How to get rid of Ants

Unlike Nigeria (snakes, spiders, crocodiles, termites, scorpions, rats, cockroaches), Turkey (camel spiders) and Venezuela (beautiful but aggressive iguanas, ants, mice, cockroaches)  postings in Europe and Kazakhstan were dream destinations as far as creepy crawlies were concerned.  In fact, for the nervous expat Astana is a bit of a dream – no spiders, no snakes, no ants – no nothing.  There are benefits to cold postings! 

Borneo is different we live on a lush, tropical island and share our space with many different animals and insects.  Some we welcome - our house is full of little geckos who keep down the mosquitoes and small spiders.  The kids have named each one (Bug Muncher is the largest) and we hear their little chirrups in the evening as they perform their public service.  Others are less welcome, luckily having dogs helps keep a lot of the less welcome visitors (rats etc) down.  If our older dog dies while we are here we would probably consider getting a cat to keep any visiting snakes at bay. Kipper, our Nigerian tabby was very effective at this although sadly they also like to go for geckos which is a real shame. 

I am a reluctant housewife and generally the further north we are the easier going I am.  When we are in the tropics my standards of housekeeping soar.  No-one is allowed to eat a biscuit without a plate (and all washing up is done immediately), crumbs are swept up straight away and the area bleached.  The kitchen surfaces are bleached twice a day and straight after any use, the floor is bleach cleaned morning and evening, cupboards once a week and appliances wiped down after every use.  All food is kept in lock and lock airtight containers or in the fridge.  Our bread bin has a strip of double sided tape along the outside. 

Despite all these precautions our kitchen has been home to a steady procession of tiny little visitors. I find ants endlessly fascinating – if I see a line of them outside I love to watch them at their work to see how they co-operate and work with their group mind.  This is, however, outside, I hate ants in my house and I particularly hate ants that come into my kitchen. 

I searched the shops for borax or ant killer but it is difficult to track down.  Cockroach killer is prevalent and very, very effective on the ones that come out of hiding.  It does not, however, tackle the problem at source and allow the ants to bring the poison back to the nest.  Our two dogs also seem to love licking the spray from the walls so I do not like to over use it.

A large number of my friends live abroad in various places around the world and came up with the following suggestions:

• Cinnamon:  Luckily this is fairly cheap in Sarawak and smells good.  Ants dislike it, however, and try to avoid it.  It does not seem to kill them but it does reduce the number who get into the house if you sprinkle it by their entry points.  It is also non toxic to dogs.
• Jam Traps:  For outside tables place the legs in jars of water with jam or honey to stop the ants climbing up and walking over your food.  Less useful in the house as children and pets could knock them.  We did use these in the kitchen in Nigeria from time to time. 
• Black pepper:  much like cinnamon but less fragrant.
• Cornmeal/Polenta/Cream of Wheat:  The granules swell inside the ants and kill them.  This is completely non toxic to pets and before eating it the worker ants carry it back to the nest so it destroys them at source.

I have been using a combination of cinnamon and polenta to reduce our problem.  They work to keep it down but sadly the ants keep coming back and I was not convinced that the nest was being affected.  While the house is only rented I do not want my landlord to have to deal with an entrenched structural problem caused by ants.  

In the end I managed to track down some ant killer and put the boxes down for a few hours.  The effect was amazing – the whole nest seemed to come out to eat the granules as they were gone very rapidly.  My walls were covered in black workers and queens – the advantage of this rather revolting visitation was that I could track down all the entry points and shock dose them with targeted spray of cockroach killer.  It took the housekeeper and me about three hours to clean the corpses from the kitchen (we ate out for two days) and the landlord has since siliconed the gaps shut.  Hopefully this will solve the problem.  

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Orange Chicken Fajitas (with home made guacamole and salsa)

Fajitas are a perfect quick fix meal.  Prep up a deconstructed salad, some meat, sour cream, guacamole and salsa and you are away.  If you are short on time you can use shop bought guacamole and salsa, but if you have the time there is nothing like home made.  Pour over some sauce and refried beans and you have enchiladas.  Our family love fajitas in just about every combination.  This one, however, is a favourite in hot weather as the taste is so fresh and summery.

