Chen Yixin studies in Paris on scholarship, spends $3,300 a month on apartment rental

Singapore actress and fashion personality Chen Yixin did not have the smoothest of transitions after moving to France.

The daughter of Singaporean actress Xiang Yun and former actor Edmund Chen announced earlier in September that she was moving to Paris to see what her life “could look like somewhere new”.

Chen Yixin revealed more of her plans in Paris in the second episode of the (X)in Paris Diaries on her YouTube channel on Sept 27.

The 26-year-old said, without disclosing the school’s name, that she will be studying fashion as well as creative direction in the French capital. “I’m still getting to know everyone and my surroundings, so I don’t think it will be wise for me to disclose so much information,” she said.

Chen said she is renting an apartment through a relocation agency. The space is only about 32 sq m – roughly half the size of a typical three-room flat in Singapore – and the monthly rental is €2,300 (S$3,300).

She said one of the reasons she chose the apartment was its safety, as it was her top priority after moving to a new city.

“I just thought that if I can afford to splurge a little more on safety, I will. So I did,” she added. “I do feel really safe because this apartment has a reception as well, so I don’t feel so vulnerable.”

Another reason was that the apartment has a lift, which helped when she had to drag three to four pieces of luggage on her own.

However, Chen’s move-in process did not go entirely smoothly.

Despite the price of the apartment, “the state of hygiene was really, really bad”, she said.

She saw hair scattered everywhere in the apartment, including in the coffee machine, visible stains on the bed and bugs.

Fortunately, both the property inspector and the landlord took steps to resolve the issues.

“She (the landlord) immediately called her housekeeper to come down and just clean the entire place thoroughly once again,” Chen said. “She also got a pest control professional to check all the cushions and beds. Good news is there aren’t any bed bugs.”

Chen disclosed that she previously had a traumatic experience with bed bugs, as it took a week after being bitten for her whole body to start itching.

“The fact that the bites only appear a week later, you can’t really locate where it is and you’re always going to feel itchy,” she said. “I literally had to clean the entire room, my entire car, everything. I had to dry-clean all my clothes, I had to repack all my clothes. I was just afraid that it would be a repetition of it.”

Although she has settled in, Chen is likely to stay in the apartment for only a few months before she looks for another place to stay in the long term.

“Realistically speaking, I don’t think I can afford €2,300 every month for the next two years, but it’s not easy to find an apartment,” she said.

“The students at my school are all really rich. I think I am among the only few people who are going there through scholarship, which was really helpful.”

Chen said she does not mind moving to an unfurnished apartment and doing it up to her own liking, but she admitted she would then have to spend more money.

“I’m coming from a place where I’ve been able to save quite an amount of money just to tide me through the first couple of months,” she said. “In fact, I’m actually very stressed out because I don’t know how to move forward with this situation.”