Where to Live for Work, Golfing and Living?

A friend who got a posting to the USA was rubbing his hands in glee at the thought of all the golfing and equipment he will get his hands on when he left last Nov from SIN to Southern California. To date, he's only gone to the range 5 times and not been on the course yet. Compare this to the golf game he got every Sat when in SIN. Hence, if you had your choice of place to live for work, lifestyle and golf, where would it be and why?

I know where I would take. Good old SIN!!

Well sometimes it depends on workload and family commitments....not necessary the location...

In singapore of coz....over here, I need to work to live...so that can golf.....

I'd stay in Dubai.

4 times the package, world class golf courses, which means I can afford to buy what I want, when I want. I play twice every week, on weekends, unless I take half day (or just a few hours) off for a quiet practice round at the Jumeirah Golf Estates. 30 days of annual leave translates to 6 weeks of actual leave, so I can spend quite a decent amount of time on the green stuff.

Oh, I sometimes play more than 3 times a weekend too -- Monthly Medal on Friday morning, golf with jurongtiger in the afternoon, and probably joining some other friends for a Saturday round as well

At the end of the day, it depends on the package and the workload - your friend may be living too far from a good course, the courses may be too crowded, and have no kakis to play with. Did he do his homework? Yes, he's able to get some really nice stuff off the forums and eBay, and shipping is stupidly cheap, but that isn't great when you have nowhere to play, or no time to play

Doesn't mean that US is not good, or Singapore or Dubai is better. If I was out of a job and had a few million in the bank, Singapore would seem like a nice place to be as well since I can play every day

at the end of the day, it is up to u and see what works for u...

Ghoonk: Would you be saying the same thing if you had a dependent and children?

Indonesia.

Lots of my friends play 3-5 times a week. Their group, some 60 odd golfers, go together and play almost every morning. After office hours, go range 2 hours.

Income ? No problem. They still drive nice cars, and live in 6000-10000sqf three storeys houses...

Now why on earth I'm in Singapore....

TNRM wrote:

Ghoonk: Would you be saying the same thing if you had a dependent and children?

Hey, that's YOUR problem, not mine

If your dependent(s) doesn't want to let you go play golf on weekends and insists you spend time with your kids, that's between you and your dependents. My wife is cool with me going to play golf, and is it MY fault not to have kids?

ya la,

my fault for being a quitter
my fault for not having my wife here
my fault for not finding a wife who complains that I spend too much time playing golf
my fault for not having kids

If I choose to spend time with my wife and kids, then I shouldn't be looking back and complaining that I don't play enough golf.

ghoonk wrote:

TNRM wrote:

Ghoonk: Would you be saying the same thing if you had a dependent and children?

Hey, that's YOUR problem, not mine

If your dependent(s) doesn't want to let you go play golf on weekends and insists you spend time with your kids, that's between you and your dependents. My wife is cool with me going to play golf, and is it MY fault not to have kids?

ya la,

my fault for being a quitter
my fault for not having my wife here
my fault for not finding a wife who complains that I spend too much time playing golf
my fault for not having kids

If I choose to spend time with my wife and kids, then I shouldn't be looking back and complaining that I don't play enough golf.

I thought you're working part time in Dubai... middle aged man, with quite bit of fortune who work just to pass the time... .

How old r u btw ?

No la. Been here 4 years already. just hit 37 2 weeks ago, not rich, but doing okay enough to enjoy life here (mostly cos the stuff that costs us an arm and a leg is cheaper here, that's all)

That said, if I do move back to SG, I'd love to get a membership at Warren and play there every day before work

Or maybe not. I'm too damn lazy to get up early and play 9 holes at the club before work here anyway, so I don't think I'd going to be so hardworking in SG

Just out of curiousity...when is golf too much?

Presently i allocate 10 hours or so per month for golf......

If one is only looking for one /two game per month , SG still ok lah.....no need to sacrifice arm and leg

Singapore. Here's why: for the past 12 years, I've lived in Jakarta, Rotterdam, Brussels, Shanghai and now Singapore. Continental Europe is beautiful, clean, offers great work-life balance but the tax is so high that you wont have any disposable money to play golf. Money is good in Shanghai but pollution (air/water), lack of hygiene just turned me off real bad. I don't even want to discuss health care, worth its own thread. Golf is even more a luxury there.

For the price of 5-room HDB in Toa Payoh, I can own a beautiful 600m2 freehold bungalow with a pool in Jkt suburbs and maybe a couple of golf memberships. However, Jakarta's traffic would take away at least 3-4 hours of quality time with my son every weekday. I wouldn't want to spend another 5 on weekends away. Not to mention the daily dose of corruption news, it makes me angry all the time.

