Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

All,

My wife and I are moving to KL in January and are in the process of trying to decide what to leave in the UK and what to bring with us.

Could anyone tell us whether our Samsung LED TV and PS3 will work in Malaysia? I thought the TV should be fine as, I think, Malaysia and the UK use PAL. Not sure about the PS3 - don't really play games but use it for streaming and watching DVDs.

Also how do prices for small electrical items (kettle, toaster, blender etc) compare between the UK and Malaysia?

Many thanks in advance.

Nik

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Hi Nik, just to say welcome to BE. January a good time to be getting out of the UK, right? :D

Mmm don't really have any answers myself, as we moved all our stuff from Thailand to Malaysia. Someone should be along soon with some answers I reckon. All the best with your planning.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

AV stuff will work. Most electrical items I found not too dissimilar in price here but if you are shipping furniture etc I'd put them in.

Some things which are very expensive here compared to UK (and it's only a quick off the top of the head list, will give it some more thought):

• Quality shoes (Timberland, Clarks etc) - often double the price here
• Quality clothes
• Some OTC medicines - things like Settlers and brufen (sold in strips of 8 here for the same price you can get 100-200 in the UK).

I'll pop a couple of thoughts on other pricey stuff later. No big deal at the end of the day but, if you're coming out, may as well stock up.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Everything is 240v with 95% of the socket outlets being the 3 pin variety the same as the UK, so you will not even need an adapter.

To add to Atillas list comparing prices to UK:

Petrol = cheap
cars = expensive (especially foreign cars)
alcohol = dependant on the pubs/clubs you drink in the UK, mostly similar prices although cheaper than high end UK nightclubs
medical care = cheap compared to private health care in UK
food = going from very cheap & rising dependant on the type of food stall/restaurant you visit

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

a couple of things i'd bring out if I was doing it again....towels and bedlinen.
You can get cheap stuff out here but it's terrible quality, to get decent quality stuff costs a fortune.
TV's are quite cheap out here, so it wouldn't be high on my list to bring out, but it depends how much stuff you are shipping.
Good luck with the packing!

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Yep, definitely towels. If you hit TK Maxx and grab two of the brands they regularly have, Hobbs and Christy, you will often get bath towels at £10 v £40-50 full price. Here you will pay a fortune for that quality. Most of the towels sold here are rubbish, thin, poorly made and fall apart quick :thumbdown:

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Well, when I arrived here I wasn't planning to stay so only bought my suitcase... events evolved and I did fine with just that. That said, you should bring some stuff and I'd have done it better.

You're TV etc etc will be fine, the system here is the same. As has been said, it's 240v on three pin plugs for the most part and that is how everywhere is fitted.

Small electrics are cheap enough, though you'll have to splash out for the quality. I bought an 'expensive' Phillips hotplate for 300RM and I'd advise you to do the same for certain items. Skip the local made 'Pensonic' brand, the quality is OKish but if you want heavy use then you'll want something from a 'brand'. That said their stuff isn't too bad but it's like anything, you get what you paid for.

I'll also agree with the other posters; it's hard to get some of the quality stuff here as it's mostly aimed for the very wealthy sections of society. Linen is a good one, though I got a decent enough IKEA bedset when I moved out. If you're fine with the stuff IKEA sells then don't bother. Clothes though are a definite, I tend not to buy many clothes out here and just bring an empty suitcase when I visit family.

It depends though, have you been given a container? Or is this stuff you're having to sort for yourself? If you have a container and have some decent furniture you want to bring then bring it as unless you're OK with IKEA then you're going to have to spend a bit more for stuff.

Enjoy the packing

Jack

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Some interesting points. Nik are you moving here permanently or just a short expat contract? Might have a bearing on what you might want go buy.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Hi all

Vaguely related to the linen point (v helpful - thanks!) what are the thoughts on duvets and mattresses? I'm moving out to KL in Feb and luckily can get some items shipped by the prospective employer, so we can get away with a few heavy / bulky items... but would a fairly heavy UK mattress most likely rot in Malayisan air conditions? Our duvet is only 10 tog though so perhaps ok, and I guess air con may make this a non-issue re both items...?

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

We use some air-con and our duvets seem to stay in good shape. You certainly won't need any heavy ones though. One thing we've found (and friends too have mentioned it) is that there's a variety of different sizes depending on where the duvets and covers are made. If you go look in a shop at King-size duvets, quite often find that different makes have different sizes.

We've been looking here for a lightweight duvet (already have the covers) and we've pretty much given up as cannot find the correct size "King size" for our covers :(

Dittoing Atilla's points, can probably find better towels and linen in the UK than here... and if you can find good quality here, it will cost.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Can't really say other than the fact that plenty of people use IKEA mattress etc and I've not heard of any problems. You're probably right that AC will negate this anyway.

You'll also get used to the heat, I sleep with just a fan and the windows open. Though I did spend 2 years in the sand pit....

Jack

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

Must admit i'm not that keen on AC and have not used it once here yet. I tend to prefer open windows, fans and a single sheet cover. Thin quilts I could never see and flat sheets also are somewhat harder to find here, 90% fitted.

Fragrances and some cosmetics stuff are pricey here too. And for the life of me I can't find electric razor shaving oil :( You may need to consider hobby related stuff here too. One of mine is photography. Cameras and lenses are generally cheaper (no VAT), filters and such like, same as UK RRP or Amazon before the 'You Save' is applied :thumbdown:

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

We've bought Slumberland mattresses here and they've been heavy and fine.
And recently we've bought a very hard King Koil mattress because I sometimes get back problems. This is also quite heavy.
Anyway we like hard mattresses.

We don't use aircon and have never had any problems with mattresses.
Just use mattress and pillow protectors.

Oh and when we were in the letting game one British couple specifically wanted Dunlopillo mattresses for some reason. They were very light and we didn't like them so ditched them when our next tenants came along.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

I recently bought quite a lot of good quality bedlinen at Robinsons dept store at the Gardens Mall Midvalley. They generally have around 50% sales three times a year (or more) making it much more affordable. Make sure you sign up for a Robinsons card as they offer great rebates and additional % off for members.

Re: Moving to KL: What to bring out from UK?
 

On a side note how does everyone get to Mid Valley without driving? I go past it on the LRT a fair few times but there is no way to get from the station to the place without dancing in the traffic. Taking a cab seems a bit of a waste when you can see it ;-)

Jack