agents that they are being represented by their own agents when they are ready to make an offer. The incentive in doing all the legwork yourself and then calling in the 'discount brokerage' to represent them is that the discount brokerage would be willing to share their commission with you and would return you a certain percentage of their commission.

Am not sureif it's the best way, or most ethical way of conducting a home search, however. The theoretical basis is that the buyers would do all the legwork themselves, organising for viewing schedules and making their own way between viewings. What it could degenerate into is an abuse of the seller's agent's time- where the buyer has various seller's agent picking out a few properties for them , arranging for viewing schedules, and then bring up the matter of representation when they are ready to make the offer.

Sellers' agents are also wont to consider buyers who call in directly as 'their clients' , - which would obligate the buyers to inform every seller's agent they contact that they are being represented by their own agent from the start.

As for the maths- and I'm sure this has been touched upon in a different context elsewhere- co-broking effectively halves the commission for sellers' agents. Which makes them unwilling to negotiate on the asking price. And should we look at the overall picture- where the commission is 1% of the total sale price, the savings could potentially work in the buyer's favour in the case where there isn't any co-broking. Am going to throw hypothetical figures(which in all likelihood would be very much tempered in real life):

On a purchase price of $1m, the agent gets a commission of $10k.

Upon co-broking, it's effectively $5k for each agent- with the discount brokerage giving you a refund of, say, 50%, which equates to a saving of $2500 for the buyer.

In the circumstance where there is no co-broking, however, the threshold for negotiation vis a vis how it affects the agent's commission is a lot higher. Should the purchase price be negotiated down to $800k(might or might not happen in real life depending on the seller's reserve price- but for this example connotes savings of $200k off the purchase price), the commission is still $8k as opposed to the co-broking fee of $5k at $1m-which would indicate that there is a greater incentive for the agent to negotiate on a lower sale price(although in real life there's the issue of agent loyalties- the relationship with an established as opposed to a new client, etc). In real life, co-broking scenarios are common, with very little resentment on the part of the agents involved but sometimes, as the above(rather extreme but illustrative of the message) example shows, the savings in a cash-back, discount brokerage might not justify the overall price paid.

The issue of reconciling agent's motivations/loyalties and the commission structure has been much debated- from Freakonomics to an excellent article I read in the Business Times a few years ago. Agents understand the motivation that comes with commissions and I have met agents who volunteer to pay for the agent's commission(they're on the buyer end in a private market- not typically necessitating a commission) should the transaction value be perceived as being too low to motivate an agent to source for apartments for them. Or the agents who buy their own apartments without trying to get a cut off the commission through co-broking because they understand it disincentivises the negotiation process.

Will continue touching upon the commission/motivation structure, and if there is ever an ideal model in later posts.

Update:-

Philip Greenspun suggests the 6% commission fees might be too low:

People who sell $1 million condos often complain that paying a 6 percent standard (read “fixed by collusion” among realtors) commission is too much ($60,000 for what might only be a few days of work). Economists who have studied the real estate market, however, find that in some ways the commission is too low because realtors don’t work very hard to sell clients’ houses compared to their personal houses. In other words they sell a customer’s house relatively cheap so that it will sell quickly rather than work for many weeks to get the best price and 6% of the extra.

Why haven’t we seen anyone propose a commission structure that says the realtor gets a 25% commission… but only on the amount above the assessed value of the property? Your typical $1 million NY or Boston apartment is assessed at maybe $850,000 and could be sold for that price with almost no effort in a few days so the commission paid on such a sale shouldn’t be more than $1000. If a realtor could sell the place for $1.2 million via clever marketing, however, she should be entitled to a fat commission.

And there's a precious quote on Singapore's commission rates and the kind of agents it spawns:

Michael Slater

June 8, 2005 @ 10:28 am

6When I sold my house in the east bay of San Francisco, this is exactly what I did. The commission was tiered and he was better paid the higher the sale price of the house was (starting at 6%) And to be clear, I got significantly more for my house (even considering that I had bought it only 11 months earlier… thanks California Real Estate Market!)

By the way, if you think 6% is low or a lot, consider what the real estate agents in Singapore get…. One Percent.

And yes, the average real estate agent here is about as good as you’d expect for paying only 1%. It’s practically a hobby job for most of them — a bunch of Glen Gary Glenross losers, they don’t even get the steak knives.

En bloc art

2007-08-24T22:03:00.001+08:00

Image from 'Pages from a Dancer's Journal'

A dance choreographer, forced to move out of rented apartments more than five times over the last three years due to these apartments having been sold for en bloc has channeled her 'mental and emotional distress caused by the physical upheavals (of moving out)' into a new dance called Bleu.

From her interview with Straits Times' Arts reporter June Cheong, Elysa Wendi was quoted as saying: "Nowadays, people can just tear buildings down and rebuild them without feeling. Where's the trace of history from, say, 400 years ago?"

"Resembling a cross section of a collapsed house stripped down to its support beams, the set takes on an important symbolic role in the production, shutting her dancers out but hemming Liong's dancers in".- Straits Times, Life! August 23

FengShui Emperor Hat

2007-08-24T21:54:00.000+08:00

I believe the emperor hat refers to a feng shui term, along with the allusions to support, strength and power. Also that the asking price is $8.8m- 8 being an auspicious number.

Interesting property ads, Aug 21st, 2007

2007-08-23T03:15:00.000+08:00

The first entry to what I hope would develop into being a series.
I should have kept(or scanned) the earlier ads.
Someone put up an interesting ad in the papers!

Customised M&Ms

2007-08-22T05:27:00.000+08:00

For some time I'd thought about cupcakes(C-Cups' look very fashionable) but M&Ms with customised logos in colours of pearl, white and black look great too!

Via Cafe Fernando

Hungry Ghosts May Spook Property Boom

2007-08-21T02:04:00.000+08:00

Hungry Ghosts May Spook Property Boom

August- the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival, typically signals a slow month for property sales in countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Since all the factors signal towards a quiet month(see excerpt from Reuters below),

"Hungry Ghost" month deals double blow to Asian business

By Fayen Wong | August 4, 2006

In Singapore, where 75 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese, business associations often run street performances, known as "getai," to entertain the living and the dead.

Apart from inviting popular singers from overseas to perform, these "getai" shows also include auctions for auspicious items such as oranges, pineapples and charcoal -- which are associated with wealth in Chinese, and which are stacked on gold-tinted plates and elaborately wrapped in red ribbons.

this month will be all about getai. From Rosyton Tan's 881 to the actual shows at your nearest spot of public assembly, the tradition of getai would be a fun distraction in a month otherwise characterised by slow sales and tumbling stock markets.

And since I was recently quoted in a local magazine saying that the job alternatives available to graduates of my batch were : real estate agents, taxi drivers and hawkers, please add getai singer to my list.

Photo below is of the winsome Mindy Ong in a very luxe getai costume. Both photos are from Royston Tan's blog

Inflation and Real Estate- Or What Psycho Can Teach You about Inflation

2007-08-19T23:36:00.000+08:00

What ‘Psycho’ can teach you about inflation

The price of cheap motel rooms, new bathrooms and Madison Avenue salaries in old movies are a lot more accurate than you’d think.
Via 360Digest

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

February 22, 2006: 2:19 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - $25 a day plus expenses. That’s what Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) charged to do detective work in 1941’s “The Maltese Falcon.”

Sometimes, money references in classic movies provide the jolt that reminds us of how inflation has changed what we pay for things. After adjusting for inflation, $25 in 1941 is the equivalent of $332 today — a PI today might get between $80 and $125 an hour (or more).

Sam Spade's $25 a day plus expenses is equivalent to about $330 today.
Sam Spade’s $25 a day plus expenses is equivalent to about $330 today.

Mike Myers skillfully exploited the disconnect in the first “Austin Powers” epic. The villain, Dr. Evil, who has just come out of a 30-year deep freeze, is holding the world hostage and demands . . . (portentous music) . . . $1 million dollars to spare it. After some consultation with henchmen, he ups the demand to $100 billion.

Even in 1997 dollars, when the movie was made, a million 1967 dollars only comes to a little under $5 million. Either Dr. Evil was a bit of a piker or the cryogenics had frosted some of his brain cells.

Here is a sampling of some classic movie money moments, complete with a rating of how surprisingly HIGH or LOW they seem from our perspective in 2006

Of Mice and Men: Cheap land?

Some movie prices seem totally divorced from reality. Lenny and George in “Of Mice and Men” are trying to scrape together $600 to buy a rabbit farm in the Salinas Valley. In California today, $600 wouldn’t buy a rabbit hutch.

Rating: LOW. The movie may be set during the Great Depression, but even adjusting for inflation, $600 then is only about $8,500 today. Perhaps Lenny and George were angling for a no-down payment, interest-only mortgage, intending to flip the property in six months.

Psycho: Cheap digs?

In the 1960 Hitchcock opus, “Psycho,” the room rate at the Bates motel is $10 (including a hot shower), which sounds pretty low, but it’s actually the equivalent of $66 today.