So I'm fortunate to be in Singapore. Low tax, clean environs, relative open-ness to foreigners and I'm usually home by 7pm. Ample time to whack golf balls, or go for Aikido class, or blade on east coast or just play with my son. Cheap golf is just next door, and famous golf destinations in in the SEA region are just a 1-2 hour budget flight away.

That said, Ghoonk's stories is quite tempting. Had a few offers to come there, but I was so tired of moving around and just want to settle my fam for few years. We shall see..my apart lease expires next year

Duval_S wrote:

Just out of curiousity...when is golf too much?

Presently i allocate 10 hours or so per month for golf......

If one is only looking for one /two game per month , SG still ok lah.....no need to sacrifice arm and leg

Too much golf is playing a morning round, ending at 11, hitting balls at the range till 12.30, grabbing a quick lunch, back to range from 1.30 to 2.30, and getting another round that ends at 6.30 pm, then one last hour at the range.

Then morning round the next day, 2 hours of range time, then another round in the afternoon

total 4 rounds in 2 days, and over 6 hours of range time. THAT is too much for my old bones.

ghoonk wrote:

Duval_S wrote:

Just out of curiousity...when is golf too much?

Presently i allocate 10 hours or so per month for golf......

If one is only looking for one /two game per month , SG still ok lah.....no need to sacrifice arm and leg

Too much golf is playing a morning round, ending at 11, hitting balls at the range till 12.30, grabbing a quick lunch, back to range from 1.30 to 2.30, and getting another round that ends at 6.30 pm, then one last hour at the range.

Then morning round the next day, 2 hours of range time, then another round in the afternoon

total 4 rounds in 2 days, and over 6 hours of range time. THAT is too much for my old bones.

That sounded like what I did after 'O' levels except that I went for another 9 holes after the afternoon 18 which ended at 5pm.

You can't get better than USA for golf.

Golf
For the price you pay for a typical round in Sg like TMCC or Laguna, you get treated like royalty at some of the nicer clubs where the views are magnificent.

Weather in SoCal is great most of the time. No sweating buckets before you even tee off.

Demo days are hitting different brands and not just 1 brand specific. Club fitting can be done at a company's HQ ie in places like Titleist and Callaway where state-of-the-art equipment are used to measure everything there is to measure in a golf swing.

Balls roll when they need to and spin when you want it to.

Plus, everyone looks great wearing a sweater when golfing.

Work
My life has been really hectic since relocating over from Florida to San Diego but its still only 4 1/2 days of craziness in a week. Its nvr quite as crazy as work back in Sg.

Family
I know most of the families who have tasted life here and even my wife loves it and is not really keen to get back.

Honestly, I think golf should be experienced as much overseas as you can before you start asking that question.

End of the day, most will realise that golf back home is really not that great. It is also why the PGA tour is played here.

but what am i going to do for Nasi Lemak, Laksa, Teh Tarik and muar chee??

Like they said which we all know....All golfers are the same....Just that some golfers are 'luckier' than others....

All I want is to increase my golf hours fm current 10 hours/mth to 12 hours in 2 years time...

10 hours? to 12 hours?

now is 2 X 5 hours?

then to 3 X 4 hours?



i dun understand...

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

but what am i going to do for Nasi Lemak, Laksa, Teh Tarik and muar chee??

They have it here. Or you can just cook it yourself as all the ingredients are available.

Duval_S wrote:

Like they said which we all know....All golfers are the same....Just that some golfers are 'luckier' than others....

All I want is to increase my golf hours fm current 10 hours/mth to 12 hours in 2 years time...

Browsing Golf republic is included in your quota or not ?

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

but what am i going to do for Nasi Lemak, Laksa, Teh Tarik and muar chee??

You can maybe try Prima Taste?

But I like the Selera Nasi Lemak, stall 2 at adam rd...

Laksa at katong...

muar chee of level 2, queensway shopping centre...


prima is different brand leh...

Laksa can cook la. Yeo's also have the paste.

Nasi Lemak just needs a little effort. All u need is to cook the rice properly. The rest of the ingredients is what you want - Chicken wings, sausage, egg, ikan bilis. All very simple to make.

I wouldn't have bothered back in Sg. Cooking it ourselves makes us appreciate our meals more.

daveaha wrote:

Duval_S wrote:

Like they said which we all know....All golfers are the same....Just that some golfers are 'luckier' than others....

All I want is to increase my golf hours fm current 10 hours/mth to 12 hours in 2 years time...

Browsing Golf republic is included in your quota or not ?

His wife doesnt know this forum exist. If not, I am sure i will be included.

When his wife ask wat he is doing, He will say,'Dear, I am looking around on the net for places to buy paste and ingredients so that I can make Nasi Lemak and Laksa for you...'