What To Bring from Canada?

[houmack]

First off - apologies for asking the questions, that I’m sure, have been answered many times before. I thought I’d ask again so I have a consolidated place for my answers.

Potentially moving, from Canada, in the next few months, and since my company will ship my stuff for me, I thought it would be worth knowing what I should leave behind, what I should bring, what I should go to Costco and stock up on. I’ll break them up into categories:

1. Electronics: (I’m going to assume to leave the TV’s and Xbox’s behind since we have NTSC and it’s PAL there?)
a. I have a high-end receiver and sound system. I rather not sell it and bring it. Worth bringing over and getting a step-up transformer? (currently 110v)
b. Power cleaner – I have a power cleaner that all my home theater stuff plugs into to protect against power surge, etc. This would probably need a transformer as well.
c. Vacuum & Steam Cleaner– I have a nice Dyson Vacuum. Should I bother with this?
d. Small appliances: Iron, Hair Dryer, Curling Iron, Electric Shavers, etc?
e. Kitchen Small Appliances: Waffle maker, Electric Grill (George Foreman), Food processor, electric mixer, etc


2. Toiletries
a. Things like Soap, Shampoo, body creams, shaving cream, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc


3. Infant stuff (we have a 6 month old)
a. Breast Pump, diapers, clean wipes, clothes, etc


4. Cleaning tools/stuff
a. Garbage bags, etc


5. Dry Foods
a. Canned Tomato paste, Coconut Flour, Almond Flour, Chicken Broth, Coconut Oil, and other like dry foods with a long shelf-life


6. Bedding (We will bring our Queen Size bed set)
a. Should we buy bedding for it here? Would it be cheaper?

If we don’t bring the stuff we already own (electronics, and furniture) we’d have to basically donate it all or throw it away. We won’t have much time to sell anything. It’s all good stuff too and would hate to have to just give them up.

Appreciate all your help in advance.

Thanks.

[PNGMK]

A gallon of maple syrup, a couple boxes of frozen salmon, a few brown bears and some fresh air.

I assume you're taking orders?

[Strong Eagle]

A gallon of maple syrup, a couple boxes of frozen salmon, a few brown bears and some fresh air.

I assume you're taking orders?

And snow... bring snow.

1.

You might be OK with a step up transformer for your sound system. It needs to be at least double the maximum wattage rating of your system.

You could bring your TV if it has HDMI... digital cable boxes have HDMI outputs.

Leave all the rest of the stuff behind. Unlikely anything except maybe the hair dryer is dual voltage, and a lot of those draw a lot of watts.

Besides, unless someone else is paying the freight both ways, it costs a lot to ship that stuff.

2.

Unless you've just got to have a specific brand, there are lots of options here.

3.

They have infants in Singapore, although not too many. If your shipping is being paid for, I suppose you could bring, but all are readily available.

4.

What for??????

5.

Everything on your list is readily available here. Shelf life for goods that are not one hundred percent sealed (for example, rice in a cardboard box) will have a much shorter shelf life unless you run your aircon 24 hours a day, which most people don't do.

6.

Asian bed sizes are six inches shorter than North American sizes (same width). Therefore if you bring the bed, you must bring the bedding because you'll never find it here.

Be aware that unless you are renting higher end, a lot of bedrooms are smaller and you may find yourself cramped with NA size bedding.

Basically, you might as well forget lamps and any electrical devices not designed for 240 volts.

For furniture, be aware that the tropical climate will take its toll on all sorts of things. Although you can run aircon 24 hours a day, electricity is very expensive and most people go local... having the house open during the day, and only using aircon at night for watching TV or sleeping (most Singapore housing has individual units in each room).

You might get some shipping estimates with and without your furniture and determine if the differential covers acquisition of new stuff and/or storage of old stuff and/or simply getting a bonus out of your company in lieu of shipping everything.

[houmack]

i'll bring anything BUT the snow. Right now, it's full on snow and -38 where I am. I'm trying to get away from this, not bring it with me! lol Although, I'm sure there will be many days in Singapore where I'll wish I had me some snow.

And I'm happy to bring a couple things across for anyone. As long as it's not too crazy of a request .

and yes, someone else is paying for freight

[JR8]

Do a forum search (top right) on > what to bring

You'll find about a dozen other topics against which you can cross-reference.