 You will need:

1. 1 Chicken breast per person.
2. Olive oil.
3. 1 large juicy orange.
4. 4 limes.
5. 1 Avocado per person.
6. 2 large and a handful of cherry tomatoes per person.
7. 1 small red onion per person.
8. A bunch of coriander, roughly chopped.
9. Spinach
10. Salad leaves
11. 1 red chilli (to taste).
12. A handful of pine nuts.
13. Fajitas.
14. Portion of Sour Cream.

NB I use the small, juicy limes that we get in South East Asia.  You may find you need to adjust for the larger US/European limes.

Time taken: 1 hour, difficulty level: easy

Method:

The recipe looks long and fiddly but is actually very easy.  It would be perfectly feasible to delegate parts of the preparation (ie the guacamole) to another family member.  Children, in particular, love to help as they see the ‘recipe’ they are responsible for on the table and being used by the rest of the family in the end product. Mine love hand shredding lettuce and mashing guacamole.  

Meat:

1. Trim the chicken breasts and marinade in some olive oil.  Squeeze in the juice of half an orange and two limes. (be aware that acid in the citrus will start to cook the outside of the meat). 
2. After a half hour marinade place in a 180 °C oven (355F) until cooked through.  Remove to cool before shredding and placing in a serving dish.

Guacamole:

1. Halve the avocados and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
2. Chop half of the red onions very finely and add to the bowl.
3. Chop a large tomato per person very finely and add to the bowl.
4. Squeeze over the juice of one lime and mash the ingredients together.  You may wish to add salt and pepper to taste.

Salsa:

1. Chop the remaining tomatoes and red onion and combine.
2. Add coriander and the juice of the remaining lime. 
3. If you wish to make a hot salsa add the finely chopped chilli. 

Salad

1. Mix the spinach and salad leaves with the segments of the remaining orange half and the pine nuts

Make up

Place some salad onto the middle of the fajita, add some of the chicken and top with salsa, guacamole and sour cream.  Fold the end over the fillings and roll.  You can either prepare the fajitas in advance or, as I prefer, put all the ingredients on the table and allow people to make their own.

Variations:

This recipe works equally well served in tacos

or in pitta pockets.  You could substitute any salad leaf of your choice for the spinach – rocket would work quite well or, alternatively just plain shredded iceberg lettuce. 

You could use orange in the salsa and guacamole instead of lime for a less astringent taste. 

The salad works very well by itself – you could add some slices of beetroot for added crunch and some of the chicken or curls of parma ham for protein to make it into a substantial lunch as opposed to a side.

For a quick version of this recipe you can substitute shop bought pre-cooked chicken and ready made guacamole and salsa.  Shred the chicken unevenly.  Pour the guacamole and salsa  into your own bowls and squeeze some lime juice into them.  Stir some chopped coriander into the salsa, shake some pre-washed salad leaves into the serving bowl and add pine nuts and some orange segments.  No one need know.

Turkey is a viable (and cheaper) substitute for the chicken.

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Relocation - how to deal with culture shock.

When people ask me where I am from I find it almost impossible to answer.  Readers may have noticed that rather than mention a nationality as such I call myself a global soul or perpetual expat.  In essence I am a true TCK (third culture kid) although I dislike that term. 

Being an expat means life can change, very dramatically from year to year.

With so many international and intra-national moves under my belt I should deal with the emotional upheaval with no problems at all.  I have found, however, that this is simply not the case.  As a child I must have caused my parents endless heartache and annoyance at moving time.  I usually got an unexplained stomach ache about three weeks before we moved.  It did not matter whether I was excited or nervous about the move, my stomach would start to ache. 

Culture shock is a common and acknowledged expat phenomenon and there has even been research on how people adapt to their new home.  Expats tend to identify five stages of relocation (after Olberg).

