What to bring over...?

[London2010]

Hi,

I am hopefully making the move from London to Singapore in January and was just looking for a few tips re what to bring over/what is better to buy there..

The main thing being a television - it's relatively new and so I would like to ship it over but before doing that need to find out a) is it worth it and b) will it work in SG?

Are there any other household items anyone recommends we ship over rather than buy there?

Many thanks

[durain]

yes your tv will work. you dont really need to bring any other stuff to singapore as you can get it all here.

[Barnsley]

Hi,

I am hopefully making the move from London to Singapore in January and was just looking for a few tips re what to bring over/what is better to buy there..

The main thing being a television - it's relatively new and so I would like to ship it over but before doing that need to find out a) is it worth it and b) will it work in SG?

Are there any other household items anyone recommends we ship over rather than buy there?

Many thanks

Mushy Peas and Walkers crisps

[Chey10]

Hi if you are going to rent an apartment fully furnished
you do not even need to bring anything over.

[manutdfan]

Hi,

I am hopefully making the move from London to Singapore in January and was just looking for a few tips re what to bring over/what is better to buy there..

The main thing being a television - it's relatively new and so I would like to ship it over but before doing that need to find out a) is it worth it and b) will it work in SG?

Are there any other household items anyone recommends we ship over rather than buy there?

Many thanks

It'd have to be a bloody good TV...

We had a 36 inch Panasonic flat screen with FreeSat / FreeView built in which we ended up selling after less than a year - making a total "loss" of at least a couple of hundred quid if I recall correctly.

On the other hand, those built in features would be useless here, and we were able to get a 42 inch Panasonic Flatscreen for what we got for selling the TV, and that saved us the hassle of having to ship the thing (which won't be cheap - you could be talking more than the difference in what we paid and sold it for, and it would take several weeks to make the trip).

[BigSis]

Our UK TV didn't work here but it was because it was an old one. I just spoke to my husband who reckons yours would work if it's new (we got picture but no sound which was something to do with the PAL apparently!)

But what to bring depends on who's paying for the shipment I suppose. If it is being paid for by the company then I'd be tempted to bring quite a bit of stuff to save buying it here if I were you - things aren't as cheap here as they once seemed to be (the exchange rate with the pound is pretty rubbish now).

Clothes too - go shopping for summer clothes in the sales and stock up. There are loads of clothes shops here but they're either more expensive than you'd pay elsewhere (especially in the international stores) or they're cheap rubbish with man-made fibres which make you sweat. Get swimming stuff too - condos with pools and easy access to beach holidays means that it won't be long before swimming stuff you buy wears out with the salt water/chlorine/sand. UK summer sales are great for all that kind of stuff.

[KindClare]

We have an oven here (quite rare) but no grill pan. If you think you will have an oven, bring a grill pan. If you don't think your place will have an oven, and you like grilled food, bring a George Foreman or something similar. They are hard to find here and expensive when you do find them.

Things (electronics) are more expensive here than UK in my opinion, but possibly that is because when you are new (like me) you don't know where to go to find things cheaper. The other thing to consider is getting everything home - if you don't have a car, it can be tough to get all your appliances and carry them home. Obviously many places do deliver but these are generally more expensive places in my experience.

In retrospect, I wished we had brought more with us - would have saved us the time and effort of finding everything here and re-buying. We had our shipment paid by company though so maybe I'm just full of rubbish! lol.

[kekada]

I was in a similar situation when I moved here last month.
I don't think it makes a lot of sense to move the TV with u. It's bulky, risky and not worth it.

If you are coming here for long then try to sell it to someone.

[Chris 525]

If your telly has got a HDMI, SCART or AV input, then it will connect to the Starhub or MIO box.

If you want any decent telly, then a Starhub set-top-box is a must, you can get BBC and Granada, and even watch old episodes of Corrie

I indicated somewhere else on this forum that one shoud try and sell one's non-portable electrical items and only bring the portable ones like cameras, notebooks, MP3, etc..