Rating: HIGH. Remember, this isn’t the Ritz; it’s a seedy place in the middle of nowhere that the new highway has bypassed, leaving it with no customers. For $66 you can rent a pretty good room in a chain motel and not have to worry about Norman’s mom.

Mr. Blandings builds his nest egg

Few movies spell out prices as completely as “Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House,” the timeless tale of home buyer and home owner angst from 1948 starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. Of course the prices aren’t quite as timeless.

City dwellers Grant and Loy buy a rural Connecticut home on about 35 acres that is in such bad shape, demolition is the only solution. Purchase, demolition and construction ends up costing a total of $38,000 for a home with four beds and three bathrooms — the bathrooms costing $1,300 a piece. That translates into $308,100 total cost in 2006 dollars, with each bathroom going for $10,540.

Rating: Low. Even with all their overspending, the Blandings came out very nicely on their investment. The median price of a four-bed, three-bath home in that part of Connecticut would just over $600,000 today, and that’s with a small lot, not a sprawling 35 acres. The price of the bathroom is spot-on. A bathroom remodeling costs an average of $10,499 today.

Of course, despite Mr. Blandings’ worries during the movie about being stretched financially, he should have been able to handle his spending spree. He was earning $15,000 as a Madison Avenue copywriter. That comes to $121,618 today, (doing far better than Ted Kramer 31 years later). He should have been able to easily handle the $18,000 mortgage identified in the movie, which would have had payments of just over $100 a month, especially if he was able to scrape together the other $20,000 on his own. Top of page

The Next Neighbourhood- Redux

2007-08-19T22:06:00.000+08:00

Photo above from hyacinthus.

I personally much prefer Arab Street for the interesting architecture and generally more sedate commercial mix. Do notice a proliferation of creatives heading for Joo Chiat though- a neighbourhood where there's a real mix between photography studios, karaoke joints and seedy bars.

Joo Chiat area fast becoming haven for creative industries

18 Mar 07

SINGAPORE: Rich in history and culture, Singapore's Joo Chiat area is fast turning into a hotspot for the creative industries.

Joo Chiat isn't just known for its hawker food – the area is also a smorgasbord of creative folks.

27-year-old Gayathrie Nahappan started her own art gallery this month.

Having cut her teeth in the arts scene in New York and Stockholm, the Malaysian-born artist could have opened her gallery anywhere in the world.

But she chose little old Joo Chiat in Singapore instead.

She said: "All my friends were like, ‘Why are you moving into Joo Chiat? It's not the best area, it's seedy and not safe’. But I said it's actually quite quaint and I like it for that. I felt like I was going back to the Chelsea of New York. Originally, the Chelsea of New York was just warehouses, now it's become an arts district."

By a rough estimate, Joo Chiat has about 20 to 30 creative companies.

Kamal Mahtanim, 28, is also one of Joo Chiat's newcomers.

He set up his recording studio here recently and loves the peaceful nature of the area.

"When the musicians and artistes come to Joo Chiat, the pace just drops. When they come here, it's a lot more relaxed and calm. This environment here in Joo Chiat will definitely give a lot of people a sense of calmness and everyone would be able to work at ease," he said.

But will the influx of the young and hip erode the charms that give Joo Chiat its unique flavour?

"I really do hope the youth preserve the Joo Chiat area because otherwise we're going to lose something of Singapore that we should really appreciate," said Ms Nahappan.

By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia
__________________

The New Condominium- An exercise in Cross-Marketing

2007-08-19T01:51:00.000+08:00

As Soleil@Sinaran partners up with Aramsa Spas to offer spa treatments, Scotts Square decides to partner up with local artists to bring art to the masses and developers partner up with doctors and spa owners to lend their masculine and feminine(respectively) touches to the showflat decor. Excerpts from the article can be found below:

Exclusivity the name of the game in high-end condo sales

4 Jul 06, Straits Times

Developers reach out to potential buyers with private viewings and 'Tatler crowd' parties

By Kelvin Han

THOSE ultra-luxury, ultra-pricey condominiums that make the headlines these days look like anyone's dream home but if you think you might get a glimpse inside one of these dream homes, think again.

Exclusive is the word here - especially when it comes to marketing.

Viewing property at this level means entering a rarefied world of 'Tatler crowd' parties, private viewings of expensively decorated show suites, discreet dinners for potential buyers and auctions that ensure the in-crowd remains desirable.

Take Keppel Land, which recently invited two prominent figures in society, spa and beauty chain owner Ponz Goo and eye specialist Steve Seah, and a third mystery person, to unleash their personal decorating styles on show suites at its Ritz Residences. A series of invitation-only parties were then thrown for friends and possible buyers.

The parties were meticulously planned and executed. 'We don't stint on the catering and entertainment, and attention is paid right down to the grooming and deportment of the sales staff,' he said.

'Privacy is very important for that segment of the market, so deals were done over dinner one on one or in small groups,' he said. Oh, and by invitation only, of course.

Other developers also taking the no-expense-spared approach to wooing the well-heeled buyer.

Naturally, that impression is achieved when 'you have private functions where guests arrive in Rolls-Royces and you can be seen in the company of the who's who crowd', he added.

Interested bidders must pre-register before attending the sale - a move that keeps out the curious while also underlining the exclusive nature of the plots.

Parody real estate agency- Ghetto Fabulous Realty

2007-08-19T00:57:00.001+08:00

From the page:

An ideal buy for the do-it-yourself types. This pre-built foundation leaves everything up to you! This lot is all set for you to come in and create the home of your dreams.

And we thought we went the extra mile to fabricate a 'situation'.

A vicar on crack: Estate Agent Decides 'Honesty' is the best policy

2007-08-19T00:56:00.001+08:00

Again, lifted off growabrain:

All the charm and poise of a vicar on crack. Hall, cloak room, sitting room, kitchen, bathroom, parking and rear courtyard garden. Suit midget on a budget.'

Mr Bending said: 'I only write these things because they tickle me. Freedom of speech is what this country is famous for and you should be allowed to say whatever you want so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.'

The Diocese of Bath and Wells said it had no objections to the disparaging descriptions of vicars in the shop window.

Spokesman John Andrews said: 'We can't get upset. It's quirky and a bit heavy-handed. We don't need crack to get high. We're reaching for the heavens through spiritual means.'

Original Article can be found here:

There were a few ads in the local papers that attempted to invest some life into the houses for sale- something along the lines of 'hi, my name is dolly. buy me and dress me up.'

or 'i am a penthouse with a large roof terrace. plant your seeds on me on a clear night under the heavens.'

and in the aftermath of the asian tsunami, an ad that read 'invest in singapore- an island safe from natural disasters'. although that's sick, not funny.

these agents should advertise something fun soon. just so i can cut out those ads and scan them in (just to show i wasn't making them all up).

Greatest real estate movies of all time

2007-08-18T23:10:00.000+08:00

According to growabrain, the list stands as:
Billy Wilder's 'The Apartment'
'American Beauty',
Tom Hanks' 'The Money Pit' and
Mamet's 'Glengarry Glenn Ross'
Photo from imdb.com

Yuppie ghettoes

2007-08-18T21:45:00.000+08:00

Yuppie ghetto shit(h)oles.
Too funny. Urban Cartography(from which the picture above is from) correctly points out the spelling mistake.
I had a similar(ok, not too similar but definitely on the same thread) for the Singapore Biennale next year. Shhh...

2007-08-18T14:56:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times' Life Section had a coverage of the Mitre Hotel today- given the nostalgia surrounding it, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the local design mags has a fashion shoot on its grounds these few months. The controversial Wu Xiao Kang's 'A Dose of Light' is being exhibited at the Mitre Hotel from next Saturday to Sept 1st.

Snippets of the report below:

From hotel to lodging house

FIRST built in the 1870s, Mitre (pronounced My-ter) was bought by five members of the Chiam family in 1948 for $61,000. They turned it into a hotel and it was patronised by oil rig divers, divers and backpackers in the 1970s and 1980s.

All the original owners have died except Chiam Heng Luan, 93, who also founded the Sloane Court Hotel in Balmoral Road. The descendants of the original five owners have been slugging it out in the High Court for the past 30 years.

Mitre ceased operating in 2002 and is now being run as a lodging house.

Its shadowy and crumbly compound is a place out of time. The main gate is a creaky, retro, tesselated grill gate which is locked at midnight.

Venture into the main lobby and you will pass rows of dusty sofas and chairs that line the graffiti-ed walls. The odd rat scurries away as you gingerly make your way through. There are three ceiling fans, but only one stirs the air, languidly.

The hotel's quirky dwellers add to the surreal experience. The most famous - or infamous - denizen is Mr Chiam Heng Hsien, 62, a well-spoken man with a shock of white hair and arthritic legs. He spends his nights on a small bed in a large hall behind the bar.

You may catch him making his way up the driveway at night and pushing a market trolley to support his bent legs. Topless.

