What to pack....?

[Libby1971]

I had heard that the detail becomes crucial in Singapore. What London will let you get away with, because you have a UK passport, Singapore won't. And of course then you get hit with charges you weren't expecting etc.

I had also heard that Singapore Airlines have changed their requirements and unless it says on the visa stamp in your passport indef leave granted etc then you won't get the extra. Maybe they have been stung a few times eh?

We took a plastic folder with all our documents in. I didn't want to take the chance it got lost.

In hand luggage, we had 2 changes of underwear, 2 pairs of socks and 2 tshirts each plus toiletries. Once rolled up, it took up hardly any space in the bags. We booked 2 rooms at the Changi Hotel at Sinagpore Airport which costs about £20-ish and which had a big double bed, ensuite, TV, phone, tea/ coffee making facilities and was a great place to stretch out properly and have a bit of privacy. If you aren't doing a stopover I would recommend that. Or the new Crown Plaza hotel which opens this summer. Both are inside the airport.

For suitcases, I would pack an umbrella, and lots of layers. I would also wear anything a bit bulky which although awkward to carry is much easier than having to heave it around in a suitcase taking up valuable space.

We did bring bedding with us-what a waste of time that was! We had to go to buy duvets and pillows anyway on our first day here and could quite easily have bought something there. We did the cheap OAA route and that I would change if I had to go back and do it again.
And although Guzzler is quite right in his list :p, he did miss Tuna Pasta Bake Sauce mix, which is quite frankly essential!

Libby

[Libby1971]

Oh I forgot to say, watch the weight of your suitcases.

We bought one of those large expanding suitcases which was labelled as Heavy Item at Heathrow.

When we got it off the baggage rail thing in Adelaide, Bob had to really heave it in order to get it off the conveyor belt. He ended up breaking his ribs! Which was not funny in the first few days. He tried to cover it up though because he didn't want me lifting it and hurting myself so ended up scaring me to death when he went every colour you think of as he grabbed the suitcases.

Libby

[graandjac]

...."permitted to remain in Australia indefinitely" think your right Libby they wern't intrested in any other paperwork (still taking it just in case) , but also going to leave our cases in transit so they only get checked in once as we are only stopping over for 5 hours . Shippers in tomorrow and our container leaves on sunday....nearly there.

Cheers Gra & Jac

[cormcvcr]

Hi guys,

we are on a temp visa, the company we booked our flights through advised us that we could get the extra baggage allowance, but we stayed at the airport hotel the night before we were due to leave, so the afternoon before, we asked at the check-in desk about our baggage allowance and were told that instead of 40kg we were only allowed 20kg each because it was a temp visa!

We have an extra 4 cases and were going to be charged 35 pounds per kilo over, which was totalling 2100 pounds with the airline, our shipping company were based near the airport and we shuttled our bags to them, they arrived 2 days after we did at a cost of 450 pounds.

So my advice be careful and make sure you have the details in writing about the extra baggage allowance or it can make a rough start to your journey.

We also packed our cases first and basically lived out of them for a couple of weeks, everything else went with the shipping company, we have been here 5 weeks now and our container arrives in the next 2.5 weeks. I'm starting to miss the excess clothes and nik naks now as I feel we are wearing the same stuff over and over again, most of the things I put in my case were casual and want my nice stuff now!!!!!

[jojo]

hi there

i packed all my important documents in a folder in my hand lugage.
as for towels etc and bedding as Libby said you can get them cheap over here in ikea etc. in your container pack as much Next and Deb clothes as you can, and then i can buy them off you lolonly joking.

we arrived in January (summer) but our container left november so we had all our winter clothes as well as our summer clothes in our suitcases and Quantas allowed us 23 kg each (on a permanent visa) so i was going around all the suitcase shops to find the lightest ones so i could get extra weight in clothes in them. i also packed lots of clothes into our container, stuff that i could do without for a few months although i wish i had packed more boots and shoes etc and all our dressing gowns. we gave so much away.
wear your coats and fleeces as you can always take them off and it does get cold on the plane.
we managed to get little bottles of tolietries from Boots or Superdrug to use at the airport in Singapore, but we only had an half hour stop over, so it was freshen up quickly before we were back on the plane.
Also to add what Guzzler and Libby said, also need Jammie doggers, and old el paso Fajita mix for chicken ( they are a must:))

take care Jo x:v_SPIN: