Anything we should bring out from UK?

imparanoic · 22-06-2009, 04:32 PM

can you get some mud from glastonbury festival and maybe a susan boyle cd (well, maybe not the last item), only joking.

maybe some of those really nice sauage, cheese and bean melt pastie from greggs (breakfast in a pastie!!)

Katiedot · 22-06-2009, 10:59 PM

I saw Branston pickle for sale in Olivers the other day and was outraged at the price! Marmite is not cheap either. A friend of mine swears that the Dairy Milk out here is not British and tastes wrong. If you like to cook then bring a full pack of your favourite herbs and spices. Pack a small supply of favourite beauty products, toiletries, hair dye etc to tide you over. If you have regular medication, bring plenty of it with you - it may take you time to register with a new doctor and you may be so busy with the move that you just don't find time to get prescriptions etc renewed.

Is this the first time you've moved abroad? If so, my advice is to pack a little bit of home comfort with you in your luggage (not just the stuff you're having shipped over). You can find just about everything you need here in Hong Kong, but it takes time to find stuff and sometimes you'll baulk at the prices charged.

I know it sounds crazy, but a few days after you get here, a wave of exhaustion coupled with the beginnings of culture shock will hit and you'll want something easy and familiar near to hand. For me it's tea and jaffa cakes (try explaining to a bemused customs officer at HK airport why you have a teapot and teabags in your handluggage . . . !). It may be something as dumb as crumpets and marmite or baked beans on toast or a favourite book, music, comfy pullover or whatever.

As I say, you can get these things (well, maybe not the pullover) here but you'll get hit by these moments where everything seems just too much and there's no way you'll feel up to getting out and shopping for Marks'n'spark's tea cakes or whatever. It will pass in hours or by the next day, but just for that moment it's good sometimes to have something comforting to hand to tide you over until you're fully settled in.

Beanieskis · 22-06-2009, 11:31 PM

Thanks for your note!

Do we really need to bring herbs and spices, surely these are cheap and in abundance in HK? I can understand the marmite!

carang · 22-06-2009, 11:55 PM

spices are VERY expensive in hk... most of them are NOT used by locals... if you want 5spice powder, no problem.... if you want allspice or cayenne pepper, not so much.

as for branston pickle, why not just buy it at park'n'shop or wellcome?

things i ALWAYS bring from "home" (been here a LONG time)
1) deoderant
2) my favourite shampoo (not available here)
3) close up toothpaste
4) chocolate and snacks(salted sunflower seeds & beef jerky)

carang · 22-06-2009, 11:55 PM

ps> dairy milk here IS different... i think it comes from australia or malaysia, so could very easily be made to a different recipe.

Beanieskis · 23-06-2009, 12:10 AM

Yes dairy milk comes from Oz and it doesn't taste the same.

It would never have crossed my mind about spices, normally we stock up with these when on holiday rather than buy in the UK!

Deodorant - i assume this can be bought in HK, is it just different brands?

carang · 23-06-2009, 09:41 AM

different brands.

in 14+ years, i've tried EVERY brand here and NONE work as well as what i can get in canada. in the summer heat here, i NEED deoderant that works!

hullexile · 23-06-2009, 09:51 AM

Yes branston pickle is available in the normal supermarkets as is marmite. Cornish pasties are not nor are crumpets. Anyone seen tinned rhubarb around? I am fine with the deodorant and shampoo (but then I'm a man!). I am used to the chocolate but it is not the same taste. The choice of herbs and spices has improved in our local supermarket recently but yes it is not up to the range in Tesco or Sainsburys.