• Honeymoon
• Irritation/Anger
• Rejection/Regression
• Intergration/Assimilation
• Re-entry

I usually find stages 1-3 combine in the early days of a new posting to give rise to a maelstrom of emotions.  Exploring new places is exciting, finding out what there is to do and what is new and different is a heady experience.  We go to all the local attractions, research what flights are available, dreaming of the exotic holidays we can take and I trawl round shops and supermarkets getting excited about what is on the shelves.  Irritation usually creeps in early for me and I know I have to nip it in the bud so that I don’t reject our new life and the opportunities on offer.  

I tend to assimilate and integrate quickly and easily (I have had so much practice and it helps that I have no real geographic ties) so when I move somewhere new I get frustrated that I am not learning things more quickly.  I am my own worst critic, of course it is not unreasonable, after just two weeks, to not know how to contact the city council, pay a bill, hold a conversation on local pension arrangements in the local language.  I have to make myself remember that, although I could do all this in our previous posting some of it took me a little time to get my head around. Sometimes simple moves can be the most confusing.  I will always remember my very capable mother (who could talk down armed militia in the middle of the African bush) getting very stressed at the thought that she might have missed the registration deadline with the local council in the UK - she was working to Dutch bureaucratic rules!

It helps, when relocating to be aware of the stages set out above and how they might apply to your character.  If you know and understand you can deal more easily.  Like me some people find the second and third stages last a very short time, others may take months to work through them.  Processes and times are also different for each location and it is not always a linear progression.  Sometimes an expat might sail through all the stages and start to integrate well, enjoying their life only for something to set them back and for the realities of their situation to overwhelm them.  This can often be triggered by bereavement in the home country or children moving back 'home' to boarding school but there are many reasons.  It is vital, therefore, to build up support networks early on, find friends, get involved in activities that you enjoy.  It is also important to keep a close eye on other expats around you, has someone started to withdraw, are they quieter than normal, are they struggling but hiding it for some reason? It is a delicate balance between offering help and interfering, however, so let people go at their own pace.  Be aware that once someone has been helped they may be embarrassed and may not wish to speak with you again (unless the problem re-occurs).  This is perfectly normal – try to understand even if you are hurt.

Working expats are often more insulated from culture and relocation shock than the trailing family.  Life changes little, you get up, go to the office, do your job and come home.  Of course the new job will have work related stresses, particularly if a promotion is involved or you now have to work in another language but this is separate from the country specific stress.  The lives of the trailing family are more affected, the children have to adapt to a new school, the other spouse to making life work in a completely different environment.  Sometimes a trailing spouse has to remake their whole identity – this is particularly true if they have left behind a career and are now defined, by default as the “husband or wife of X”.  Finding a job in the host country can be challenging and frustrating – I am a highly qualified financial litigator but I have not worked in the law for years.  I have, however, had a range of different jobs including a stint as a school librarian! 

Family members should be kind to one another at this time – look out for signs of upset or worry.  Just because one child is settling well does not mean that siblings are as happy.  Just because you had a wonderful day at the office does not mean that your spouse enjoyed miming the problems with the pipes to the plumber who was sent around to fix them.  Just because you had a dreadful day registering with the local doctors does not mean your spouse does not need to get work stress off their chest.  In the home country the support of family and close friends is near at hand – in the host country, particularly in the early days, the nuclear family is the only support.  Be aware of this, make a special effort.  Most expat families find that they become very close and have extremely strong bonds because of exactly these experiences but sadly some can find themselves riven – the constituent parts dealing with emotional problems in a vacuum of support. 

How to deal with culture shock – top tips.

