This week has seen everything ramp up a gear in terms of getting ready for the BIG MOVE to Singapore. I think it’s really hit both the boy and I how quickly time seems to be flying by, and now we have just over 3 weeks before we leave on a jetplane (I am resisting the urge to sing this a lot a la Armageddon!).
We had our medicals this week which involved me having to go to a very swanky health centre on Finsbury Circus. NHS it was not! I have to say the doctor was very thorough and nice, despite me being so nervous about the whole thing that my pulse was racing so much she had to take my blood pressure 5 times before it was remotely normal! I then had to go and have some more travel vaccinations – Typhoid, Hep A&B, Diptheria, Polio, Tetanus, and Rabies! Two injections in each arm, plus a blood test, left me looking a little bit like a pin cushion. But on the plus side, I now know exactly what injections I’ve had, seeing as my doctors only seem to have records of my childhood immunisations this is rather helpful. I will have to put that little booklet in a SAFE place (rather than my usual and questionable filing method i.e. non-existant).
We also had a meeting with a tax consultant to go through our personal circumstances and work out what the tax implications of our move would be. I think this is the first time I have been truly grateful for having worked for an accountants, as it meant I was able to follow most of what he said. Essentially, we should both qualify as Singapore tax residents which is a good thing.
I’ve also been speaking to some shipping companies to get a quote together for moving all our stuff out. They’ve actually been really helpful, and I have two surveyors coming next week to have a look at the house. Thankfully, we rent a furnished flat so most of the things we take will be kitchen stuff and personal effects. The best thing for me is that you don’t have to pack anything yourself – in fact, you aren’t allowed! Because of customs and smuggling stuff, we aren’t allowed to pack anything that goes into a container; they do it all for you! AMAZING. They also give you advice on what you can and can’t take into the country. DVDs are a bit of an issue because of all the censorship – the boy has been trying to find a list of banned DVDs on the internet, and was very upset to find one list that has Wild Things on it as a banned DVD – tee hee! So this weekend, we are going to try to go through our stuff and think about what we want to take, what we want to put in storage, and what needs to be chucked/donated etc.