His wife and two daughters live in a terrace house off Grange Road.

He, like the old building, is a kind of lone ranger.

Mr Chiam, who has a 10 per cent share of the property, is the one who has been holding out against the family's decision to sell the site. He is the son of the late Mr Chiam Toh Moo, one of the original owners.

But he has lost the long-drawn tussle. While he has spent most of his life as manager and caretaker at Mitre, he has to leave the site at least four weeks before the sale is completed.

Life! caught him last Saturday sitting pensively on the porch. He was wary on the subject of Mitre, but spoke freely on stocks, investments and politics.

He graduated in 1968 with a physics degree from the then University of Singapore, and worked briefly as a civil servant. He took over the running of the hotel in 1975.

It was reported that he refused to allow the sale in 1996 unless he received $21 million. So why did he hold out selling, since he'd be rich after the sale?

He doesn't reply.

Was it for sentimental reasons? He says: 'I never think about what I'll miss. A memory is only a memory - if it's gone, it's gone.'

He adds: 'What else is there to do? Except to try to take some pictures of the place.'

Or, like many other thirsty travellers, you can hit the bar on the ground floor, which is lit by the stark glow of a single fluorescent tube.

Manning the bar is a woman in her 30s who goes by the name of Jesse, Sophia or Vivian, depending on who you are and when you ask her.

The chatty eccentric, who mans the hotel from early afternoon to about 10pm when Mr Chiam takes over, is something of a mystery.

She says she started working here six to seven years ago, but does not say if she is paid and why she works here. On what she would do after this place closes, she says: 'Find another job, lor.'

And her bartending is erratic: She serves beer at $7 a can only to regulars - others get 7-Up.

Cheap drinks, smelly toilet

AFTER some rounds, those needing a leak need to pick their way past a large hall which looks and smells like an abandoned storeroom.

Broken chairs, a pool table heaped with debris and empty beer boxes litter the place. When you get to the loo, the toilet bowl will convince your bladder to hang on a little longer.

The murky contents of the bowl is a scary black-brown. Maggots crawl inside.

A walk upstairs, up the creaky staircase, leads you to a large hall, empty compared to the clutter downstairs. Bits of the night sky are visible through gaps in the roof.

You flick on the light switch; surprisingly, it works.

One room is locked, and kept for an Australian - a Mr Matthews - who deals in antiques, says Mr Chiam.

Through a chink in the door, you can see a bed covered with clean, white sheets and a suitcase on the floor.

But this is the only vaguely liveable room. The others are empty and in various states of dilapidation.

Most have thin, dirt-grey mattresses and stained sinks.

Singapore Condo Complex Rips off Nicole Kidman Chanel No.5 Ad

2007-08-16T15:15:00.000+08:00

Adrants singles out CDL's One Shenton as a rip-off of Chanel No.5's Kidman campaign.

What they wrote:

Since Chanel No.5 didn't get much ROI off the $15 million they paid Nicole Kidman to appear in one of their ads, someone else might as well get some mileage out if it. Singapore luxury condominium developer CDL replicated the Nicole Kidman imagery right down to the backward necklace to promote its One Shenton condo project. What's that saying? Imitation is the purest form of flattery? More like "We're a sleazy developer who has mo problem freeloading." For comparision, here's the original Nicole ad.

I'm leaning towards Marc Garnaut in that the client probably approved the visual instead of having specifically requested for a Nicole Kidman-in-Chanel No.5 campaign.

On a side(tangential) note, Nicole Kidman's hair looked so much better(there's something about obviously-too-short-hair in a ponytail that's disturbing).

As does the dress, the backdrop, even the jewellery. Am disdainful of badly executed, derivative, "inspired" work

Bachelor padding: Luxury and the single guy(Or what your viewing patterns say about you)

2007-08-16T01:27:00.000+08:00

Had a bachelor client who rented a showflat because it had ready, (untouched) cutlery, bedding- bascially the prototypical agent’s idea of ‘move in condition- just bring luggage’ type of apartment.

I tend to categorise bachelor residences into two categories- the pristine, magazine-worthy type with nothing in the kitchen, (apparently the case study of this article in the International Herald Tribune), and the bachelor who cooks, with clothes and dishes left over for the maid’s weekly visit.

This storyline must have been in a telenovella or other forms of pulp fiction I consume on a regular basis but am sure there was a fictional character(somewhere) who had to decide between one guy, his dogs and his country ranch house and another guy(an architect, methinks), and his pet-free, fashionably restored, pristine mid-century modern house.

Charlotte in Sex and the City concluded that a guy buying a townhouse must be planning for a family(voiceover: Carrie-Some people read palms. Charlotte read real estate). Real estate indicators and looking at how someone lives must be amongst the best ways of assessing a person’s marriage-ability. Following that (il?)logical trajectory, real estate agents must make for the best matchmakers around, which is why, apparently, some real estate agents are moonlighting(ok- value added service) as matchmakers for their single clients.

An excerpt from the article-

Brokers are also used to distinguishing between perennial shoppers and relationship-ready clients. Those who view dozens of spaces but find fault with every one, or are always about to make an offer only to back out at the last minute, may not be ready to commit to a property or a partner. That’s why Kleier Forbes says she waited to introduce attorney Amy Schulder, for whom she’d found a rental, to a sports-marketing executive client until he signed a contract for a two-bedroom. “I wanted to see if he was a window shopper or a buyer,” she says. (For the record, the couple clicked and has been dating for a few weeks.)

Dickensian Vestigial Nub...

2007-08-16T00:55:00.001+08:00

There are great blogs that both make my day the way they’re so beautifully written and conceived, makes me feel the slightest tinge of jealousy(how can anyone be that good and that prolific) but also cautions me that it’s NOT ok to write (shit) on the blog just so…
Below is an excerpt from the blog- on urban fabric, badass developers and the possible extinction of savile row…
That ‘meaningful sense of place’ is what the developers are playing with when they talk of “reinforcing the Savile Row brand”, but are they best placed to handle this kind of nuanced brand experience? Rhetorical. London and Britain has long suffered the iron grip of property developers on urban fabric. How is a 40% rent increase going to reinforce anything except the simple displacement of the current tenants? From this distance, this would appear to be another example of how British landlords often reject of the opportunity to combine history, context and innovation, and the long-term economic base that could engender, in favour of a short-term profit which (inadvertently?) changes a place’s identity forever.

Notice how trivia like coveted real estate in Monopoly and the Japanese word for suits are so neatly tied in?

Original post can be found here

Tan Chin Tuan Mansions

2007-08-15T21:37:00.000+08:00

Is up and ready to be let out.
Units are either 3 or 4 bedrooms- both are roughly of the same square footage and the conclusion I've made is that you either choose to have less(and larger) rooms or more(and smaller rooms). Asking rental is $25k. Completely owned by one family, none of the units will be for sale.

Part of the debate amongst the conservationists and other concerned citizens, the extension to Tan Chin Tuan Mansion recently received the approval(?) of Harp's founder, Mr Terrence Hong:
The head of Harp, Mr Terrence Hong, 26, said: ‘In 10 years, if you want to dismantle the building above the house, it can still be done and the house will be intact.'(Sunday Times, 24 June 2007)
Photo above is from duckweed, posted on skyscrapercity's forums.

Lost Sole(s)

2007-08-15T21:14:00.000+08:00

Did not get an opportunity to watch this. From the synopsis, however, it seems very 'Bicycle Thief'-ish(Don't retch with reference to the latter).
I loved the trailer on youtube however and through the flimsiest excuse, will tag this as a 'socio-spatial' entry.
You can view the teaser on youtube:
It's set around the Sultan Mosque- an atmospheric area renowned for the best nasi padang around(it's Warong Pariaman, guys), the Arab-style cafes(and at times-service), made hip when Comme des Garcons decided it was(drop by Haji Lane to check out the aftermath of Comme des Garcons'cameo in the neighbourhood). Also the place where brides-to-be shop for beautiful lace cloths, occasional weddings are witnessed in Kota and where a not unsignificant portion of my childhood was spent trawling through the stores.

Web 2.0

2007-08-15T20:39:00.001+08:00

Can everyone stop claiming to unrolling the next web 2.0 site?

User participation and a more democratic platforms are great ideals but personally I believe more in Wikipedia’s model than Youtube’s. And while the philosophy of wikipedia is in delivering a democratic platform and accessibility to knowledge, it’s also (very) much moderated, which detracts from the ideals of democracy, doesn’t it?

I subscribe to that whole Foucauldian power/knowledge dialectic and Lutheran ideals of transferring knowledge(and power, according to Foucault) to the hands of many as opposed to a few but complete democracy as embodied by sites where just about (everybody) can post a video seems too indulgent, too wasteful, too pointless for it to be definitive of a whole generation of websites.