When I moved here many years back, I brought over my electrical items, and as they broke down one by one, the local vendors were unable to effect any repairs because they would not support that model in Singapore.

Note that the telephone connector is also not like BT's, but it is possible to buy an adaptor from Sim Lim Tower that will interface a BT connector to the American-Type 4-way telephone connector. The telephonee companies here use the FCC type connectors.

[Strong Eagle]

If your telly has got a HDMI, SCART or AV input, then it will connect to the Starhub or MIO box.

The yellow AV plug is nothing but the TV signal without the carrier frequency, so you need a PAL TV to connect to the Starhub box. If you get the HD box, then HDMI is the way to go.

[JR8]

Bring at least one complete outfit of winter clothing, for if you need to visit anywhere during winter. Finding cold-weather clothing is hard enough in SG, particularly if you're bigger than a dwarf.

I can't really think of anything else that I was not able to find locally, and really missed.

Good luck

[Calmday]

If your company is paying, bring everything that you need to be comfortable but remember that most apartments here are pretty small. A lot of the apartments that we looked at didn’t have room for a queen sized bed. A King is out of the question unless you have a very sweet allowance package.
A lot of bedrooms here are smaller than a closet would be in some homes. Most things in Singapore are expensive and they suc. Beds are too short and furniture is fugley. I can’t speak for the UK but TVs are at least twice as expensive here as they are in the US. BBQ grills are at least three times as expensive. If you are a larger person as I’m, clothes are nearly imposable to find.
Just a warning. Do NOT listen to those who tell you to just leave everything at home and buy all new stuff in Singapore. If you are paying your own way it might be worth it to buy new stuff but it could go either way. Especially if you have to store it all while in Singapore.
I was lucky to have co-workers fallowing me over who also had full, unlimited shipments. I had them bring a lot of stuff that I had originally left behind.

[arbies]

An interesting thread that I'd like to reinvigorate so that I end up with a comprehensive list of 'must haves' for living in Singapore. With this I can determine what I should pack & bring over with me for my 3 year stay in a house with garden. My container space is limited to 10m - so I need to carefully consider what I bring with me.

I'm moving over in June and even though it's possible to buy everything I could possibly need I don't want to as I have to manage my finances very carefully.

My question is:

If you were moving to Singapore again, what items would you bring with you?

My list already looks like this:

Barbecue (this was top of my list!)
TV's & Alexa's plus all other electrical items (we are UK so no issues with plugs)
Kitchen gadgets (including the Baby George!)
Tableware & silverware
Towels & bedlinens
Bicycles
Garden furniture (rattan set & teak set)

What other things do you wish you had brought with you that would have made life a bit more 'comfortable'?

Just another thought - is there anything you took with you that you really didn't need/use?

Thanks for looking and here's hoping that you can help

[The Ref]

I would hesitate to bring all the outdoor furniture, TV, etc if you are only here 3 years.
There is a good chance you will live in a condo so make sure you really have decided for a house and garden (they are expensive to rent and costly to maintain) unless paid for by your company. Same with beds etc, most people just buy Ikea and get rid of them when they leave - assuming you are not in a furnished place. You may end up shipping those things over just to store them.

Also: bring the BBQ and any "unusual" items like the George Foreman Grill but leave the rest. You can get a very passable 40+ inch tv for $500, toasters and irons are probably worth bringing.

Bikes I would bring but treat them as a one way item. Cheap bikes and really expensive bikes (Pinarello etc) are cheaper here, mid level bikes (eg. Giant) are slightly more expensive. with the humidity they will get some slight rust - unless full carbon/aluminium.

If you are moving in 6 months you can easily get a good idea of prices and places to live with a simple google search - just remember the owners always list a higher price for those suckers straight off the plane.

[arbies]

Great - thanks for the reply. Is there anything from home that you really wish you'd brought with you to help you settle in?