Buying UK foods

[lesrob]

I am coming to Singapore at Christmas from Jakarta where I am based. I want to buy weetabix (not weetbix - Australian) and also Birds instant custard. Can I get these in Singapore?, wheres best palce to look?
thanks.......

[sundaymorningstaple]

Cold Storage or Jason's probably. I rarely go into either but most of the others here probably do most of their shopping there so should be able to update this post.

[Barnsley]

I am coming to Singapore at Christmas from Jakarta where I am based. I want to buy weetabix (not weetbix - Australian) and also Birds instant custard. Can I get these in Singapore?, wheres best palce to look?
thanks.......

You can get both at Cold Storage also NTUC have Weetabix now and again.

They called "Whole Grain Biscuits" or some such nonsense though , look for the packet with the Union Jack.

Birds instant custard is also available

[lesrob]

Thanks for the advice
to sundaymorningstaple and Barnsley

[Barnsley]

[lesrob]

ah Whole Wheat Biscuits! - indeed, they are not fooling anybody, definitely weetabix in disguise.

I have also taken a liking to Oatbix from the same maker - they were available for a short while in Jakarta, but no more.

[bgd]

For my education what is the difference between weetbix and weetabix? I grew up with weetbix but don't think I've ever tried weetabix.

[lesrob]

Just taste and texture.
Weetabix become pretty mushy when soaked in milk - an acquired taste preference.
Weetbix are a bit tougher generally and hold together. The tase is slightly different.

I was brought up in UK on weetabix (a long time ago) and it is nice to get some home comforts now and again (a bit of a nostalgia trip).
All I need now is somewhere that does UK style fish and chips....

i am bit picky with breakfast cereals- I like cornflakes (and krispies)but they have got to be kellogs.
It bugs me that breakfast in hotels (even the posh ones) if they have cornflakes they are usually some poor imitation of kellogs.
I'm defenitely getting old

[the lynx]

When in doubt in Singapore, hit Mark & Spencer's for UK comforts.

[bgd]

All I need now is somewhere that does UK style fish and chips....

Smiths on Tanjong Katong Rd.

[JR8]

ah Whole Wheat Biscuits! - indeed, they are not fooling anybody, definitely weetabix in disguise.

I have also taken a liking to Oatbix from the same maker - they were available for a short while in Jakarta, but no more.

There's an Aussie brand called something like Weet-Bix in a squat blue box, also available from NTUC, so maybe there was a trademark clash...

Never heard of Oatbix, but I like the mini-Weetabix with chocolate chips in them, good + bad all in one ; (maybe only available in the UK!)

[QRM]

When in doubt in Singapore, hit Mark & Spencer's for UK comforts.

Actually I just came back from M&S at Wheelock Place and a bit pissed off with them, they have all these lovely boxes of chocolate, mince pies etc under a huge banner that says "Perfect for Xmas" I grabbed a trolley load, thought they will make perfect prezzies for the helpers etc only to discover the sell by dates expires tomorrow! When I complained the guy just shrugged and said its old stock.

[Brah]

When in doubt in Singapore, hit Mark & Spencer's for UK comforts.

Actually I just came back from M&S at Wheelock Place and a bit pissed off with them, they have all these lovely boxes of chocolate, mince pies etc under a huge banner that says "Perfect for Xmas" I grabbed a trolley load, thought they will make perfect prezzies for the helpers etc only to discover the sell by dates expires tomorrow! When I complained the guy just shrugged and said its old stock.

Wow that is really not on. In fact it's downright devious, and makes me not to ever want to shop there.

Bad enough they didn't know, worse they left the stuff out - if it is there past tomorrow that would be really bad.

[the lynx]

When in doubt in Singapore, hit Mark & Spencer's for UK comforts.

Actually I just came back from M&S at Wheelock Place and a bit pissed off with them, they have all these lovely boxes of chocolate, mince pies etc under a huge banner that says "Perfect for Xmas" I grabbed a trolley load, thought they will make perfect prezzies for the helpers etc only to discover the sell by dates expires tomorrow! When I complained the guy just shrugged and said its old stock.

[JR8]

When in doubt in Singapore, hit Mark & Spencer's for UK comforts.

Actually I just came back from M&S at Wheelock Place and a bit pissed off with them, they have all these lovely boxes of chocolate, mince pies etc under a huge banner that says "Perfect for Xmas" I grabbed a trolley load, thought they will make perfect prezzies for the helpers etc only to discover the sell by dates expires tomorrow! When I complained the guy just shrugged and said its old stock.

'M+S hand rolled and flame-toasted organic Pyrenean wheat. Vigorously threshed against a posh nubile virgins bronzed and glistening thighs' [etc etc, in the usual style of M+s adverts]

I think there's a couple of things at play here. Firstly M+S do tend to put very short 'Best before' dates on their products. This is because they tend to use less additives (preservatives etc) and hence their products do degrade faster than alternatives. This might be as trivial as a little discolouration. So in those terms M+S's 'BB' indicates when to consume something in the best possible intended condition. I remember when I first realised this, read up a bit about it and came to accept that just because say a ready meal is two days beyond it's BB does not mean you have to throw it away.

If a product also shows 'Use by', then that's perhaps another matter. That might be more of a statutory matter, but I'm not sure. Some of the dates are just silly. The longest possible 'Use by' date is two years, and that is what you'll see on bottles of water. I mean... <squint> what precisely is going to suddenly happen to it after that date? [The Communion wafers in the Vatican have EU 'Use by' dates on them too ... but hang on, is not the 'Body of Christ' immortal? hehehe...]

So the dates can be quite arbitrary and some of them are ridiculous, and some of them are unnecessarily cautious. M+S are quite well known for running into this problem, and every year some tabloid or other will pick up a story. Imagine the Sun headline - 'Minced up elf n'safety: Xmas mince pies that expire a MONTH before Xmas!!!'. And indeed if you start shopping early enough for Xmas, and a lot of visitors to London go to M+S etc to do precisely this, this is a problem that you can face.

I'd e-mail M+S CS via their website. In the UK they would prostrate themselves before you that such an experience happened. Here of course customer service can be (relatively) rather lacking...


p.s. As it happens I found a packet of Jaffa Cakes in the fridge just last night that I'd never noticed before. I took one out and noticed a slight cocoa fat 'bloom' (the white residue) on the surface, but scoffed it down anyway. Fine. Then I thought, hang on, 'Where did those come from!?' On closer inspection they were bought in Europe and 'expired' four years ago!