• Spend time before your move understanding what you will and won’t miss. This helps you process your emotions about leaving and help you concentrate on your new home when you get there.
• Make contact with people in your new home ahead of time where possible.  This means you can identify potentially challenging aspects of your new life and start to prepare for them.  It also gives you some potential friends and a proto support network.
• Be open and honest with children about changes to their lives.  Ask them what would help them feel secure in the move.  This may be something physical (a toy, a reminder of their old home/school) or not (an arrangement allowing them to speak to an old friend once a week on skype etc).  If you can make it happen do.  If you can’t be honest, never make promises you cannot keep but do help them identify viable alternatives.
• Watch out for each other.  You and your family know (or should know) each other better than anyone else.  Keep an eye out for changed behaviour that might be a symptom of struggling with something. 
• Be kind to yourself, no one expects you to be adept at dealing with all aspects of your new life straight away.  You are allowed to ask for help with things.
• Be positive but honest.  There is good in every situation – try to look at things in a positive light even if it is only that you will have a good laugh and an amazing story to tell one day.  Do not, however, be relentlessly and unrealistically positive.  Sometimes bad things happen and if you do not acknowledge it now you may find it harder to deal with later. 
• Find ways to keep traditions that are important to you and your family.  If Christmas, Eid, Diwali, your national day etc, are something that you always celebrate make sure that you manage this.  You may need to make some changes but these links with your old life are important.
• Learn as much as you can about local customs before you arrive.  Most cultures are very forgiving of solecisms perpetrated by accident but you will feel happier in yourself if you know what behaviour is acceptable.  Similarly try to learn as much language as you can – even a few words and phrases can help.
• Accept every invite you get for the first three months at least.  Expat communities are often small and new arrivals are exciting, everyone wants to get to know you.  Receive an invite to the local tennis club?  It does not matter if tennis is not your thing – go and socialise and get to know people, you will get more invitations from people you meet there.  Random invitations tend to start to dry up after three-six months as people assume you have become settled and found your niche and friendship group.  Make the most of the opportunities you are offered in the early days. 
• As you become more established in your new home keep an eye out for new arrivals.

I have subsequently added this to Life With A Double Buggy's  Expat Linky- click for even more Expat treats.....

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Shopping in Sarawakian Supermarkets

One of the things I was looking forward to on our move to Miri was the wide range of food that would be available compared to Astana, particularly fresh vegetables. 

One of the big challenges of Expat life is learning what is available to buy in your new home and how you will have to adapt your culinary skills to deal with it.  Food shopping in Astana was, initially, a challenge because of the language/alphabet barrier.  We soon learned what we could and could not buy and by the time we left had found just about everything we needed.  Malaysia, of course has no such language barrier and has a good reputation for food.  Unlike Astana import is easy so there is a wider range of produce available.

While we were still in the hotel we started to look around the different supermarkets that were available, the best seem to be the out of town Hypermarket – ‘Giant’ conveniently on the way to/from the school and our very local ‘GK’ and 'Pottery' (which sells everything except Pottery). 

Premium British Supermarket products can be bought here.
Quite a surprise.

They stock a complete range of Western and Chinese product as well as local favourites and some Indian stuff.  The Western food seems to come from UK or Australia/New Zealand.  Most of the UK products are Waitrose branded.  Waitrose is a premium, upmarket supermarket in the UK and it was a real surprise to find them freely available and at a similar price.  British expats can rejoice in the easy availability of home favourites Baked Beans, Tomato Ketchup, HP Sauce, Marmite etc, there is less to excite the European palate.  I am overjoyed to be able to get a full selection of baking products including food colouring, flavouring and speciality sugar (I no longer need to grind my own or mix in molasses).  In fact the supermarkets excel at providing a wide, complete range of just about any dried or canned good you can think of.

Soya milk for those with allergies.  

I had heard that Pork was difficult to find in Malaysia but most supermarkets have a good non Halal section where we can buy Ham, Bacon, Frankfurters etc.  Wine and Beer is also for sale but we are not big consumers of alcohol in the home.  

Indian and Chinese food is popular and there are lots of  ingredient
options - this range of 'easy cook'  curry spices comes from Pakistan

The supermarkets do not perform so well when it comes to fresh food (which is plentiful in the markets - no one stop shopping here).  The meat selection in general is not great -  fresh chicken is available in many permutations (whole, fillets, feet, thighs etc etc) but it is a little watery and lacking in taste.   Frozen lamb and frozen beef can be found but it does not look particularly appetising. 