House Hunt- Video

2007-08-15T20:26:00.000+08:00

Video 2
Illustrating the frustration of finding an piece of property to buy/rent through the papers. Without an accompanyin g visual element, names of developments rarely give an indication of the design and suitability of the property.
Watch the video here:

The Youtube Videos

2007-08-15T20:22:00.000+08:00

Video 1-
Using Ken Knabb's(from the Bureau of Public Secrets) translation of the Situationist Work 'The Passage of a Few Persons through a Rather Brief Unity of Time', we've incorporated the words into a rather senseless (anti) corporate video.
Watch it here:

Penthouses with pools

2007-08-15T17:14:00.001+08:00

Penthouses with private pools are almost a fixation with me. This, an updated version within a very Matrix-like development (in the coolest way, possible) asking $15m for around 4800sqft, a penthouse unit in the above development for less than $4m in the above development, one at another WoHa -designed development that has yet to T.O.P and another in the Novena area represents the new generation of 'penthouses with pools'.
It's nothing new- The soon-to-be en bloc'ed(if the latter is a verb) Futura has a penthouse over three floors with a pool(yes, I still lament the loss of the building- someone should immortalise these units in some cool coffee table book...)as does Landmark Tower and a host of older developments that made a splash(pun intended) in their time for the rooftop swimming pool innovation.
Yet, it's still exciting- for its sheer connotations of an 'uber penthouse'- as the 10,000odd square feet penthouses at the Marina Bay Residences are called(side note: an uber penthouse can only be uber if there's a private pool;-)). And yes, the penthouses typically sell first, generate the best publicity for its unique features and as per Keppel Corp's press release, will receive media-worthy unsolicited offers.

Photo above from Heeton Holdings.

The Showflat as Art Gallery

2007-08-15T16:22:00.000+08:00

Scotts Square, with its enviable location (that lump of construction between Grand Hyatt and Marriott Hotel), is in fact, according to the Straits Times August 12, 2007, a “$3-million, 6,000sqft art gallery and showflat (…) to be demolished in 2009″. To be completed by end 2010, the gallery will feature local artists like Zul Othman, Ketna Patel and Lim Shing Ee.

I like the ending quote:’ I suppose developers are bringing showrooms to te people rather than the old model of people going to showrooms.’ - Raymond Lim 28, corporate communication, Les Amis Group. - Which would bring me to a later post, on ‘Lost Showflats’…

Specs: 338 units comprising of one, two and three-bedroom apartments of 600 sq ft, 900 sq ft and 1,200 sq ft respectively.-

Sculptures:- ‘Victoria & Albert Museum Chandelier’ by Dale Chihuly

‘ Working Model for Sheep Piece’ by Henry Moore

‘Three Indeterminate Lines’ by Bernar Venet

‘ Alice in Wonderland’ by Salvador Dali

Which seems to reverse the trend of larger units within the luxury development sector… And I’m not sure I understand the ‘no penthouses’ policy of the developer. Reckoned as a high-end developer(Ardmore Park is still reckoned as iconic of the high-end condominium phenomenon from the pre-’96 boom), their newer developments do not seem to offer penthouse units.

And smaller units tend to signal that investors (and those looking for a pied-a-terre in Singapore) are the target demographic here.

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Spa facilities

2007-08-15T00:12:00.000+08:00

Have always been a spa junkie even though I feel body massages to be injurious, questioned the wisdom of sharing my bathwater when getting into a common jacuzzi(according to the Faena Hotel and Universe, it might be the Muslim in me, for Until the hammam caught Muhammad's fancy, the Arabs(...) never bathed in tubs which was considered as bathing in one's own filth) and hate those ridiculous pieces of disposable underwear. It's the whole routine of having ginger tea before a treatment, chamomile tea after, the smells of the spa and occasionally, when it's an exceptionally good spa(like the Baan Thai- all old world flavour with original teak houses from Ayutthaya)- the pleasure of the treatment.

Which is why a development with spa facilities completely captures my imagination.
This development was first with its very serene walk to the hot and cold baths and the rainforest showers. Soleil@Sinaran promises spa alcoves. But this development actually comes with private salas- if you look beyond those orange seats, you'd notice massage chairs with curtains that can be drawn for more privacy. There's a water feature directly behind the massage chairs within every sala and a dock for your ipod(might be exaggerating on the latter but am sure it can be arranged). It also comes with a very masculine cigar room and wine cellar, a tropical pavilion with a 10-seater dining table where your own dinner party can be catered for and two indoor dining tables(one with an Oriental kitchen, the other a Western kitchen).

Are facilities for everybody, however? The grand scale of the development certainly allowed for the variety of facilities but at the back of my head I would have been concerned about the number of unfamiliar faces lounging around the pool and other facilities everytime (insert client’s name here) uses/tries to use it. It’s the anonymity that comes with living in a larger condominium setting.

Asked the client his opinion. Apparently he wasn’t too impressed by the facilities- opined it felt too hotel-like, wondered why anyone would call in for a masseur/se and then have the treatment in a common area and yes, was concerned about the number of anonymous faces he’d meet in the lobby, expressing a preference, instead, for a similarly fashionably outfitted development(with lesser facilities) that’s lowrise, tranquil and within ‘reasonable walking distance to Orchard’.

Does Home Staging Work?

2007-08-14T15:39:00.000+08:00

Curbed had a post on Bob and Bonnie's 'awkward floral staging'. The response was rather cruel I thought- but that's for (possibly) another post.

Some agents do attempt to stage, especially with older resale properties. And everytime you find an article about an exemplary agent in the Straits Times there's always the inadvertent mention of how s/he paid for a fresh new coat of paint for the re-sale home, new curtains and/or light fittings.

I've been blessed with clients whose apartments and houses are magazine spread-worthy (in the best possible way) every time I'm there. I've met homeowners too(typically investors) who do 'stage' their properties- Diptyque candles, Flos lighting, delightful trinkets like that doorstopper in that shape of a lilliputian man pushing against the door, the beautifully packaged Thai herbs in the kitchen and the various pieces of iconic mid-century modern furniture pieces. Great properties in and of themselves made better with excellent home staging.

I personally rely on candles and rotate between the vanilla(an all time favourite) and chocolate candles from Ikea, Comme des Garcons' Ouarzazate(which most home owners prefer not to have) and the latest being Jimmyjane's line of ember&saffron, coriander&quince, ginger&date and lychee&lapsang. Am not sure if it makes much of a difference but it does (I believe) enhance the whole viewing process. I find smells to be very definitive of an experience- which is why the Westin promotes its white tea scented hotel lobbies , the Met uses one scent that permeates the lobbies, the spa and every floor of the hotel and Famous Amos promises free smells(;p)

Photo above is from the CustomersRock blog which also makes a mention of how 'realtors burn vanilla scented candles in the homes they are hosting'.

HDB

2007-08-14T01:06:00.000+08:00

Photo from moviexclusive.com
Since it's the week of National Day, a post on HDB is quite in order.

Singapore Architect had a great feature on HDBs(probably because there was so much theory thrown around and according to this, I am a theory slut)-the manifestation of Corbusier's utopic ideals of town-planning. Am not sure where this came from:- definitely inspired by that article in Singapore Architect. The first paragraph doesn't seem characteristic of me- I hope I didn't lift chunks off the article- although that wouldn't be characteristic of me either.

Le Corbusier was a great believer and proponent of town planning-the idea revolved around housing people in sanitary, regimented high-rise towers, set far apart in a parklike landscape. While the clinical, utopian idea of La Ville Radieuse(there was nothing radiant or faintly poetic about the inflexible, almost draconian concept about the place) in Chandigarh failed miserably, it seems to have found root in Singapore in the form of the government subsidised housing, HDB.

It could have been that the architecture and town planning of the city was simply an extension of the political philosophy of the country but HDB, and the idea of town planning on the whole, has succeeded extremely well in Singapore. So, while the megaprojects in the US, inspired by Corbusier are being dismantled, the Americans having found the sense of anomie and disorientation inspired by regimented public housing and vast urban renewal schemes to be too great, Singaporeans have taken to the idea a whole lot better. Everything is planned-from the excellent public transportation system, to the number of trees around every block. Young urbanites today, short on cash but big on inspiration, are turning their HDB dwellings into swanky apartments to rival the predictable and 'mass produced' interiors of condominium living.

From providing a sense of home ownership, social control through the imposed system of racial quotas to inspiring generations of local filmmakers(ref: Royston Tan's 4:30 to Eric Khoo's 12 storeys).

The Next Neighbourhood

2007-08-11T23:38:00.001+08:00

I get this a lot.

And right now I answer ‘Pasir Panjang’, although some people believe it’s Geylang(once the government cleans it up). On the latter note, I personally like Little India- it’s closer to town, a lot more atmospheric, with an interesting group of people. And early morning trips to Mustafa would make you believe you’re not in Singapore(people smile, for one).

The rules are easy:

9/10/11 are the blue chips- it precedes and outperforms other neighbourhoods in an ‘up’ market and keeps its value the most in a ‘down’ market. The best are the ones walking distance to amenities whilst still being a relatively green, sedate neighbourhood.

