The stay with Mariel and her family was great and enjoyable. As she mentions in the description, she is only home on weekends because of school, but her dad welcomed me and showed me around the neighborhood (shop area close by, including two hawker centers) and took me out for lunch. As advertised, the place is not the most convenient in terms of public transport into the city, but once you figure out which bus to take to Serangoon MRT (315, 317), it is fairly straightforward. If you want a bit of a local experience, go with Mariel and while you are there, have a conversation with her about school or, even better, her experiences traveling and volunteering.