EVERY Tuesday and Friday, there’s a special delivery of Culina tomatoes, olive oil, orchids and other items for Mrs Kelly Bernard, 44, a resident at Sentosa Cove.
Mrs Bernard has to get her groceries delivered to her home. (Photo: TNP, Kelvin Chng)
They are sent to her door by Heng Heng Food Suppliers, which offers personal grocery shopping and home-delivery services.
With no supermarkets on Sentosa island, Mrs Bernard, who has lived on the island for two and a half years, depends on them for 80 per cent of her groceries.
She said: ‘I had a lot of arguments with Sentosa, which tried to charge them $2 (entrance fee) each time they came in to deliver.
‘Now they don’t charge.
‘If everyone else on Singapore can get food, why not Sentosa people?’
Heng Heng also delivers to 10 other families in Sentosa Cove.
This is one of the quirks of living in Sentosa Cove, marketed as the playground for the wealthy and the ‘world’s most desirable address’.
Price records at upscale waterfront district were smashed earlier this week when six units at SC Global Developments’ Seven Palms condo were said to have been sold at between $3,100 per square foot (psf) and $3,400 psf. This means the three and four-bedroom units were sold at about $9 million to $15m each.
It’s easy to see the beauty of the neighbourhood.
All houses come with a view, like the sea or the golf course. Many owners also used award-winning designers, both local and foreign, to create to-die-for homes.
But living there has its unique set of issues.
Those in the know?
The ‘pioneers’ of the neighbourhood, like the Bernard family, who moved in more than two years ago when the first homes were completed.
Said Mrs Bernard, who lives in a three-storey terrace house: ‘My neighbours are very normal people.
‘There are some fancy people with Lamborghinis. But I think it’s more people who were looking for something a bit different, who had that pioneering spirit.’
She declined to reveal how much the family had paid for their home.
She added: ‘There are some inconveniences, which now we’ve adapted to, for our own place by the sea.’
The grocery problem is one, though many families take the free exclusive shuttles for Sentosa Cove residents to VivoCity.
A key problem for families with young children is the school buses.
Singaporean Richard Lee, 55, a private investor, had intended to move into his $1.8m condo at The Azure with his family after getting the keys late last year.
But his youngest daughter Isabelle, 10, goes to school in Bukit Timah – and the school bus refused to go into Sentosa.
‘There is a limited number of residents, so there’s no critical mass of students,’ he said.
So he had no choice but to keep the family’s terrace house on the ‘mainland’, where they live on weekdays.
Mrs Bernard, who has two daughters, aged 16and 14, had the same problem.
She had to pay $1,000 a month for a taxi driver to take her girls to and from the French School at Ang Mo Kio every weekday, until another set of neighbours with kids in the same school moved in, halving her bill.
It was only six months ago that the school bus was willing to go into Sentosa, when there were enough students.
Mr Lee, who also owns a $1.7m four-bedroom unit in The Berth by the Cove, said he was disappointed at the slow progress made in providing amenities for residents in the six years since he booked the Berth unit in 2003.
Quayside Isle, a commercial site which comes with a hotel, shops and services, is likely to be completed by late 2012.
So Mr Lee and his family end up eating at the same places in Sentosa, like the Sentosa Golf Resort, Capella, and Rasa Sentosa.
He said: ‘The places are quite limited. There’s VivoCity, but it’s so crowded. The point is to get away from the crowds.’
Mrs Bernard said that shops like bakeries or for handyman repairs are missing – so she resorts to making her own bread.
Then there’s the construction noise and dust, though that has appeared to have lessened as the years passed.
But both families agreed that the lifestyle was worth the trade-offs.
For Mrs Bernard, a housewife, the magic happens every Friday, when the construction workers leave, the husbands return from work – and the weekend begins.
She said: ‘There’s a really nice ambience, like you’re on holiday.’
The Australian,who is married to a Frenchman, loves that her children are able to interact with kids of several nationalities in the neighbourhood, including Singaporeans.
Her neighbour Mrs Jackie Smit, 38, a housewife and South African, loves going for walks along the waterway.
Mrs Bernard’s home also has its own berth leading to the waterway. Because the family doesn’t own a boat, they put a picnic table there, where friends can come over and have a drink while watching the sunset.
Then there’s the ONE°15 Marina Club at Sentosa Cove, where Mrs Bernard’s husband Mr Christophe Bernard, 48, who runs a wine and spirits shipping business, goes to five times a week, toswimand play tennis.
Sentosa Cove said that about 70 per cent of its residents are members of ONE°15 Marina Club, Sentosa Golf Club or both.
Mrs Smit said she goes sailing with friends about once a month, to neighbouring islands like St John’s.
Mr Lee said he was also impressed by the neighbours’ friendliness – even though many of them are high networth and immensely private individuals.
He said: ‘I’m very happy with my apartment. There’s nowhere else in Singapore you can find the sea so close to your doorstep.’
More amenities to be ready next year
WHEN completed, Sentosa Cove will have 400 landed homes, and 1,740 condo units. The proportion of buyers has been 60 per cent foreigners, 40 per cent locals.
The neighbourhood is divided into two parts – North Cove and South Cove.
A Sentosa Cove spokesman said that the North Cove will be 85 per cent complete by year end.
The South Cove still has some way to go.
The spokesman said to meet residents’ needs, additional amenities such as laundromat and retail services will be ready by early next year.
It has a slew of privilege programmes where residents can enjoy discounts on Sentosa Island and other parts of Singapore.
It also organises exclusive community events, for example, the upcoming Inaugural Cove Festival on 24 Oct for residents.
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Source : Asia One – 13 Oct 2009
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