Within the blue chips, some neighbourhoods are particularly ‘undervalued’. Get your nearest estate agent to show you the supporting caveats. Then again, some fashionable neighbourhoods go out of fashion. I believed the immediate neighbourhoods(it’s dist 21, a long-accepted alternative to 9/10/11) surrounding the Turf Club became unfashionable after the latter was moved to Kranji(what took it’s place- used car showrooms?)

If you want to invest in a ‘gentrifying’ neighbourhood, be sure of your timeline. Geylang might take some time to pan out- even with Singapore’s political will. What makes sense in a market characterized by en bloc sales is the need for homeowners(profiting from the en bloc deal but priced out of the neighbourhood) to find neighbourhoods accessible to town without the same price tag.

Back to Pasir Panjang- it’s a great neighbourhood to speculate on because its proximity to the IR has not been reflected in its real estate prices. Other reasons:

1.The development of surrounding amenities(Vivocity, St James).

2.The relative ease by which to travel to the city made possible by the expressway, an alternative trend of living away from the city in an effort to reclaim a piece of suburbia(the surrounding greenery and the sea views if you managed to get the right apartment)

and the settling in of a vibrant community.The next time you hear of ‘that party over the weekend in an interesting apartment overlooking the sea’, it might(probably is) Pasir Panjang.

House Guests

2007-08-11T23:36:00.000+08:00

Read the email that started it all here:

From: Dick ****** [mailto:******.******@******.******.******]
Sent: Thursday, 12 July 2007 4:23 PM
To: Tina ******; Harry ******
Cc: Thomas ******; Simon ******
Subject: RE: 44 ****** Road

Tina,

There is definitely not more than four people living in the house and never has been. I will declare that formally if required. There may have been a guest staying at the time (but I don’t think so) but this is unusual - unusual it would occur during the week that is.

As you know Tina, we are four single young men making every day count. We feel we are at the peak of our powers right now and sometimes this involves us flexing it a little on the Sydney social circuit. I don’t proclaim to be a rock star but I am not a homebody either - my fellow housemates will attest to this and I will attest to them in the same vein.

Some things transcend from heightened social stamina and one of those Tina is over night guests. I think we both know what we’re talking about.

So it seems we may simply be caught up on a definitional point. We only have four people living at ********* but we do have guests quite regularly. Harry has more guests than Simon for example but Simon’s standards are higher - that’s neither here nor there.

We work hard and we play hard Tina and unfortunately the play spills over a little but this does not constitute a breach of lease. All in all I think we are excellent tenants and hold the premises in high regard. Please put this on the file.

Dick

P.S. About that dinner we have been trying to organize, how about next week?

Why you should live in a walkable neighbourhood

2007-08-11T23:32:00.000+08:00

Condodomain never fails to yield interesting, blog-gable material.

In their post ‘Don’t be lazy and walk home’- the site’s inspiration is WalkScore which lists these reasons:
Why Walking Matters

Walkable neighborhoods offer surprising benefits to our health, the environment, and our communities.

Better health: A study in Washington State found that the average resident of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood weighs 7 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood1. Residents of walkable neighborhoods drive less and suffer fewer car accidents, a leading cause of death between the ages of 15 - 45.

“We are here to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human spirit is still alive.”

- Patrick Swayze, Point Break

–>Reduction in greenhouse gas: Cars are a leading cause of global warming. Your feet are zero pollution transportation machines.

More transportation options: Compact neighborhoods tend to have higher population density, which leads to more public transportation options and bicycle infrastructure. Not only is taking the bus cheaper than driving, but riding a bus is ten times safer than driving a car2!

Increased social capital: Walking increases social capital by promoting face-to-face interaction with your neighbors. Studies have shown that for each 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10 percent3.

Stronger local businesses: Dense, walkable neighborhoods provide local businesses with the foot traffic they need to thrive. It’s easier for pedestrians to shop at many stores on one trip, since they don’t need to drive between destinations.

as to why you (should) live in ‘compact neighbourhoods’.

Below is my (very Singapore-specific) take on the ‘walking distance to everything’ phenomenon:

1. The trend for downtown living just about contributed to the disproportionate benefits to the 9/10/11 districts in the property boom. 9 took off phenomenally, because 9 essentially means- walking distance to Orchard Road- which spells just about anything from Starbucks, to movie theatres and plenty of shopping.

Dist 11, you’d notice is stratified- from the Novena/Chancery areas which are walking distance to amenities to the ones on Bukit Timah(which still has plenty of ‘bargains’ given the otherwise exorbitant 9/10/11 pricetags) and the prices for the latter I’ve always chalked up to the inaccessibility to ‘amenities’.

Holland Village(district 10)- took off in a belated manner, and never quite as much as its dist. 9 brethrens. Most telling, perhaps, is the way en bloc sales have taken place, with Dist 10 sites being slated for re-development after most of the prime sites in Dist 9 have been taken up.

So with respect to ‘less consumption’ in the vein of ‘less pollution=we’re saving the world’- I don’t think so. Compact neighbourhoods, whether they be in Dist 9 or somewhere in Jurong, are always characterised by an accessibility to shopping centres and have traditionally attracted those attracted to the availability and accessibility of consumption.

Whatever greenhouse gases saved from not having to drive around are probably offset through the level of consumption generated both due to the expectations and habits of the people such centrally located neighbourhoods attract as well as the level of consumption expected of and encouraged by-living in these neighbourhoods.

2.In terms of ‘being healthy’- I’d reckon I’d see more people ‘being healthy’(evening jogs, walking their dogs) around the green area of Bukit Timah and Pasir Panjang as opposed to the highly dense, highly accessible areas of Orchard Rd.

And everytime you see a property ad touting ‘private lifts’- remember it’s for the comfort of those who do NOT want to see their neighbours.

Although I agree with the last point.

City clock-Singapore

2007-08-11T22:59:00.000+08:00

Site Map

2007-08-11T21:50:00.001+08:00

Have been advised on a site map so here goes:

Apartments

Cool Suburbia

Chinois Chic Penthouse

Large Duplex with Sea Views

Luxe, calme et volupte

Sleek pied-a-terre

Luxurious designer pad

Modern Grange

Boutique downtown apartment

Family cool

Studio East

Sleek Cairnhill Apartment

Tranquil on Orchard

Industrial Loft

River Valley mod

Contemporary downtown apartment

River boutique

Child friendly modern apartment

20's reel glamour off Tanglin

Zen minimalist

Studio penthouse

Modern on Cavenagh

Loft on Holland

Loft on Siglap

Designer Loft on Chancery

River Views

Uber Luxury

Penthouses

Penthouse with private pool

Bachelor penthouse

Penthouse with spectacular views

Townhouses

Designer Townhouse on Holland Village

Modern cluster houses

Modern townhouse in boutique development

Large townhouse with fashionable interiors

Luis Barragan inspired townhouses

Modern Peranakan townhouses

Cluster houses off Swiss Club

Modern Luxe townhouses on Orchard

Landed Properties

Bungalows

Moorish Inspired Hilltop

Colonial on East Coast

Balinese Inspired

Black and white colonials

Colorado log cabin

Modern architectural icon

Avant garde bungalows by Sottsass

Brand new on Holland

Modern tropical on Cluny

Art deco on East Coast

Detached

Modern vernacular detached

Modern linear bungalow with rooftop pool

Modern detached with lap pool

Modern tropical oeuvre

Contemporary on Dist 11

Designer detached on Braddell

Hillside bungalow on Sentosa

Semi-detached

Cluster semi-d near the Australian school

Modern Asian

Ultra modern semi d with pool

Definitive Starck on Coronation

Nature reserve semi-d with pool

Terraces

Modern New York art gallery

Landed on a Shoestring

House on Orchard with shophouse trappings

Fashion Central

Award winning urbanite terrace

Brownstone Peranakan

Strata Housing

Modernistic Fishbowl

Resort Bungalows on Chatsworth

Strata Houses on Bukit Timah

Shophouses

Modern

Ultra modern loft like space

Glamorous on East Coast

Avant-garde on Geylang

New York loft on Kim Yam

Modern shophouse with boutique hotel interiors

Traditional

40's kitsch on Emerald

Shophouse with rooftop pool

Cairnhill Aerie

Inspired

Lush Moroccan riad

Urbane Conservation on Cairnhill

Modern tropical conserved

Apartments

Conservation apartments on Bugis

Hidden gem on Emerald

Mixed Development

East Coast shophouse with facilities

Gorgeous conservation bungalow

'Exotic' facilities

2007-08-11T19:30:00.000+08:00

Singapore, being the 'beginner's guide to Asia' sees some interesting facilities within its condominiums worthy of its tag. So- rooftop pools and private lifts aside, below are some of the more interesting 'facilities' developments have to offer:

1. Asian 'herb and spice garden' where you can pick out 'fresh ingredients for your culinary enjoyment' in this Asian cluster development:

2. Rainforest showers, reading alcoves and hot and cold jacuzzis in this development that looked set to reverse the trend of (not) having any facilities aside from an aesthetic pool.Photos can be found here:

3. Am pretty sure there's a condominium in Jurong with bowling alleys..
Wait- Savannah condopark has one(2-lane bowling alley). As the name indicates, Savannah condopark is landscaped with animals like hippos, its entrance flanked by giraffes- and I thought I saw burning torches amidst thatched roofs when I drove past…

4. As I am that a certain development in Holland Village comes with tree houses for the kids.

5. Sinaran@Soleil, covered in a previous post, similarly has spa alcoves.

6. Draycott 8 offers a wine cellar(with biometric access) within its colonial clubhouse.

7. One of the more bizarre offerings is from a modern condominium development in Bukit Timah with its camp site for children(with tepee-like tents) and aromatic mist stops for adults next to the reflexology corner.

