Moving to Singapore - Advice and Info needed please!

[BellaMummy]

My DH and two DDs (5 & 3) are moving to Singapore this year (DH in July and me a few months later after things are wrapped up in the UK), and although I've lived in Asia before that was pre-children, and many years ago.

Any practical advice from mnetters who have relocated would be fab. We are not planning on shipping very much (mostly personal things) but is there anything else you would advise we bring? Is it worth shipping our TV and other electrical appliances? Are there things you shipped that you wish you hadn't?

All advice gratefully received

X

Hi BellaMummy,

Just to say hi and we're going out in around 3 weeks. All very sudden - we spent 2 weeks at Easter with great friends who live there and decided to try to move out there (we've been there before too). So DH got a job within a month of coming back and now we're off! We're selling most things and travelling light. I have quotes for air freight and sea freight. Air being twice as expensive as you would expect. With sea freight they're quoting 6 to 12 weeks delivery so we figured it was worth starting afresh over there. We've not got anything of great value anyway. I have to say, it's very liberating!!

I went over 2 weeks ago to choose a school and came back here having also secured a condo. Very best of luck. Would be great to know another newbie over there!!

K

Welcome,
Same, we left most of our stuff behind as it wasntworth the cost of bringing it, and chances are that you're condo will be considerably smaller than your previous house!
Top tip, there is a place called Taylor Bee where you can get quite decent stuff rather at ok prices rather than just going to ikea!
Enjoy!

Don't bring thick duvets over but do bring some cold weather clothes if you're planning on visiting Australia or NZ in their winter.

Hi BellaMummy,

We're moving over too, between June-Aug (DH in late June, us to follow in Aug) and as it's not a 'forever' move we're shipping most of our stuff, but taking the chance to get rid of some bits too, v liberating as pupsie says.

Thanks for Taylor Bee tip, Mgnome. There'll be some furniture to get that we don't already have - patio stuff, a new sofa - so I'm scanning the forums for packing & shopping tips. Taking some winter stuff for possible snowy trips to NZ and also back to UK, but not much. And have been buying some humid-weather things for when I land; UK has been a bit sweaty these past few weeks which has helped us get in the swing of things.

There seem to be lots of us coming over, no shortage of newbies. Looking forward to getting stuck in, now... See you over there!

Thanks Ladies. Spent the Jubilee weekend (between the festivities and Pimms) clearing out. I'm partial to a good 'ol sort out at the best of times, so this move should be right up my alley!

Pupsie, your move is so soon now! I'm leaving the condo and school to my DH when he gets there. We are looking at the East and aiming for Chatsworth or Eton House, although Chatsworth currently have no places for Year 1. Hoping that may change, but prepared for possibly home schooling for a bit if need be (eek!). Where is your condo and what school have you gone for??

Thanks for the Taylor Bee tip Mgnome. We are planning on selling/giving away almost everything, but still toying with the idea of shipping some small bits of furniture and possibly the girls' bunk beds. Not sure if that is crazy or not, but we are going to get a quote and see. They haven't had them long and they LOVE them, so I thought it might ease the transition and be a little bit of home for them.

keep in touch ladies - any tips gratefully received!

S
x

I've got an appointment to see Taylor Bee on the Monday after we arrive!! I am selling so much stuff on eBay. It's so cathartic!!

Our condo is in River Valley so quite central as we're going to try to do without a car for a while at least. Plus we want to be near our friends. The boys are going to Stamford American. They are on the wait list for UWC too but I doubt I'd switch them once they've started. Depends how they settle in...

Good luck with it all! Am VERY exciting!!

Well, I am QUITE exciting. But obviously I meant to say excited. Really chasing my tail lol.

It's Taylor B btw, and another good place to look is expat auctions, furniture often as good as new. Photos of upcoming sales on their website. Great for outdoor furniture and Chinese antiquey items.
You arrive bang on for the GSS so lots of $$$ to be saved if you buy stuff off the floor.

I would recommend shipping bunk beds if your kids love them. Quality ones are hard to find and pricey.

Is Taylor B easy to find? I did a search and couldn't find it easily, then found a blog-story about, well, how hard it was to find... Can wait til I get out there, just excited!

loved living in Singapore, hope you all have a fab time there. I miss the food the most, oh and gold class, best cinemas in the world.

Taylor B is in a warehouse at 43 keppel road. Sofas and dinning sets are really good value. She ships containers in from china on a regular basis so there is always something new.

There are dozens of beautiful shops in Singapore and they all tend to stock up the same sort of furniture either modern minimalist teakwood or opulent colonial.all quite pricey.

