Things we should have brought to Singapore

There are quite a few things that I really wish I had brought to Singapore, I’m pretty sure the list will only grow, but hopefully it helps you with your packing:

• Patio Set

I could have bought half a dozen on these and sold them on for over three times the price in the UK.  Even the ‘cheap’ ones are expensive here.  If you have space in your shipment bring one.

• BBQ

Like patio furniture BBQs are very expensive here.  When we first visited Expat Auctions we saw a BBQ I could get in the UK for about £80-£100 at B&Q go for $800.  It was second hand.  We left our old BBQ in the UK thinking we could get a better one here.  You’d think that though, wouldn’t you?  Lots of people out in the warm weather barbequing steak with a drink in one hand and a pair on tongs in the other, sounds idyllic….but no.

• Brooms/Mops

There is a plethora or not very well made flimsy brooms and mops out there.  Nothing sturdy, just broom handles that break in two mid sweep.  For all the space they’ll take up bring your own.  It’s not that a good broom is expensive, I just can’t find any, and paying $10 for something to last a little while gets ‘expensive in its own way’ pretty quickly.

• Inexpensive Cotton T-Shirts

One thing I do miss about the UK is that I could get relatively cheap cotton t-shirts.  Another thing I miss is that I could get relatively inexpensive anything….but that’s another story.  When we’d go on holiday I would go to a supermarket, fill my trolley with holiday clothes and not care when they got too sandy or had ice cream spilt on them.  They were just a £10 t-shirt.  If I could get back to the UK to stock up again I would.

• Tablets

Without this sounding like I have no pain threshold I just want to say that the two packs of paracetamol I took with us are gone.  Pain relief/Cold and Flu etc is (guess what?) expensive compared to being able to get a pack of ibuprofen from Asda for 16p.  Stock up if you can.

• Food

Check out what you are able to bring and bring what you love best.  It will be undoubtedly more expensive here.  I never brought any food items at all thinking I wasn't allowed to.  I was wrong and I wish I took stuff with us.  Find out what you can bring, make sure your movers will take it (or that it can go in a suitcase) and take it with you.  Some things-like chocolate-are just not the same, and every so often you want a taste of home.