8. River Place has an outdoor close-t0-life sized chess set.

9. Orchard Scotts offers a furo bath

Other developments, meanwhile, capitalise on their other 'core competencies'.

Beaufort@Nassim, The Four Seasons Residences, The St Regis Residences and Orchard Scotts offers either access to their spa network, concierge and butler services, as well as catering and management services from the Fullerton Hotel respectively. Picture above from St Regis Residences

Condos on Stilts

2007-08-08T15:57:00.000+08:00

A friend of mine insists that the proliferation of high rise buildings is contributing to this sickening heat in Singapore. Enter condominiums with sky gardens in the middle(BLVD, the ones near Lavender MRT, Novena Suites) and those on stilts.

Soleil@Sinaran, a condominium built on stilts(along with The Cosmopolitan, apparently)allows its occupants more privacy, better views and, apparently, spa alcoves(pictured above) within the condominium compounds. More information can be found here:

Shawn has a listing at Soleil@Sinaran- do get in touch with him for more information on pricing and unit availability.

Real estate commissions worldwide

2007-08-07T01:14:00.000+08:00

The Sellsius blog is starting to look like quite a fun source of information:

I found out about the 6% commission in the US when a US-based estate agent asked me for a co-broking fee of 3% of the sale price when I tried to list a property I had with his site. THAT'S when I realized!
The Filipino system seems to make sense in avoiding that broker's conflict of interest- issues. I also happen to love the sound of Mexico. In places like Indonesia- how do you decide who pays? It's like when the check arrives after a bad dinner date.
Anyway you can register more of the whining here:

Playboy townhouse

2007-08-07T00:13:00.000+08:00

Am not sure what year this was published but from the furniture it looks decidedly mid century modern . Check the full report here:

My house and how it reflects on my personality

2007-08-06T19:35:00.000+08:00

You know those drawings psychologists make traumatised kids come up with identify the causes of their trauma? Ok- maybe you don't. But this exercises is probably on a similar(condescending but fun) precept.
My house is as above and somehow that means that my personality is as such:
Your house tells the world that you ought to be a leader. You are a freedom lover and a strong person. You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You have a strong personality and you like to command, influence and control people.

You are not a romantic person by nature. It also safe to say that others don't see you as a flirt. You don't think much about yourself. Take the test here:
We'd set up some variation(more condescending, if not more fun and definitely more literal) of the real estate suited to your personality test here:
Except that instead of using real estate as a medium through which to analyse your personality, we instead try to gauge your personality (and then) recommend you some real estate

Soundtrack recommendations

2007-08-04T20:48:00.001+08:00

The Soundtrack recommendations are out. Pairing a particular soundtrack to each property and spanning the range of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nouvelle Vague, Massive Attack to The Velvet Underground and Nico.

Art Brut Franchise

2007-07-29T23:50:00.000+08:00

Art Brut formed in England in 2003 with the sole (and completely honorable) intention of getting girls and making it to Top of the Pops. The band took its name from a wayward group of outsider artists and immediately began banging out its own form of strongly opinionated, punked-up Brit pop. Their debut single, "Formed a Band," informed everyone of their presence with lyrics like "Look at us/We've formed a band/We're going to be the band that makes Israel and Palestine get along." Led by the distinct Cockney snarl of Eddie Argos, the group corralled its simplistic art-punk urges in its full-length debut, 2005's Bang Bang Rock And Roll.- Art brut's profile on Rhapsody.com

I loved the name Art Brut- the 'outsider' connotations and Argos' stage antics. On the band's name and relevance to the group:

"I knew what the name meant when we started the band because it's my favourite form of art, but the rest of them didn't know. So every night we're going on stage saying, 'Hello, we're Art Brut' and I'd secretly be calling them unable to play and mad and stuff, without them really realizing. I mean, I can't sing or anything. So I feel that we are that side to art." (find original article here)

So i figured if there's a band with a singer who's declared himself unable to sing, there should be a franchise that 'doesn't' sing.

2007-07-27T00:57:00.000+08:00

Am actually looking for the OTHER clip where she screams out 'Buddy Kane is King!' as she defiles herself at open house but this, in this particular instance, works better.

Portrayal of estate agents in movies(and TV)

2007-07-27T00:08:00.000+08:00

Real estate agents/brokers- otherwise known as realtors

American Beauty- because apparently, if you're defiling yourself with a realtor, there are different ways to call his name.

House of Sand and Fog surprisingly had no estate agent involvement. The characters sort of destroyed themslves and each other with scant outside help.

Anywhere but here- Divorced mom Adele(Susan Sarandon) is approached by an estate agent whose favourite pastimes include driving around, looking at the houses around Beverly Hills with her daugher(Natalie Portman), is approached by a realtor when she overheard their conversation in a bar. Realtor later becomes her friend.

The Sweetest Thing- Christina Walters(Cameron Diaz) has a thing for real estate agent Peter Donahue. There's a bench in front of the church officiating Donahue's wedding that reads- 'Everything I touch turns to SOLD'.- which I thought was cool for an instant.

The architect-real estate agent pairing in Indecent Proposal- Woody Harrelson as architect husband, Demi Moore as real estate agent selling expensive Beverly Hills homes. Cliched '80s story line has lao ah pek Robert Redford hounding Demi Moore at her estate agency and turning up at (very questionable) open houses.

Was it Scary Movie 3 that- in an Amityville Horror-inspired moment had an estate agent flush down a JuOn creature down the bath in his attempts to sell the house?

Have not watched Evan Almighty but Realty Times , Eve Adams is a syrupy sweet, caffeine-fueled agent who skips to work and sells Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) and family their monster home, sight-unseen, located in the exclusive Prestige Crest, and in the path of destruction.

Another movie fealturing a realtor according to Realty Times is : You Kill Me- with a far more entertaining realtor caricature- Dave(Bill Pullman- isn't he the guy in Ghostbusters?) farms for listings in the mortuary. Methinks scanning the obituary would have done the trick but in Hollywood nothing beats a visit to your neighbourhood mortuary.

On TV:-

Edie Britt of Desperate Housewives - the only one with a semblance of a job, occasionally works as a realtor.

Help Me Help You- an episode where nympho Darlene Hunt, in a bid to advertise her real estate business, takes out an ad on the New York City bus that runs:'I'm Darlene, and I can move your unit'.

Carrie engaged the services of a realtor when she had to find an alternative to her rent-control apartment. The latter sniffed at the discordance between her limited budget and expectations.

Numerous appearances by estate agents on The Apprentice. Notable ones were: Kendra Todd, Season 3 Winner.

Jennifer Crisafulli- ex-Douglas Elliman, fired both on and off the air for her anti-Semitic remarks.

Real estate marketing

2007-06-12T23:41:00.000+08:00

Just as I thought of working with developers in a marketing capacity as the new direction for us this year, (ref: Business Times interview),
I looked through my real estate bookmarks on Stumbleupon and re-discovered the7thart.
Gorgeous websites, press releases and conceptualisation. Am loving it.
Check out their amazing portfolio: www.the7thart.com

Below is a photo of the NY Setai- one of the projects in their portfolio.

Blank missives

2007-05-12T14:36:00.000+08:00

A new discovery

2007-05-12T14:23:00.000+08:00

Remember those primary school wordy math problems?...

Our own cassette

2007-05-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of the very cool things magazine

G Hotel

2007-05-11T00:21:00.000+08:00

Apparently the 'g' refers to gurney drive in Penang. So this'd be Penang's first modern boutique hotel!

Abducted by agents!

2007-05-10T23:54:00.000+08:00

Our tongue in cheek (anti) press release for our new tongue in cheek service.
It's a real service that simultaneously serves as our social commentary on the real estate industry. References to the Situationist International which would explain the otherwise bizarre quotations.

New team photo

2007-04-20T00:02:00.000+08:00

Photo link from we make money not art.

Have been sporadically thinking about a team photo- the current chess picture just doesn't cut it for that specific purpose.
Was thinking of something very clean- blue jeans and white t-shirt sort of thing.
Or a bad imitation of trainspotting.
Then I saw the above photo of the fabrica team via wmma's website.
Looks cool(although I still like the trainspotting idea...)