[PNGMK]

i'll bring anything BUT the snow. Right now, it's full on snow and -38 where I am. I'm trying to get away from this, not bring it with me! lol Although, I'm sure there will be many days in Singapore where I'll wish I had me some snow.

And I'm happy to bring a couple things across for anyone. As long as it's not too crazy of a request .

and yes, someone else is paying for freight

A genuine maple leaf plucked from a tree.

[maneo]

Aspirin - it's a prescription item here, though non-aspirin products (e.g. acetaminophen) are OTC.
Multi-vitamins (damn expensive here - Costco size bottles could last until your home leave).

Suggest you leave 110-120 V electronics behind.
Step-up transformers seem to know when blowing out will cause you the most irritation.
Power frequency is also different (50 Hz here), so definitely don't bring any clocks that use power line frequency as the reference.

Use the Search function as JR8 suggested for more discussions.
It will collect so many historical posts together for you to peruse quite efficiently (i.e. virtual consolidation) - and many more than a mere "dozen."

[Primrose Hill]

I second the maple syrup. And vitamins and some OTC drugs

[Strong Eagle]

Also ibuprofen and any antacids like ranatidine. Very expensive here.

[movingtospore]

Children's tylenol.

Baby/children's clothing - expensive here.

Clothes for you - also expensive here.

[BedokAmerican]

Bring sheets that fit your bed if you're having a bed shipped. Standard-sized sheets might be hard to find.

You mentioned you have a 6-month old. Bring loads of AA batteries. Most kids toys by Leap Frog, Fisher Price, V-Tech and others take AA. Batteries are sold here but only in small quantities.

Bring a voltage converter for the breast pump if it's electric and not 240. Converters are also sold here. When I brought my 120v pump here from the U.S., I put a Singapore power strip on the floor, topped with a plug converter, the voltage converter and then the pump's bulky plug. It worked well but wouldn't have worked in the wall because it would've fallen out with all those attachments.

Bring clothes and sleepers for the baby, and the next few sizes up to allow for growth, along with crib sheets if you're shipping a crib. Like someone else said, clothes are pricey here, although there are garage sales. You might also want to have some diapers shipped as well because diapers aren't available in extremely large quantities here. Same for thick baby wipes. If your baby has dry skin and requires a special lotion with shea butter or something like that, ship it. However, Johnson's baby products are sold here.

As far as dried food goes, if you're a fan of Triscuits or Wheat Thins, bring them because they're not sold here. Saltine crackers are another thing. They're sold here, but they're not the same and don't taste as good as the ones by Nabisco.

Garbage bags are a good idea because they might be hard to find in large quantities here. I've been here 1 1/2 years and still haven't run out of the ones that were shipped. I'm glad we shipped them here. Cleaning supplies like brooms are probably ok, but the moving company might not ship liquid cleaning stuff. I also highly recommend bringing different sizes of Ziplock bags (or their generic equivalent). They're sold here, but expensive. If you're a fan of Clorox wipes, ship 'em. They're hard to find here and they're in small containers and pricey.

Bring deodorant, soaps, etc. You'll find quite a few brands here you'll recognize but certain ones you like might not be sold here. Another note, if you or someone in your family likes to use shave gel for legs, ship that. The Gillette Satin Care is something like $10 a can here. However, Pantene and Dove shampoo is decently priced.

Hydrocortisone cream is sold here but only in 1/2 ounce (15 g) tubes and you have to go to a pharmacy and ask for it because it's behind the counter. Therefore, if you use the stuff, you might want to have some shipped.

Those are just a few things that come to mind.

[sundaymorningstaple]

12 packs of AA batteries are small quantities? If you are going to go through that many batteries that often, maybe getting "green" rechargable batteries would be the way to go. You can buy 12 packs in the checkout lanes of any NTUC or Toys R us (but more expensive there).

[x9200]

You can buy 10p alkaline AA bat. for S$2.90 in Ikea and they are not bad at all:

[BedokAmerican]

A 10-pack or 12-pack of AA batteries is a large pack by Sg standards.

When I say large pack, I'm talking about a 36-pack from Lowe's/Home Depot/Walmart or 100-pack from w wholesale warehouse.

But maybe rechargeable batteries are the better option.

[Hannieroo]

I wouldn't ship anything that can go rusty or leak. Also storage is limited here.

Bring breast pads. They're hard to find.