We had visited Kuching for some years and always felt our holiday was never long enough here. Even so, due to the distance of Kuching from the UK we had never considered purchasing a property here, although we driven past the Santubong Suite apartments many times.

After arriving home last year my husband was looking at the Internet and decided that these could be just right for us. I did some research as to the length of lease, maintenance of the building, what bills we could expect etc. After finding this satisfactory I travelled out and met Alice Kon who showed me the three styles of apartment available. They have used a very good architect who has designed the apartments to show excellent views and made them light and spacious. To the rear of the properties is Mount Santubong, which is now protected and is a national park, to one side is Damai Beach golf course and to the front is a wooded area, which leads to a beach beside the mangroves.   

There are four national parks, which are easily accessible, the Kuching City is about a forty-minute drive away and the airport is a fifty-minute drive. Santubong village is a five-minute drive and does have some basic shopping requirements. 

To help our transaction go through Alice Kon always kept us informed of developments and was quick to reply to any questions we had, (which were plenty). We always found her to be most articulate and helpful. After we had purchased our apartment I travelled out to Kuching again, SCIB properties assisted us with purchasing of furniture and electrical appliances, taking us to the furniture showrooms in Kuching to choose suitable furnishings. They arranged for the delivery of our goods and saw them in safely which was a fantastic help.  

There was some rectification work to be done after we left, this was carried out and the apartment was left clean for our first holiday in it this July. Probably one of the main advantages to owning one of the apartments is that due to the size of them we felt we could stay for longer and it really has begun to feel like home.

The weekend market is excellent in Kuching for fruit, vegetables, meat and fish but if you don't want to get too involved in cooking there are restaurants not far from the apartments. Go to the Damai Beach Resort Hotel and try their Fisherman's Catch restaurant next to the beach, the food is fantastic or for traditional Malay food try their Treez restaurant.

Fiona Pack
pack1@tesco.net