Living in Tips: Rain, Windows and Doors

Here's 2 CRUCIAL tips:

• DO NOT open the bay windows when it rains, and when you're out of your flat and it looks like it's going to rain.
• DO NOT leave the backyard door open when there are strong winds either.

We left the windows opened one day, went out, it rained, came back, and found a nice big puddle of water on the bay ledges, floor, along with soaked walls, everything on the ledges soaked etc... There are no shelter for our units from rain. It will come right into the flat if you leave the windows open.

As for the door, the higher you are the stronger the winds, and sometimes the door (including some of the inside ones if you leave both backyard and balcony open) will slam. We've had our backyard glass door's pane smashed when it slammed in one day. We've also notice that if we leave our bathroom window open (for circulation), and close the bathroom sliding door, during strong winds the doors will rattle.

Keeping us awake. And grumpy the following morning. Makes you wonder why the architect never designed canopies to prevent the rain from entering. Must be aesthetically so-yesterday's style... :(

Tags: viz@holland, viz holland, viz @ holland, singapore, condo, queensway, holland

Viz Newbies - Moving In

For residents or tenants who are moving into Viz the first time, some useful tips:

Moving In:

1. When moving in, warn your movers that they may need a smaller van/truck that can enter the condo car park, especially if you're staying in Blks B onwards. What usually happens is - your belongings are moved into a big truck, and that is parked outside the condo premises (usually illegally, right at the bus stop curb). They then transfer the belongings into a smaller truck/van which goes into the car park area and then offloads at the Blk lobby.
2. You'll need to alert the Management Office, who will want 2 deposits from you (cheques, which they will retain until the move is completed). One is to cover against lift damages, and another against premises damages. You'll also need to fill out complicated forms stating when the move is, how long it will be, how long you'll be using the lift for, etc.
3. You may want to take note of the size of the lift too, in case you have large items that can't fit into it, and needs to be carried up via the stairwell.
4. The guards are very strict about ensuring that moves are done within 9 to 5, to minimise disturbances to other residents. That's not a bad thing but that means you may have to get most boxes into the flat first, and then unpack later on.
5. Washing Machine: This is important as it took us a long time and a lot of hassle with the project site office. The AC wall socket and the tap for the washing machine, typically located at the backyard, are NOT standard connections for most conventional machines. The wall socket is the old round-shaped 3 pin socket (like this here), and the tap has a narrower circumference that will not fit the standard washing machine fill (inlet) hose. You need to either change your machine electric plug to the 3 round pin type, or get your landlord/developer to change the socket to the standard rectangle-shaped socket. For the tap, you need a "increaser double male hex nipple" (I'm not kidding about the nipple part). An example can be found here. We went searching various Homefix shops without much luck, and eventually found it in a hardware shop in the Holland Village Shopping Centre. You need to measure the circumference of the tap and the hose to make sure you have the right size. Remember to get plumber's tape (or thread seal tape, here) to seal the connections.
   

Tags: viz @ holland, viz holland, viz@holland, singapore, queensway, condo, holland

Basic Information

Some basic stuff first:

Viz Holland:
Developed by Sim Lian (Holland) Pte Ltd
Address is 221 Queensway, Singapore 276750
District 10
Plot size is about 104,205 sqf
TOP 1 Apr 2008 (no kiddin')
Total No of Units: 165
Breakdown of Units:
1 Bed Studio Apartments: 22
2 Bed Apartments: 87
3 Bed Apartments: 44
Penthouses: 12
More info can be found on this early launch info site here (including floor plans i think).
Some pictures can be found on the condoexpat site here. I'll put up some of my own later when i have time :)

Contact Details:
Management Office (managed by CKH Strate Mgmt): 64791509
Management Office manned by Ms Lim and Sheikh (previously Mr Li Yu)
After hours, the office number gets diverted to the Guardroom.

Tags: viz@holland, viz @ holland, condo, holland, queensway

Note to Self

Ever wondered why a condo, situated on Queensway itself, is called "Viz Holland" and not "Viz Queensway" (or a posher version - "Viz Queens") :P

Favourite response from taxi drivers: "Viz Holland ah? Where ah? Holland Road issit? WHERE? Queensway? Queensway Shopping Centre there ah? Queensway WHERE GOT condo wan??"

Things to talk about:

1. Car Parking Madness
2. Blinded by Blinds
3. The Diarrhoeic Mynahs
4. Moving In Spots
5. Neighbourly Love (or War)
6. Rust Buckets
   

First Post from Viz Holland!

It must be strange for some nutter to put up a blog about living in a condo... but living in a condo isn't exactly a bed of roses, it can be tricky, especially given that the condo is actually freshly minted.

So basic introductions first... The condo I'm in is called, schizophrenically, either "Viz @ Holland", "Viz@Holland" (Note without spacing) or "Viz Holland", depending on which directories or search engines you use LOL. The original name I'm sure was "Viz@Holland", created at a time when every developer and their fengshui master was thinking that using "@" was the coolest idea for this generation of condos built in the 2000s. After all, it's the age of the internet and all that.

What they didn't realise, was how confused search engines can get and even worse, how many variations there can be to something so simple as a condo name. Spacing, no spacing etc.

So eventually, it became called "Viz Holland" but even now, using the "@" within the name will turn up quite a few hits.

It's the condo that is notoriously famous for one thing too - the murder of a maid while it was being constructed, or rather specifically, just when it was about to be completed (Dec 07). Google for it, I don't think I need to provide the various gory details as searching for Viz Holland will turn both estate agents' websites and the murder.

So what's this blog going to be about?

Being one of the very first residents here at this brand spanking new condo, I figured some information of the trials and tribulations I encountered when moving in, with the management office, the problems here etc, may be useful to other people. And who knows, I might be able to obtain advice from other condo dwellers too.

(Yes, I just need to rant.)

I'll stop now, but do keep an eye out for future posts. Forthcoming :)

Tags: viz@holland, viz holland, viz @ holland, singapore, condo, queensway