Everyday items to bring from the US to Singapore

[malcontent]

Food portions are significantly smaller here. Whenever we go back to the US my wife and I are always sharing one portion and it’s plenty.

When I first arrived, I used to order two plates of chicken rice, just to feel full. Nowadays, I am satisfied with one plate, but I need to upsize… my standard order is breast meat, double the meat! When I eat out with my office mates, they always take notice of my generous serving of chicken… wah, you order extra issit?

Yes, it’s worth paying $6-7 for a decent sized plate, IMO.

[sundaymorningstaple]

You might even lose weight here too. Hubby lost 10kg within 2 months of moving here and he didn’t even intensify his exercise routine. He says the food here isn’t as sugary as the US. He has maintained his weight ever since and he moved here 2 years ago.

Wish I could say the same.....

[HogHollow]

Thanks for sharing that the eggs are sorted differently from what we have in the US.I guess they don't have the Grade A, AA, AAA type ratings either. As long as I can find organic eggs, I'm good to go.

Wow, your husband lost 10kg in his first 2 months living here? That's more than 20 lbs?! Maybe the humid climate made him lose a lot of water weight? I'm not looking to lose any weight as it is, and hopefully not any muscle mass!

[MOCHS]

He was a little overweight then and perspired a lot in the first few months here. Even a short 10 mins walk from the house to the train station would make him perspire heavily. My colleague has property agent friends and these friends said expats prefer to rent condos next door to the MRT because their shirts get soaked thanks to the weather if their walk is any longer than 5 mins.

Ever since he has acclimated to the weather he doesn’t perspire as easily any more. I recommend the Airism range from Uniqlo to help you keep cool in this weather.

Now he no longer has a tummy lol and is pretty fit too. We’ll wait and see what happens decades down the road.

He snacked a lot back home and since the snacks he liked isn’t readily available here, he didn’t snack as much as before which probably contributes to his weight loss.

[malcontent]

As long as I can find organic eggs, I'm good to go.

I think you might be in for some disappointment there. The idea of “organic” is more of a fledgling concept outside of the West, and I believe many retailers here see it more as an opportunity to sell a similar thing at a higher price to a few naive consumers, with little regard for the actual integrity of what the organic label is supposed to represent. Is anyone checking that integrity? I seriously doubt it because it’s not mainstream and most ordinary folks just don’t care about it.

How much of what they sell in the organic section is truly organic? Hmmm, it’s hard to put a number to it, but I wouldn’t bank on it unless it’s imported from the West.

Here are some eggs labeled organic…

https://fairprice.com.sg/product/13000171

What do you think? Real or not?

[Myasis Dragon]

"Organic" eggs? What'll they think of next? Organic chickens?

[malcontent]

TBH, I had to Google organic eggs to understand what that actually meant - apparently it’s all about what they are feeding the chicken before it lays the egg.

I don’t think Singapore has even defined what is allowed (in terms of being free of using chemical fertilizers, etc.) in order for sellers to claim it is organic.

Without any local certification methods/definitions/enforcement, I think the organic label can mean just about anything - hence why I believe it’s more of a racket here than anything else. The fact that the egg was laid by a “real chicken” in itself might be considered organic!

See first definition from vocabulary.com :

Organic describes things that are natural or related to nature. In common usage, organic is used to mean “healthful” or “close to nature.” It can also describe foods grown without artificial pesticides or fertilizers. In other uses, organic refers to living things or material that comes from living things.

[HogHollow]

He was a little overweight then and perspired a lot in the first few months here. Even a short 10 mins walk from the house to the train station would make him perspire heavily. My colleague has property agent friends and these friends said expats prefer to rent condos next door to the MRT because their shirts get soaked thanks to the weather if their walk is any longer than 5 mins.

Ever since he has acclimated to the weather he doesn’t perspire as easily any more. I recommend the Airism range from Uniqlo to help you keep cool in this weather.

Now he no longer has a tummy lol and is pretty fit too. We’ll wait and see what happens decades down the road.

He snacked a lot back home and since the snacks he liked isn’t readily available here, he didn’t snack as much as before which probably contributes to his weight loss.

I've definitely heard horror stories about the humidity here in Singapore, although being on the balcony of my hotel room in the last 2 weeks didn't feel too bad.

I've visited Florida a few times in Summer, so I was expecting that level of stickiness and bugs. But I'll definitely check out the Airism line of clothing. Thanks!

[HogHollow]

TBH, I had to Google organic eggs to understand what that actually meant - apparently it’s all about what they are feeding the chicken before it lays the egg.

I don’t think Singapore has even defined what is allowed (in terms of being free of using chemical fertilizers, etc.) in order for sellers to claim it is organic.

Without any local certification methods/definitions/enforcement, I think the organic label can mean just about anything - hence why I believe it’s more of a racket here than anything else. The fact that the egg was laid by a “real chicken” in itself might be considered organic!

