ScotsQuine

We were very fortunate to have free annual flights paid for by the ohs company, in 10 years we only used them once to go back to Scotland, and that was only because the FIL was very ill. We always felt that we would rather spend the time and money visiting other places and have an actual holiday.

Your 4 years for citizenship must include 1 year on PR, ie 3 years on 457 and your 4th year on PR to fulfill requirements.

My Mazda has the indicators on the righthand side while my hubby's ute is the opposite. Nothing to do with Australia, it's down to the make of vehicle. Lots of drivers in WA do not adhere to speed limits. Undertaking is very common here. You'll see lots of vehicles driving on the righthand lane even though they are not overtaking/turning right, they still don't move over to the left lane regardless of how many vehicles undertake them. Nope, 'Thank Yous' are few and far between. Some drivers lose the ability to drive as soon as they turn the ignition on Not sure how you can tell when another vehicle is or is not using cruise control?

There has been a Lion on the Scottish flag since the 12th century... http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Standard_of_Scotland

I'd say just relax, it's out of your hands now. Go ahead and make arrangements with their legal department to pay the outstanding debt, it's never too late to show good character.

We had to get a PCC from Singapore, and like Isreal, they don't hand it over to the person. They snail mailed it directly to the case officer who was dealing with our visa in Australia. We were given a letter from our case officer with a reference and address for the Singapore police to send it to.

Really depends on the person though Shellybingobingo, I've been wearing full length jeans for over 2 weeks during the day here in Perth, and I don't have to peel them off me lol I hate being cold, and yes it does get damn cold here! 2 degrees this morning outside and according to the barometer in our living area, it was 9 degrees inside this morning! Wood burner is lit already

I always say that home is where you lay your head at night lol

Friends of ours just returned after staying at the Swissotel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Rd, Singapore, 178882. The said it was really nice, they don't have kids so can't comment on facilities for them. It is a good central location, prices seem to be in the $230-$450 range. If you enter Singapore on a valid British/Australian passport you don't require a visa as long as your stay is less than one month. I've only stayed in one hotel there, it was way back in early 2005, so not sure of the condition, service today. And yes, we were billed in SGD. Anything you should know as a first time visitor? Yes. Be very very cautious in buying anything electrical from Sim Lim Square, they have a bad reputation for ripping off tourists. Not a good reflection on Singapore, the majority of stores are friendly and fair.

The consequences of committing a serious crime in a country that upholds the death penalty. Simple solution, don't do it!

Depending on how long you are staying for HH your best bet would be to go to an MRT (train) station and buy an Ezi-link card, you can then tap on and off the bus/train easier and cheaper. A cheaper way to visit the zoo is to jump on the MRT from Orchard area to Ang Mo Kio station (red line North/South), from there you'd get on the 138 bus to the zoo. Do you have smaller children HH? If so I'd recommend a trip to Wild Wild Wet at Pasir Ris. From Opposite Suntec City you could jump on the SBS number 10 bus to Tampines and stay on it until you get to the end of the line at the bus interchange. By doing so you'll get to see some other sights of Singapore because it'll take you off the beaten track through some of the heartlands. From the bus int it's an easy walk to Tampines mall where you could cheaply get a taxi for the quick ride to WWW. Tampines Mall and Tampnes 1 have some more local stores compared to Orchard Rd area. Id actually recommend that you have an adventure and jump on and off the regular buses (not the tour ones) for a different view of the island. You'll never get lost and may find some hidden gems Visit Chinatown and Little India by taking the MRT (North East Line purple line). You could visit Tanglin Mall, where you'll find lots of expats (Ang Moh) in there lol But it also holds one of my favorite places to eat in Singapore Komalas, it's on the bottom floor along with one of the more Expat supermarkets called Marketplace. Komalas is an Indian Vegetarian restaurant. Their Briyani Poori meals and Masala Dosai are brilliant!

Not sure about the FBI holding them, but I had my fingerprints taken when I passed my driving test in Texas!

We lived there for 5 years and loved it! Great food if you eat locally. Best advise I can give you is to ignore the table/chairs/floor if they look dirty, if there is a queue of locals at the counter, then you can guarantee the food is good. Locals will travel from one end of the island to the other to buy a $3 meal if it's good! We avoided the western food type places because they were usually a disappointment! Go to Newton Circus for great hawker food!

I wouldn't stress too much about it EW. We moved to the US when our kids were 5 & 6 and within weeks they both sounded like they were born there instead of actually being Scottish! Fast forward a few years and we were living in Asia where they both attended an international school and over the 5 years they both acquired a nondescript accent! Kids accents will change to fit in with their friends. Although I'm sure that they will be a novelty for a start and will have the local kids asking them to 'Talk Australian' to them! I have Australian friends who are always asking me to teach them some Scottish words lol It's hilarious hearing them trying to talk Doric in a strong Aussie accent

All cats and dogs have to be microchipped as part of their paperwork before they can fly out of their original country

OH works in O&G, and his company just informed them all this morning that their second round of redundancies will take place on Friday. Our daughter works for an airline (mainly FIFO workers) and they received an email on Friday asking them for voluntary redundancies. So, sorry I don't have any positive 'Upturn in employment' stories for you legoman

I am assuming that during your research you will be aware that you would need his permission to remove the child from Australia should you wait and give birth here? Like others have said already, I would definitely move back to the UK before giving birth! Easy for us to say, but you do not want to be stuck in a country with no support and be unable to leave with your child when you did want to.

When we lived in Singapore we averaged 4-8 trips over in to Malaysia every month. So filling in Form 80 just for the 5 years that we lived there was very time consuming! It didn't help that hubby had travelled so much over the previous 10 years that he was actually on to his 3rd passport lol Don't envy anyone filling in that form...

We moved from Singapore to WA. I went in to the Singapore Airlines office on Orchard Road and enquired about the extra baggage allowance for a PR Visa holder, they (4 different staff members) had absolutely no idea of any additional allowance due! But, as a good will gesture they gave us an extra 10kg each. I found out later that we should have used these guys before booking our flights as it would have made it a lot easier... http://www.iomaustralia.org/programme_fm.htm

Coles and IGA sell UK products too. Why don't you experiment with some Australian or other countries products too? You may find something else that you prefer? My taste buds must have changed dramatically over the years, or else the companies have changed the recipes because I don't find that the UK stuff lives up to my memories of it

Here's a link for shipping... http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/transport-shipping/

Yes you can, you will need to do import paperwork for it too

We survived 5 years living in Singapore by using a mixture of adapters and changing plugs but all 3 houses we rented there had smoke alarms! You can buy them from the local hardware stores.

Singapore also use 2 pin plugs as well as the 3 pin ones like the UK.

IMO people aren't as scared to mention cancer these days. My mum died of lung cancer in 1981, she was 51 years old, I was 14. It wasn't until her last 4 weeks that I was actually told what she was dying of! There were lots of hush hush conversations, The Big C and ooh don't say IT out loud giving the impression that if you voiced the word cancer, that you might catch it!!