The same fare can be had for half the price at some may say, the exact same quality as the restaurant. For obvious reasons, that is possible due to the lower overheads of a kopitiam vs a shopping mall restaurant.
I'm sad to say that after 6 years, we are still in that 'austerity' mode when it comes to spending. What the heck happened to those rollin' good ol' times of insane profits and ups and downs~?
So if you were like me, looking at buying HDB flats (loosely termed 'downgrading') having sold off my condo abode, would you insist on NEW FLAT ONLY! or happy with a well-loved many-handed RESALE FLAT?
(I didn't have a choice anyway, since I had no other place to stay to wait for 30 months)
Whether it is the ORIGINAL, first hand, NEW, LATEST design HDB, or an aged and basic one, it is still a public housing apartment with four walls and a roof. In fact, for the same space, old may be cheaper and better. Old may also be in well developed mature townships and have no lack of amenities. Old may even be near your aged parents. So Old may just be gOld. And you don't have to pay a premium for this gOld due to the general (mis)conception that RESALE = PRICEY.
Nothing a fresh coat of paint, minor rewiring, and a little bit of dressing up won't solve. It's all about de-cluttering and going back to BASICs. Though tiring, I truly enjoyed spending the whole afternoon repainting my iron gate. Finally, it felt real owning my first HDB flat. No matter how unbranded or basic it is.