Asymmetry

2007-04-15T19:18:00.000+08:00

Ever since Rei Kawakubo joined the dots between architecture and fashion, allowing asymmtery and deconstruction(in the fashion, not the ct sense) to be seen as 'fashionable', asymmetry has been replicated almost to the point of turning into an unfortunate cliche of 'avant garde fashion'.
To reverse the order of influence somewhat, Daniel Libeskind has drawn upon this asymmetry and transposed it to the realm of architecture. The result is Reflections at Keppel Bay.
While it's not the first development in Singapore designed by a 'starchitect', this is the first development where the marketing collaterals are centred around the architect.
An arty advertisement in sepia featuring Libeskind and a website that replicates the asymmetry of the buildings has information on the architect and the surrounding neighbourhood and views(but no information that I can find on the floor plans).

Where the hospitality and real estate industries meet

2007-04-15T13:06:00.000+08:00

It's been done before- Ian Schrager's 40 Bond, the Four Seasons Hotel and St Regis Residences; where leaders in the hospitality industry transpose their winning hospitality formulas into real estate development.

Recently noticed that the Sukhothai and the Beaufort groups have come together on 'Beaufort on Nassim'. I happen to love both groups, especially the former. My imagination has been captured, especially by the garden residences. While the concept of water feature in place of the balcony isn't new(there's a condominium in the East Coast that has built in a feature pool for every ground floor unit)- the lush setting of Nassim, the large outdoor space, duplex nature of the units and luxe fittings- seem to promise a slice of heaven on earth- Singapore-style.

On the wish list: Aman Resorts' residences(although I wouldn't be surprised that's not in the pipeline already).

The new showflat

2007-04-14T17:20:00.000+08:00

Had an earlier posting about how predictable showflats have become.
While I have yet to see a showflat populated by Maarten Baas or the other kids at Moooi, this showflat at Scotts Highpark, with its North African leanings, is a decidedly interesting departure from the rest.
The rooms look rather sizeable and that promise of a feature pool or jacuzzi on that unbelievably balcony with a vantage point to the surrounding greenery and black and whites(notice the black and white bungalow in the distance- I reckon that's real too, given the right unit and not a figment of the artist's imagination).

It is my personal belief that the more buoyant a property market becomes, the more sophisticated showflats(and consequently unit design and concepts for development) get. The trend towards larger units is a positive side effect in a booming property market otherwise characterized by en bloc exercises in a bid to create (much) smaller units.

Luxuruious, high end city living ceases to be about tiny, overdesigned spaces but are instead being characterized by a more benign concept of living where large living spaces, surrounding greenery (whilst being conveniently, even surprisingly close to the city centre). Where large units were previously restricted to penthouses within any development, a move towards bucking that trend became increasingly recognizable, with the more egalitarian Grange Residences(units of 2500-2800sqft, curiously lacking in penthouses) and BLVD, where the smallest unit is around 2034sqft.

In Sepia

2006-11-15T23:51:00.000+08:00

Not a favourite- but one picture that looks good in sepia. Would be great to have the sign on a distinctively Singaporean apartment block- preferably something that's going en bloc for added irony. Or I can think of a few pieces of real estate in Singapore that would be deliciously ironic with the 'For Sale' sign on it.

Fortune Cookie

2006-11-15T22:43:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted a spin on fortune cookies. Would be freaky to find a note like that at your next jaunt to a Chinese restaurant. But they don't actually have fortune cookies in Chinese restaurants here, do they?
If you're looking for your next apartment or house (rental or sale) call ....XYZ
I heard television networks were printing their ads on eggs.

-

Found this on someone's blog, thought it was a great selection of photos and then realized they were templates from RockYou. I wished the tattoos would have looked more real but still a great photo selection I think. Could do with this photo on a folder- UrbaneSpaces- Singapore Apartment Rentals / Sales

En bloc

2006-10-12T01:56:00.000+08:00

Form magazine, in their September issue, covered a few large, old apartments, in a spirit of defiance, perhaps, against the onslaught of en bloc sales recently.

I would really like to suggest featuring renovated apartments in buildings that have already been slated for en bloc. I know there's at least one cool, well renovated apartment in Habitat 1(also Habitat II- but of course, the demolition of the Habitat condominiums is no less a travesty), a cool unit in Grange Tower, one in Lucky Tower and of course, Futura's in danger too...

the Biennale(again)

2006-10-12T01:46:00.000+08:00

Went to the biennale at the singapore art museum- there were a lot of different, ongoing exhibitions co-existing within the same space in the museum i thought. There was Zaha Hadid's 'All the Best' and 'Telah terbit' co-existing within the same space and I had a difficult time figuring which bit was actually the biennale(especially between the 'Telah Terbit' and the Biennale).

The picture above was from 'Telah Terbit'- I cant remember which artist it was by but i loved the piece! The merging of goddess and whore? I can just imagine it in the dining area of some really sleek modern apartment(the disgustingly hip, clinical combination of open concept stainless steel kitchen and white marble everyting else)

I (heart) this blog- Urban Spaces I Urban Places

2006-09-20T03:21:00.000+08:00

From here:

Palimpsest

Frank A. Mills

In the last post, "Rain, Poems, and Alleyways: Framing Space," we looked at framing space through cognitive perception. Last week, while wandering about Buffalo, Wyoming, population 4290, another framing tool, palimpsest, made itself evident. Palimpsest, strictly speaking, refers to parchment that has been written on, erased, and then written on again, with some part of the original writing still remaining legible, although covered over. By extension, then, palimpsest is a place, object, or area that reflects layers of history. Founded in 1879 Buffalo offers serves up a cornucopia of palimpsest. While much of it is rather easy to discover, a substantial portion is hidden in the town's nooks and crannies, best explored on foot. Buffalo, being a small, compact town, that is what I did early Saturday morning for several hours.

As I wandered about, letting my senses lead as they would, I was constantly reminded of the town's history, although not in a preserved sense. Yes, there was the prerequisite museum, but most of the reminder was "layers written over"— layers of faded, peeling painted advertisements and store names on building walls, an almost unrecognizable railroad station, sans track, converted into a home, an alleyway to nowhere disappearing into an angling crevice, even a Rexall Drugstore sign hanging over the doorway of what was soon to become merely a soda fountain cum gift shop. There was the Occidental Hotel (founded in a tent in 1789, the same year that Buffalo was founded) where Owen Wister's Virginian finally got his man (if you ask, the proprietress will show you the room where Wister wrote). Still a hotel, but much different than it once was with its back-door brothel. The door, and its narrow steps to the second floor are still there; the brothel is not. Look over the door and there are still traces of its previous purpose. On the front, if one looks closely, the faded names of the old first floor stores are still legible, now a hotel restaurant and bar. All in all, contemporary Buffalo is an interesting mix of evolved restoration with little historic preservation (the most notable preservation effort is nearby Fort McKinney, three miles to the west). The Occidental Hotel is the perfect example of a building's evolution, not covering over the past entirely, but building over the years in a way that allows the building to evolve with the environment while leaving the palimpsest legible.

Today, in our urban cores and neighborhoods, palimpsest is in danger of becoming irrevocably lost. Those of you who are regular readers of Urban Spaces | Urban Places are well aware of my insistence that for urban revitalization to be sustainable, it must flow from the history of the place. Yet, as new development comes into place, we are rapidly losing all sense of palimpsest, and in my opinion, our urban cores and neighborhoods are none the better for it.

There is, fortunately, a new breed of urban planners on the threshold; different to the point of calling themselves "Radical Urban Planners." Neither New Urbanists or Modernists, Radical Urban Planners range over a broad spectrum of planning philosophies and disciplines. However, one discipline that seems to be common to all, is urban psychogeography. Psychogeography, the evolved offspring of the turn of the 19th-century flâneur, or wandersmänner, is a postmodern discipline that studies the "precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviors of individuals," especially within a geographic context (Guy Debord, "Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography," Les Lèvres, No. 6, 1955).

The primary tool of psychogeography is the dérive, or drift. Although appropriated by "urban explorers" wandering about urban ruins (and often leaving their graffiti mark) the drift is the primary tool of the psychogeographer. The drift discovers hidden stories within the urban environment by playfully combining all of the senses, including the imagination, with technical analysis to discover both neighborhood narratives – of people, buildings, landscape, and infrastructure – and the core behaviors embedded in them. For psychogeographers, the drift makes plain the palimpsest in a way that assists in understanding how the past evolved creates the present. Psychogeography does not peel off the layers to reveal the past, but rather sees the past in the present. Palimpsest is not the removal of more recent layers to reveal the past, but individual layers legible through later layers.

Psychogeographers understand that palimpsest – as history revealed in the present – is an essential part of the geographical environment, a part that is crucial to understanding both the evolution of the environment and how that evolution affects the behaviors of present day residents. Psychologically, palimpsest provides the necessary sense of connect to the past. A future not rooted in the past is no future at all. New development can uproot the past through total disregard for it. It can rootlessly approximate the past through nostalgic reproduction or preservation. Or it can sink its roots into the past, building new, but allowing the past to be legible. Only the latter can be fully sustainable; not that it will forever remain in its current built form, but in that it is built to evolve with the environment.

