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considering relocating to Singapore from US

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wherenow
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considering relocating to Singapore from US

Post by wherenow » Fri, 01 Sep 2006 1:47 pm

Hello all!

We're considering a possible relocation to SG from the US with 3 elementary/primary age children. As we are in the preliminary stages of this we don't have budget info, etc. My assumption at this point is that we would rent.

In no particular order here are some of my initial questions - any help is greatly appreciated. Are there areas where American expats 'commonly' live? How have you found the transition from US to International Schools for kids? any common issues? Does grade level normally translate well? Has anyone moved with pets? specifically cats? would you do so again? The real estate listings i browsed here didn't mention laundry facilities, are they in apts. in buildings? Also, what are wet and dry kitchens? I've not encountered that distinction before :? any bits of "if i only knew then what i know now" are also appreciated!

thanks for making it this far ;) i know the questions are a jumble....

where now?? :o

wherenow
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Post by wherenow » Sat, 09 Sep 2006 12:22 am

no help to be had? :(

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 09 Sep 2006 9:12 am

Wherenow,

Have you tried doing a search of the threads both in this Forum and also the other two forums entitled "Staying, Living in Singapore" and "Parenting, Family & Schools"? Almost, if not all of your questions will be answered and probably a lot more that you didn't think about yet but will eventually.

If you cannot find the answers in these three threads regarding the moving to Singapore then by all means ask and we will try to help. I think most have been covered several times over.

rgds,
sms
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

wherenow
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Post by wherenow » Sat, 09 Sep 2006 2:01 pm

yes, actually i had - and most of what i've found are from UK nationals, which won't neccesarily give me information relating to a US relo.

so much for this site as a resource.

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micknlea
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Post by micknlea » Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:36 pm

Hi, you're right Wherenow...most of the recent posts do seem to be UK orientated...a few months ago it was the opposite, perhaps it is the hiring system used by different companies in different countries, who knows?

I don' t have firsthand knowledge myself, but I have US friends who are very very happy with their kids schooling at the American School here in Singapore, in fact they do nothing but sing its praises. I must admit that I have heard nothing but good reports about them, and not sure if you are interested, but the Canadian school as well. :)
"My husband said it was him or the cat...I miss him sometimes." - Unknown

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:03 am

Schooling

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/guides-f ... chools.htm
http://www.sas.edu.sg/index.html
http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/
http://www.tts.edu.sg/
http://www.ofs.edu.sg/
http://www.cis.edu.sg/
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic25411.html
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic17892.html
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic13303.html
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic17923.html
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic25411.html


Living

Near the American School or Holland Village (Which is no longer convenient for the american school now that the new campus in Woodlands is operational). Your biggest consideration will be how long you want to travel to work everyday or how long you want your kids to travel to get to school. Most of these are already answered in the threads above garnered with the search function.

Cat import

http://www.ava.gov.sg/InformationForTra ... /BringPet/

Laundry facilities,

There are some in shopping centres but most homes have washing machines or at least a place to put one including water hookup and drainage. Most homes do not have hot water per se. We use primarily instant water heaters that only heat up as you use it. No storage type heaters like the US. Most kitchens do not have hot water at all. Most washing machines are either cold wash or have a heating coil built into the washing machine to heat the water. Normally white goods like washers and dryers you will have to furnish. The normal load is 5 to 7.5 kg (12-16 lbs). US style Laundramats are uncommon here although there a few but I don't really know where as I have always had my own washer & dryer. There are plenty of laundries but you leave your laundry and then pick it up later/next day/next week depending on what you pay for and how much you value you clothes.

Google is my friend........

By the way, for someone who is looking for information, your wise crack to my advice is not the way to garner positive responses. You did not indicate that you had tried to search the old threads and by looking at what I've found, I tend to think you did not look too hard. Nor did you check out the rest of the site which would have given you the names of the International Schools which would have allowed google to help you out as well. I was trying to do you a favor as nobody had responded to your initial post for a week. As far a most of the recent ones being by Brits coming over about the only thing that isn't relevant is the SAS and their site would have taken care of that as well as the feedback on these threads.

sms

NB: If nothing else, the traffic may generate more responses as nobody was going to do all your work for you which is probably why it went a week without a post! It helps when you let people know where you are coming from. Please don't take offense.........take advice.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

wherenow
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frustration and leaping to conclusions

Post by wherenow » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 8:59 am

my frustration is that I wasn't asking for lists of what was already out there to be 'fed' to me. I was asking for personal 'been there done that'.