You will find it all easily when you pick a copy of the expat magazine.
I will however recommend 2 more "secret" addresses that deliver real quality at fair prices
fairpriceantique to pick up one good piece - at a fair price really
It's mainly reclaimed traditional Chinese furniture With a twist of bright color.

Ann locket sells traditional pieces out of her beautiful black and white house at n.20 malcom road. Think colonial. Orchids and gorgeous little accessories at a good price.

In both these places, you can negotiate.

Happy shopping!

PS: for garden furniture, I would really recommend finding wholesalers in the kaki bukit industrial estate in Eunos. Same stuff as in designer shops, new, half price direct from the suppliers.

River Valley is just down the road from Orchard Road, the main shopping district so it is a fab location. And there is also Great World City, a shopping centre with air conditioned food court downstairs and a Cold Storage (tesco equivalent) and even an ELC in River Valley. When we were leaving there (almost 10 years ago now - wow, time flies!), cold storage started deliveries (like tesco do) and it was fab :)

Whoo, laptop, you know how to spoil a girl! Thank you, thank you, this is all great, v useful indeed. I heard TB was in a warehouse, just needed that confirming. Also need patio stuff so the gdn furniture place will be good.

We thought of River Valley, sounded great - pupsie I think you'll love it there. We've gone further west for school (Dover Court). Ended up getting a new condo in Holland V, right on Taman Warna, all clean white lines and glass and most unlike my usual more traditional taste but v swish and exciting - well, not often you do this kind of thing, right?

DH is half Malaysian and has a lot of SE Asian wicker and rattan pieces left to him by his mother - been reading on another board about transporting this sort of stuff because it seems Australian customs won't allow but think OK for Sing. Will be an eclectic look... :)

Holland V - very posh and a very expatriate community.
it's fab!

Thats a good condo and very convenient now with mrt.
You also have a great local wet market nearby in the gim moh estate.

Yes, saw the Ghim Moh estate; we were looking at Glentrees for a while and the markets/food stalls down there were a real pull. Heard the wet market in HV not so good but the local food courts are fine, is this the case?

Just realised how princess-ish I sounded in earlier post , just a tad overexcited. I am going to be AVeryLuckyGirl for a couple of years.

Hi Bella. Just my opinion, but if you're going to be living in the East, I recommend the Canadian international school. Eton House is OK (the name alone puts me off, but I know people who are happy with it), but Chatsworth is known as a bit of a second-rate holding area for people waiting to get their kids into UWC or Tanglin. A teacher friend here told me that it also has very low morale among the teachers, though that was three years ago. I was pretty underwhelmed when I visited it.

'there is also Great World City, a shopping centre with air conditioned food court downstairs and a Cold Storage (tesco equivalent)'
Jazal: things have moved on since then! Almost every mall has air con food court in the basement and Cold Storage (which I would say is more like Waitrose equivalent, Tesco equivalent is Giant or Fairprice)

Haha. Yes, that's Singapore for you. What I meant was closest to River Valley is Great World City if you are too lazy to track the 5/10 minutes down the road to Orchard Road.

Oh, and Marketplace at Tanglin Mall for all those groceries you miss about the UK and can't find it in the local supermarkets. although thinking about it if you are in holland v then it will probably have it. It's useful for those based more around the Orchard Road area.

Marketplace will do same day home delivery for you, which can be useful if you don't have a car.

There is a new website which offers English foods like wagon wheels and club biscuits. Expatfoodhall.com is the name and it does next day deliveries.

Brilliant! I can't even find wagon wheels over here so it'll be worth going just for that :)

Ha ha londonmoo, they were the first wagonwheels I had had in years and were utterly delicious. The DCs had heard of them (they are mentioned in Wild Child) but had never seen them. They were very impressed.

This is all very helpful! Am having a wobble today. My DH is going over at the end of July and I will be on my own with the girls for 3 months - packing up the house, selling/giving away loads of stuff, and deciding what to ship, while still working. Am a bit daunted at the prospect

The school issue is very confusing. We are paying ourselves, so we can't afford to put DD1 in a school and then move her given the fee you pay up-front. I hadn't even thought about Canadian International School - I am Australian/British, and DH is British, so didn't cross my mind to go for a North American curriculum - is that silly? Any other thoughts/opinions on Chatsworth or Eton House? To be honest, a lot will depend on a space being available. She is bright and very sociable so I don't relish the prospect of home-schooling her for any length of time.

Great tips on furniture etc. Thank you!

Ok, I've just had a look at CIS and realised they are an IB school. Will put them on the list for DH to go and see. They look a bit big and impersonal. My DD is at a small village school (only one class of each year level) in Reception right now, so I don't want her at a huge school. She would probably cope fine, but it's just me being an overprotective Mummy