A trip to the post office...

Today I made my maiden voyage to the Singapore Post Office. Fun times.

To begin with, finding the post office was a challenge! In Singapore, I am told there are minimal post offices, not every district has one, so most people have to travel 'quite far' to their nearest post office. Quite far in Singapore is only around 10 minutes, but still.... :P

So once I found mine, it was an interesting experience to say the least... one that did differ somewhat from the the post office's back home in Australia. I mean.... last time I posted a parcel overseas for instance, I don't recall having to pay for the tape used to seal the box?

Yes, random.

So today I needed to post 1 x letter to Australia, 1 x parcel to Australia and send 1 x local fax... Why am I faxing in today's day and age? Good question! I needed to email or fax forms to the local utilities company (for some reason you can't post the forms to them...?) AND Hubby is in Boston so unable to scan and email them...) - Oh the joy!

I left the post office after around 20 minutes (super quick compared to Sydney!) with 20 envelopes, 10 local stamps, 5 international stamps, a large roll of tape and $45 poorer!

The cost breakdown went like this...
1 local envelope with stamp - .40c
5 International stamps - $5.50
10 local stamps - $1.30
20 blank envelopes - $2.40
Post box (Medium size) - $2.40

(all very reasonable - if not cheap wouldn't you say?)

Sending a local fax (2 pages) - $6.42! (compared to .40c to post!!!)
Sending a 600g parcel to Australia - $25.35 (wowzer! No wonder the box is cheap, they are robbing you on international postage charges!)
Tape (to tape up the box... yes, I'm serious... they taped the box up, handed me the remaining tape on a roll and charged me) - $1.40

Lucky for me there was a lovely gentleman assisting me :) Thank you Singapore for valuing customer service! He outlined the 'cheaper' postal options for me and saved me what could have been hundreds of dollars spent!

Everyone at home. Apologies in advance, presents might become virtual before long...

For now, my only worry is my parcel clearing customs in Australia after paying that much for postage!... The fact that one of the items is made from wood was an afterthought...

*Fingers Crossed!*