I've decided, though, that to first open the local Singapore account I'll get a "foreign draft" from my bank -- just found out Wells Fargo can do it, costs US$35, and it will be in Sing. $ drawn on an OCBC account that WF has. I had been told in the past that this was not possible, but I called around and finally found a branch manager who was knowledgeable about international stuff (at their International Branch - apparently they have special branches that carry a lot of foreign currency and can do foreign drafts. Otherwise WF is really more of a neighborhood bank).
Again, not all bankers are created equally. In some instances what one knows the other 99 don't...