See first definition from vocabulary.com :

Organic describes things that are natural or related to nature. In common usage, organic is used to mean “healthful” or “close to nature.” It can also describe foods grown without artificial pesticides or fertilizers. In other uses, organic refers to living things or material that comes from living things.

That's a bummer to hear that "organic" isn't a thing yet in Singapore. I'm only signed up to be in Singapore for 2 years, so I guess it won't be too much of an issue during my stint here.

I guess it'll be tough to find Vegan ice cream too? Better not push my luck...

[HogHollow]

"Organic" eggs? What'll they think of next? Organic chickens?

Yes, organic chicken meat is readily available in US grocery stores. That's probably where the organic eggs come from.

Although I've seen chicken breasts labeled as "natural" that were the size of turkey breasts...quite suspicious...there's also some ambiguity in the US about "natural" vs "organic" vs "non-GMO".

Guess there's no equivalent of a Whole Foods here in Singapore then. A business opportunity, maybe?

[MOCHS]

Sitting/standing on the balcony is different than being on the move. Once you start walking distances with sunshine beaming down on you, you might be reacting differently.

I’ve not seen vegan ice cream in the supermarket... Or maybe there are but I don’t shop in those supermarkets.

Most vegan ice cream I’ve seen come from mom-and-pop ice cream shops and are small local businesses.

You’ll find we have a lot of ice cream/dessert cafes here in SG which might not be common in the US.

[malcontent]

I think there are generally more vegetarian & vegan options in Singapore because of the high numbers of vegetarians/vegans in the Indian community here.

I won’t even eat vegetarian unless it’s Indian vegetarian - they know how to do it right. I don’t even miss having meat on my plate

[malcontent]

Guess there's no equivalent of a Whole Foods here in Singapore then. A business opportunity, maybe?

Very niche. You can search Google Maps and you’ll see many small stores that are specialized in one organic thing or another.

Whole Foods? I’d be surprised if we see that in my lifetime. There isn’t a large enough consumer base for that. You need to understand that even getting people here to do regular grocery shopping in a grocery store is a stretch too far. Normally, the only people you will see with full shopping carts buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff at the grocery store are Western folks.

The vast majority here, my wife included, buy the bulk of their groceries at the wet market. The priority here is fresh food, and you can’t get more fresh than at the wet market. They even call the act of going to buy groceries “marketing” - it is ingrained in the culture.

[HogHollow]

I just got back from my pre-check-out Covid test...man, they should call it a brain swab. I bet they got a few of my neurons on that swab, they went so deep...

Very interesting to read about wet markets. I'll have to find one somewhere close by to check out. I guess it's kind of like the traditional open air markets you sometimes find in Europe? Do they let you haggle for prices there too?

Good to know that Indian food is the best bet for good vegetarian cuisine here. I usually don't eat it much in America, but I'm sure they have more options for it here being it's Asia.

So the local population doesn't really cook? Is it because they work long hours, like how my colleagues in Japan complain about? It's hard to eat healthy if you don't cook yourself, since you know exactly what goes into the dish.

[MOCHS]

Wet markets aren’t really open air, they’re in a building in residential estates but there’s no AC so you might find it stuffy.

If you have built a rapport with the wet market stall owner, maybe you can haggle. That’s a huge maybe. Some of the owners may not speak English very well so I won’t encourage you to haggle. And if you’re Caucasian, be careful that they don’t jack up the prices because they think you’re rich... Look for clearly labelled price signs so you don’t get fleeced.

It’s called a wet market ‘cos the floors are usually wet since they hose down the floors at the end of the work day. And also from the ice that melts which are used to display the meats. And if they chop your raw meat into smaller pieces on the spot, they need to hose down their chopping board too. There are no livestock in the wet market, don’t worry. The law does not allow it.

The older generation of Singaporeans love the wet market and as for me, not so much because these stalls open before the Sun even rises and if you go down late, some of the good stuff are gone. The stalls typically close around noon. I did grow up following my mother to the wet market though. I prefer supermarket for the convenience since I can go get my groceries any time... Though some do a mix of getting fresh meat and veggies from the wet market and other essentials at the supermarket.

Well, if you work 8.30am to 6pm and by the time you reach home, it might be already almost 7pm and you’re not really in a mood to cook any more... You just want to shower, eat, and relax.

If the family is the traditional one where everyone must gather to have dinner, then maybe there will be home cooked food. That is if one stays with their parents and the parents are retired and have free time to cook. 3 generation families are common here.

If there is no time to cook, economical rice (rice with veggies and meat) from the hawker centre is the next option for a balanced meal. Just ask for no gravy and go for the dishes that aren’t fried so it’ll be somewhat “healthier”. Or you can order whatever is sold at the hawker centre. We live in close proximity to many food centres which is convenient. The takeaway (or ‘dapao’ as we call it) culture is strong.

A third option is catering for meals known as “tingkat”. There are plenty of companies that sell packages for lunch only, dinner only or both that can be delivered to your home on weekdays. They offer a lot of menus to choose from.

I eat out frequently (for years) and try not to indulge too often lol. My blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels are still in the normal range.