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What to bring when moving to Singapore from the US

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boffenl
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Post by boffenl » Fri, 14 Oct 2011 1:53 pm

Not sure what the marshmallow treats with raspberry jam and covered in chocolate are, but they'd be on my list. :) Hope you had a good visit!

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Post by zzm9980 » Fri, 14 Oct 2011 9:50 pm

I'm headed back for 2 weeks on Sunday, and my shopping list is Baby Formula (the wife insists the same Enfamil stuff in the US is better... sigh), the disposable electric tooth brushes from Oral-B, and as many of the single-serving Ghirradelli chocolate squares I can buy. Target and Costco usually have them cheap. everyone in the office loves them.

Plus, a few things from Amazon that would be cost prohibitive to ship here. Camera tripod, etc.

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Post by SwissMissMama » Fri, 22 Jun 2012 3:18 pm

Is brown sugar available in SG? The moist kind that you use in many US-based cookie recipes?

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Post by nakatago » Fri, 22 Jun 2012 3:22 pm

SwissMissMama wrote:Is brown sugar available in SG? The moist kind that you use in many US-based cookie recipes?
Yup. Muscovado too.
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Post by Eternelle » Fri, 22 Jun 2012 6:01 pm

Great thread, thanks so much. I was asking these same questions on my blog this week, but from a European perspective (based in France currently).

http://mylifeinsin.blogspot.fr/2012/06/ ... leave.html

I had found a few blogs that were useful explaining what to bring.

I mostly think I shall be popping across the border to get De Cecco pasta and buy up all the Lindt chocolate I can find (though it would melt I think :( )

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Re: Makeup

Post by zzm9980 » Sat, 23 Jun 2012 8:28 pm

poodlek wrote:Not Bath and Body works that I've noticed but many similar places like Crabtree & Evelyn, Body Shop and other American brands. Yes they are expensive, but I wouldn't say they're so expensive that you'd want to ship over a bunch of stuff from the USA unless you're actually trying to fill up extra space in a container.
I was recently tasked by the managing director of the household to obtain some 'stuff' that only the only place in Singapore to get is Sephora. Random facial moisturizers and stuff. US $20 on Amazon for 3.4oz vs S$85 for 1.7oz at Sephora at ion. After conversion, that's still ~6x as much. So I would suggest if you have any high-end skin care/beauty preferences, stock up on those.

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Post by tjdwls85 » Sun, 24 Jun 2012 4:16 pm

I would recommend to bring in some flu medicine such as dayquil and nightquil etc., because the Panadol in Singapore doesn't really help if you are used to stronger dosages that are available in the U.S.

If you have sleeping problems you may also bring some sleeping pills because you won't be able to get any unless you see a doctor.

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Post by poodlek » Sun, 24 Jun 2012 5:15 pm

tjdwls85 wrote:I would recommend to bring in some flu medicine such as dayquil and nightquil etc., because the Panadol in Singapore doesn't really help if you are used to stronger dosages that are available in the U.S.

If you have sleeping problems you may also bring some sleeping pills because you won't be able to get any unless you see a doctor.

Errr... you might want to check whether/how much is allowed to bring in before you try importing narcotics.

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Post by uscate » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 4:53 am

This is a question about catnip....we're planning to bring 20+ cat scratch pads when we move....these are all pre-packaged with a little plastic bag of catnip. This looks like marijuana (and kind of is, for cats). The catnip is clearly identified as a part of the package. OK - this probably sounds ridiculous, but has anyone had problems with bringing in catnip? Or should I just open each package and removed the offending herb??

My partner is embarrassed by this question - he's glad I'm anonymous, because he thinks I sound like a crazy cat lady (jury is out on that one).

Thank you for your replies....

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Post by poodlek » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 9:31 am

uscate wrote:This is a question about catnip....we're planning to bring 20+ cat scratch pads when we move....these are all pre-packaged with a little plastic bag of catnip. This looks like marijuana (and kind of is, for cats). The catnip is clearly identified as a part of the package. OK - this probably sounds ridiculous, but has anyone had problems with bringing in catnip? Or should I just open each package and removed the offending herb??

My partner is embarrassed by this question - he's glad I'm anonymous, because he thinks I sound like a crazy cat lady (jury is out on that one).

Thank you for your replies....
I don't really know the answer to this, but they sell these at Daiso (the $2 store), so it wouldn't be a high priority item for me to pack.

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Post by uscate » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 9:58 am

Hi Poodlek -

Thank you for your quick response!! I tried Googling Daiso, but didn't see anything too close, so I'm not sure if this is a "fell off the truck" kind of item. In any case, I'll probably be bringing at least a few cardboard scratch pads with the built in catnip for the "just in case I can't find any substitutes and don't want my furniture to be destroyed" eventuality. Thankfully my shipping (at least for the first time around) is free to me....Any commentary on the catnip piece of the puzzle is greatly appreciated.

Thank you -

Cate

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Post by zzm9980 » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:58 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daiso

Daiso is a Japanese chain all over Asia. They have a few locations on the west coast of the US also.

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Post by uscate » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 7:07 pm

Sorry - I wasn't clear....I found the store Daiso, just couldn't find reference to the specific product being sold at the store....but good to know there's a place like that around....

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Post by zzm9980 » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 7:42 pm

uscate wrote:Sorry - I wasn't clear....I found the store Daiso, just couldn't find reference to the specific product being sold at the store....but good to know there's a place like that around....
You'll probably just going to have to go in and look. You'll find that even the chain stores you've visited that have locations here won't stock the same items. Online shopping is very 1999-ish still in Singapore. The few places that offer it generally don't sell everything they have available via their website.

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Post by beppi » Mon, 25 Jun 2012 8:20 pm

I brought one of these catnip-filled cloth bags for my cat to play from USA many years ago. My cat wasn't at all interested, but the weevils and other creepy crawlies loved it. Since I didn't love them, it ended in the garbage pretty quickly.
The same happened with lavender satchets meant to freshen the air in our wardrobe. After the insects finished eating the lavender, they continued with the satchets, then my T-shirts. Not nice!

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