Abode of chaos

2006-09-18T03:42:00.000+08:00

Read something about Thierry Ehrmann being fined for desecrating his '18th century home in a quiet suburb of Lyon'. Titled the 'Abode of Chaos', the house's exterior is one of black walls, photographs of war and pictures of the likes of George Bush and Osama bin Laden.

There's a petition to sign on his website
to appeal against the ordered cessation of his works- the recent court order fined Ehrmann for 'violating town planning laws' but did not 'demand he restore the walls and facade to their original state'.

Anyway, below is some delicious gossip I found off a blog re: Ehrmann, involving
Thierry Ehrmann,

the Neighbor from Hell

Travelling upstream along the River Saône from Lyon one comes to Fontaines and, a few meters before Paul Bocuse’s famous restaurant, a strange billboard, graffitied with a sinister skull and the words, “Chaos dwells at Saint-Romain.” A few kilometers further along, here finally is the quiet village thus named, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or. Well, not that quiet, in fact. Because recently Thierry Ehrmann, CEO of the Serveur group and of Artprice.com has set about “deconstructing his property” and turning it into the “Home of Chaos”, a huge work of destruction that is not to everyone’s taste.

The first time I went to the Domaine de la Source, that historic (1) building looked rather different from what we see today. When Thierry Ehrmann bought it with a view to making it both his home and company headquarters, it was a bourgeois manor of some 100,000 square feet, built in the famous golden stone of the Monts d’Or and standing in the privacy of a walled park. But since 2001 this Domaine de la Source has gradually become the Home of Chaos and the walls no longer hide a thing -on the contrary. The scene today is one of desolation, worthy of John Carpenter’s New York 1999. Apocalyptic. On the parking lot a score of charred autos look like wreckage from inner city riots or a terrorist attack. All around, huge meteorites have dug craters while further on a plane has crashed into the garden. But the most spectacular part of all is no doubt the miniature replica of the ruined World Trade Center, a ten-meter sculpture made with 18 tons of steel and 90 tons of concrete. Nearby, ehrmann plans a Berlin Wall that will be transformed into the barrier being put up by Israel in the West Bank.
In places the facade of the house itself has been liquefied, the fine gold stone turned into a muddy lava by a thermal lance. Everywhere you look are metal salamanders and enameled plaques by Ben, esoteric symbols, frescoes, metal beams apparently propping up the brutalized walls. The interior has been transformed too. In Ehrmann’s office, Renaissance paintings and furniture have been replaced by welded metal, rubble walls and cables hanging from the ceiling, making this strategic room look like the headquarters of a secret organization. On the half-collapsed staircases leading to the apartments are strange sculptures and frescoes. The dominant colors, red and black, also play an important role in the symbolism of alchemy. Thus, on the wall of a windowless room called the “Temple of Sex”, a huge portrait of Bin Laden evokes the red work while, on the facing wall, the face of George W. Bush symbolizes the black work. It would be impossible to describe all the details -besides the house keep changing. Anny Brunelle, Nicolas Delprat, Marc Del Piano and Ben are among the artists who have helped Ehrmann on this work in progress so far. Next up is the construction of Rudy Ricciotti and Mathieu Briand’s bunker, which will house the Organe, a contemporary art museum. In the apartments the floors will be replaced by ropes so that residents can walk through the air. The rest rooms will be popened up and chemical toilets fitted. As Ehrmann puts it, “It’s the day after.” The atmosphere is one of post-atomic chaos, post-civil war, something very contemporary, not unlike what you see on the TV news. Ehrmann describes himself as a news addict. He must have noticed how the word “chaos” has become a media catch-all, a way of saying that the horror couldn’t get any worse. That’s why he wanted to give tangible and spectacular form to this slow collapse of a mutating world, in a gigantic installation including all the world’s major events and figures -religious, political and intellectual. And without moralizing. But why in his own home? For practical reasons, sure, but also because looking after a nice little property investment probably doesn’t rock Ehrmann’s world. The man is a gambler. To understand how a millionaire with a Midas touch came to be where he is you have to delve into his biography. His is no smooth business profile. The son of an influential member of Opus Dei, Ehrmann made his first big bucks in the 1980s on the back of telematic Minitel, boxing and a whole host of equally incongruous activities. He makes no secret for his mystical past as a Freemason and alchemy nut. Anyway, in the 1990s he founded Artprice, a company specializing in online information about, well, the price of art. The art world got to talking about him when he sponsored the 1999 Lyon Biennale. Ehrmann is an inveterate orgy man and a bigamist. The whiff of sulfur hangs about his person. Some say he is the Devil. And so the shadow of Beelzebub also appears on one painted wall, while upside-down portraits of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers on the facade add another degree of Satanism. (It is even said Ehrmann had Monseigneur Delorme perform an exorcism on him.) Our modern Satan is building (or unbuilding)a contemporary Inferno in a little village outside Lyon. Stone by Stone. The original neighbor from hell, at least for many locals. The mayor of Saint-Romain has done everything in his power to thwart this “architectural sacrilege” but in vain. A member of the governing party (the UMP) even suggested a special law to bring artworks within the range of urban planning regulations. But he withdrew it. Because this is, officially, a work of art: Ehrmann is registered with France’s Maison des Artistes and deposited the idea for his “Demeure du Chaos” in 1999, before he started work. A man with a legal training, he loves to find loopholes in the law and drive a truck through them. The big debate is whether he’s a real artist or just a slightly crazy millionaire à la Howard Hughes. Both, no doubt. His madness is of the variety that can take you a long way. An example: at a perfectly serious board meeting (members include LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault), screened the film of a performance (2) in which, with bailiffs threatening to slap possession order on his property, he slashes himself with a scalpel. “It’s your madness that I’m buying” said one delighted stockholder when it was over. Against all expectations, the Demeure and the personality of its owner are good for business. So much madness, that uncertainly defined territory that Ehrmann knows well, he who spent several years with the status of “incapable adult”.” As for the “artist” label, it’s not very important. After all, artists with weird lives and minds are no novelty since Art Brut came along. Anyway, the Demeure du Chaos is unique, a kind of post-9/11 version of the Postman Cheval’s “Ideal Palace.” (3) It now attracts a very mixed bag of visitors, from the curious to mystics, graffiti artists and nuns come to pray. Some seven hundred people turn up every weekend, sometimes returning home with a little bit of black stone as a relic. The Demeure du Chaos looks set to run and run.
Translation, C. Penwarden

Information:
www.demeureduchaos.com
www.abodeofchaos.org

(1) Gallo-romain ruins were found here. The site was also home to a priory and post house.
(2) Viewable on ehrmann.org
(3) This elaborate construction wich fascinated the Surrealists is just a little further south, at Hauterives.-TRANS.

Richard Leydier
copyright ©2005 artpress

Odell

2006-09-09T19:53:00.000+08:00

Ok- I promised that photos of the Singapore Biennale(City Hall edition) would be up- manana. Well, the manana has not arrived- I uploaded my photos today and they were blurred and out of focus- something to do with not being in control of settings in a slightly fancier camera, i'm guessing.

Anyway,was looking up Odell- I know, I heard.
And I found this:-

I remember him mentioning that he was involved wih films in Hong Kong but never did delve further. And I never knew that there was a tribute held for him at the Substation!

I think I must have known the much-mellowed Odell. I never experienced that feeling of being unwanted/unwelcome at the store- although i'm probably blessed in being blissfully unaware of ever being unwanted. I was errant on returning my tapes from the beginning although I always made a note of returning them rewound.
Was never penalised for returning my tapes late.
Never berated for my neophyte tastes in movies- Odell took it upon himself to recommend me an Iranian film(I think he recommended 'Circle of Life')and a French title that I cannot remember.
And we managed small talk about my trip after that weeklong delay in returning his tapes- I completely forgot! and told my brother to return it for me, whom I heard found a common interest with Odell bitching about my habit of renting tapes and then finding no time for them.

Anyway- I've been looking for a few titles recently- Jacques Tati's 'Mon Oncle' and 'The Fountainhead' and I know Odell would have had them

Singapore Biennale

2006-09-07T01:33:00.000+08:00

Missed the opening party- and those much talked about projections by Jenny Holzer.
Chanced upon(ok- maybe it was less serendipitous than an aimless wandering) city halls' biennale location.
Will be posting pictures i took- manana...

Keep Walking

2006-09-05T13:34:00.000+08:00

Read an article by Eric Pfanner in the IHT about Johnnie Walker's latest ad campaign in Lebanon. Loved that reference to bombed bridges in Lebanon and how it ties up with Johnnie Walker's 'Keep Walking' tag line.

Got the above photo from Moey's blog- don't you dig that header??