Yes, i'm familiar with google. But the american school webpage, for example, won't tell you if anyone's experienced difficulty in placing kids in a particular grade because the requirements/expectations were different one place to another. and a UK native, no matter how good intentioned, won't have gone thru placing a child educated in the US into that school. (most likely)

I've read thru at least the last 15-20 pages (not threads) on each of the boards you suggested. Regards moving pets, i've not found a single thread with someone from the US relating their experience. The requirements (which i'd found myself already) vary hugely from what UK/Aussie/Kiwi natives can expect.

So, you see, I wasn't asking to be spoon fed as you leaped to conclude, but was looking for more specific, would only know if you'd done it already insights - the type of thing i 'thought' this board was for.

wn?

wherenow
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thanks, it's a start

Post by wherenow » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 9:04 am

thanks! do you happen to know what part of US they came from? like anywhere else i'd imagine, the schools can vary widely from place to place, public vs private and all the other assorted variations on the theme.

since you were kind enough to reply, and i take it are living in Sp now -- can you explain what a dry vs wet kitchen is? i've not seen that terms applied before - possibly a familiar thing with a diff name? along the lines of british biscuits vs. us cookies?

thanks again!

wn?
micknlea wrote:Hi, you're right Wherenow...most of the recent posts do seem to be UK orientated...a few months ago it was the opposite, perhaps it is the hiring system used by different companies in different countries, who knows?

I don' t have firsthand knowledge myself, but I have US friends who are very very happy with their kids schooling at the American School here in Singapore, in fact they do nothing but sing its praises. I must admit that I have heard nothing but good reports about them, and not sure if you are interested, but the Canadian school as well. :)

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Post by bobdog » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 3:28 pm

dry kitchen: for light cooking
wet kitchen: usually non-enclosed, suitable for heavy cooking involving greasy fumes etc.

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Re: thanks, it's a start

Post by micknlea » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 4:08 pm

wherenow wrote:thanks! do you happen to know what part of US they came from? like anywhere else i'd imagine, the schools can vary widely from place to place, public vs private and all the other assorted variations on the theme.

since you were kind enough to reply, and i take it are living in Sp now -- can you explain what a dry vs wet kitchen is? i've not seen that terms applied before - possibly a familiar thing with a diff name? along the lines of british biscuits vs. us cookies?

thanks again!
You know I don't know exactly where they come from some are definitely from New York, and some are California (SF) but the others I am not really sure. Sorry. They all say good things about the school, how it is run etc. As I said, I have only heard good things, and I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about it, which is usually what people talk about more!

Not 100% on the wet/dry kitchens except that a dry kitchen is more like one you would be used to in the US and a wet one is quite often outside and exposed to the air, it is normally used for wok cooking and the like. Sometimes also used as laundry. I am sure someone else may give you a better description.
"My husband said it was him or the cat...I miss him sometimes." - Unknown

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Post by Matney » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 4:53 pm

OK, I'll bite....
I hail from Missouri, but haven't lived there for 20 years, so I'm not sure how much i can help you. My children are born in Australia, but I wanted my children to get a good international experience, hence they are not at the American or Australian schools. If you think you may only be here for only a couple of years and wish to stay American, then by all means go to the American school.
Also you need to consider whether there are spots available for your children, don't assume they will automatically get a spot. I tried several schools, and found they could take one child but not the other. I haven't heard of any 'bad' schools here in Singapore, just some are better than others for various reasons.
Valid points have been made, distance from school to work to home.
I know you are wanting to find out as much information as you can to help with your decision, but the more information you can give out to others, the more we can help you.
SMS may be having a bad day, he isn't 'rude' all the time. :wink:

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!

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 5:17 pm

Matney wrote: I know you are wanting to find out as much information as you can to help with your decision, but the more information you can give out to others, the more we can help you.
SMS may be having a bad day, he isn't 'rude' all the time. :wink:
Excuse me? :?
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by Matney » Sun, 10 Sep 2006 6:05 pm

SMS, I didn't mean any offense. I just thought you first came off a bit strong for this poor, helpless American, some seem to think that everything should be given to them on a silver platter without much effort. I'm sorry. :(

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Re: frustration and leaping to conclusions

Post by earthfriendly » Wed, 13 Sep 2006 4:42 am

wherenow wrote: I've read thru at least the last 15-20 pages (not threads) on each of the boards you suggested. Regards moving pets, i've not found a single thread with someone from the US relating their experience. The requirements (which i'd found myself already) vary hugely from what UK/Aussie/Kiwi natives can expect.
My girlfriend once had to bring her cat back to SG while vacationing there. She flew out of San Francisco airport. I remembered she needed to get all the shots/immunization updated. While in SG, cat was quarantined for days. I will inquire about this on our next round of phone chit-chat. You can try contacting your airline regarding the regulations.

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