Long trousers and bedding ...

[On our way from UK]

We are packing up to relocate soon and would be grateful if you could share your thoughts on the following ...

How likely are we to need long sleeves/trousers for our young children?! I am assuming that they will be living in shorts and t-shirts and plan to give the rest away to friends.

What type of bedding do people tend to sleep under?  Are duvets completely out of the question?

[expat]

Well, since you are likely to be going on trips to the zoo or the nature walks it is definitely advisable to bring long-sleeved  cotton shirts and lightweight cotton trousers (denims are too heavy and hot): it cuts down on mosquito bites and when you first arrive you will really  notice it! Also mossies go for dark colours so where light colours where possible. Also the air-conditioning can be very cold in some places like restaurants and cinemas, and sometimes it is nice to wear trousers and long-sleeved shirts during the monsoon season (now) as it does get a little cool at times. Don't forget you will almost certainly be travelling around to other places in the region which will mean that they will need sweatshirts etc. for the journey or even a different climate. Best to bring larger sizes if you can get them.

As for duvets, then unless you have the really thin ones (which you can get in IKEA in Sing)then a good alternative is to get the very lightweight patchwork quilts (bedspreads really) from Pennsylvania House in Tanglin Mall or at Stamford Road. Also in Lim's in Holland village Shopping Centre but I find they're more expensive there. Just put them on top of your sheets. However, my teenage daughter puts the air-con onto its coldest setting all night and has a goose-down duvet which she loves to wrap herself in...her bedroom feels extremely cold in the mornings but then again the air-con is v.cold at her school so she is used to it.    

[AliB]

I agree that it is advisable to bring some long trousers and long sleeve shirts as you could be travelling to cooler places.

Re bedding - I only brought light weight cotton type blankets with me and we have hardly used them.  We sleep under sheets, even the kids who do tend to sleep with aircon only use the blankets occasionally.

Beats me why I can't buy flat sheets for love nor money in Singapore - all I can find are fitted sheets and duvet covers!  It is one of those great myseteries of Singapore life  

[Caroline]

I have been known to take an overcoat plus blanket to movies in Singapore brrrrr

[New Arrival]

As for bedding - mine is being sent home soon. We don't use blankets unless very lightweight, and only because of the aircon. Do remember the aircon in the shops, public places, schools. You do often need something to keep you warm. My children wear long pants and sweatshirts to school because the aircon is so cold! Definitely cotton fabric-think hot and humid! Good luck.

[expat]

For some strange reason, our family and just about everyone I know seemed to be getting *lots* of mosquito bites during the first few months of arrival, then after that got bitten less frequently. Maybe it takes a while for one's body to become acclimatised to them, they don't seem to bite the locals much, and I guess one's body gives off some sort of pheromone (sp?) to deter them eventually.   They always seem to be more prevalent within a few days of heavy rainstorms - as of course they breed in water. You can get fined for having plant pots or any container in your garden or balcony which might contain water - the Ministry of Environment go around checking - as they don't want dengue fever to spread (although this seems to happen more around construction sites - something to take into account when hunting for somewhere to live). Just remember to take cans or bottles of mossie repellent,"Off" is good -  esp containing "Deet" on your outings, mossies tend to come out from dusk and in 'green' areas where there are lots of shrubs and trees. It is best to wear light coloured clothes as they like dark colours.    

[Boston Family Sing. bound]

We've been here a month and I have yet to see a mosquito.  They usually love me.  We lived in a serviced apartment in Orchard for a couple of weeks. We visted sites in several different areas of the island, the zoo, night safari, bird park, reptile park, china town and now live in a bungalow out in the Woodlands and have windows open all the time.  I was told by a neighbor that when they lived at a condo north of Orchard area they were eaten alive and had a couple of people there get Dengue Fever. It may vary depending on where you live.

[mossies]

Think it very much depends where you live as to whether you get bothered by mossies. We lived on the west coast facing the sea for the first few years, with an onshore breeze most of the year, and had no trouble at all. (It also meant we could sleep windows open under a sheet)  We're now in the city on a high floor, and again no problem with mossies. We now sleep with aircon and just a sheet.
If you're on lower floors, near vegetation/freshwater (or at least, not the sea), you may see more, but rarely hear of anyone having serious problems with them. There was a localised outbreak of dengue last year(?) but again, rarely hear of it.  

By the way, the duvets we brought with us were ruined by the humidity/mold when we dug them out of the spare closet they'd been stored in. So if you do bring them and decide not to use, I'd get them vacuum packed for storage.

[Liya]

Just curious after reading the last post, don't the Singapore's condos have screen door on the windows , so the windows can stay open without the bothering mosquitos ?

[screenless]

I have yet to see a screen in Singapore. Not that it wouldn't be a good idea. Mostly, the windows have grills in front of them ( to keep out the bad guys??) I don't have probs with mosquitos except immediately after a rain- and then they're gone after the first rays of sun.

still- any screen makers out there would make a fortune at MY house!

[smurfette]

I brought doonas with us which are too hot to sleep under even with air-con.  They are gathering dust/mould in the cupboard.  Where can you get them vacuum packed?  Would like to know.  We now use woven cotten blankets.

[evehow]

Screenless - you should give ENV a call if you suspect that mosquitoes are breeding around your residence.  They're quite serious abt mosquitoes due to dengue fever and malaria.

Yes, in general, no problems with mosquitoes but depends on where you'll be staying.  I notice that residences with their own grounds (i.e. garden) tend to have more mosquitoes... more breeding grounds I suppose.

Screen doors & windows - common in Malaysia but not in Singapore.  Sorry I can't recommend a place but I do recall seeing this TV advert for this "peelable" screen which you can attach to your windows??

[Caroline]

Most condos get sprayed once a week - i.e. mozzies are anhilated with fog of ? diesel ?

I was fined $200 by ministry of environment when a pot plant accumulated  some water (for mozzie breeding)

Haven't seen a mozzie at home once and we live on ground level.

Have seen the occassional cockroach...

[AliB]

Smurfette

You can buy those vacuum bags you see advertised (ad nauseam) on the TV at the TV Innovations shop in Centrepoint.  I use them for our sleeping bags and winter clothes and they take up so little room