Food colourings and flavourings for baking - an unexpected bonus

Dairy is another item that surprised me with the restrictions.  Cheese is limited – most cheese sold seems to be in packets of processed slices.  We can get a better range at GK and Pottery (including, to my Husband's delight, cheddar) but it is expensive.  Fresh milk is in the chiller cabinet but, like Astana, most seems to be UHT longlife.  It is fairly tasty and better quality than the Kazakh milk.  I have become used to the way things are done in Kazakhstan though because I was genuinely upset to be restricted to a single type of sour cream!

There is a very poor juice selection - with a limited range
of flavour.  Most is from concentrate and over sweet.

My daughter is somewhat distraught at the lack of cherry juice and indeed the range of juices available is more akin to that in a British supermarket – we were spoiled with the fantastic offerings in Kazakhstan. Funnily enough we also expected a great range of teas, another thing we were spoiled with in Astana and the UK but sadly average blended tea seems to be the norm here with only one or two speciality offerings. 

Blended tea seems to be popular - very few
speciality teas are easily available.

I understand from friends that Brunei is the place to go to buy meat, cheese etc and, for those who like to have a glass of wine or beer, a duty free shop is available between the borders.  Our visas are being processed at the moment so we have not been to visit.  I also have the number of a lady who makes Cumberland sausages – I will be giving her a call shortly to try out her meat. 

The fruit and vegetable selection is also surprisingly limited in the supermarkets.  I have been advised to shop in separate green-grocers or a local market for these and it is no real hardship to pop over and enjoy the wide selection available there.  All have been heavily treated with pesticides, however, so have to be disinfected and cleaned  or peeled thoroughly before use. 

We have settled into a rhythm now - Supermarket for dried and staple goods, markets for fresh.  There is a good complex (E Mart), on the way from the School which has a supermarket set next to a market and our home bank branch - a useful combination.

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Miri Crocodile Farm

The Crocodile farm is about 25km out of town near the Brunei Border and is touted as one of the City tourist attractions.  Our son is fascinated by crocodiles and reptilians and was desperate to visit. While there are many other more enticing opportunities in the area (lush rainforest, stunning caves etc) I have been advised to leave hiking through these until after the baby is born in September.   Having been to a fairly horrendous croc farm in Siem Reap, Cambodia in pursuit of his interests we were a little apprehensive. We checked the website and the farm is now, no longer a farm as such but a mini zoo as well.  We became even more sceptical as many small zoos are dreadful places. 

The farm, when we turned up, was rather idyllically situated with large (croc free) ponds and a rather tired looking pony offering rides to children.  We decided not to take up the offer!  Foreigners pay more than Malaysian citizens but the costs are not exorbitant.  Once you enter the zoo there is a reasonably good quality display on the evolution of crocodiles and a history of their interaction with humans in Borneo. 

The farm is set around beautiful, large, ponds.

The local crocs are saltwater (salties), they have a reputation as being the biggest and meanest of the crocodilians.  Some of the news reports of the captured man eaters were truly terrifying.  Having lived in land reclaimed from the swamp in Warri, Nigeria I have a healthy fear of crocodiles.  One child I knew used to keep baby crocs as pets before releasing them into the wild –pure madness as they would come back to the house when older (and larger), even a fairly small crocodile can kill a cat or baby, requiring the poor things to be killed or moved a long way away.  The ones in Borneo are much larger and much, much meaner. 

Some of the smaller crocodiles resting before feeding.  

From the display we walked along to the croc ponds – huge behemoths lazed in the sun looking for all the world to be fast asleep.  A short while later, however, a feeding time came round and we were under no illusions as to the speed the animals can move at.  A keeper stood some distance from the crocs, well protected by a barricade and threw (dead) chickens into the enclosure.  As the chickens came past a croc would raise his head, lightning fast, and devour it before a competitor could grab it from him, before retreating to the illusion of torpor. 

Having watched in silent awe we moved on to see the pythons in their enclosures, the zoo has a good range of exhibits here and the children were fascinated to watch one curled up, incubating her eggs.  While we were here the zoo’s tame sun bear walked up to us, he snuggled up to my husband and tried to nibble his fingers before a keeper came up with a bottle of milk.  The juvenile bear, who had been hand-reared, drank his milk before moving on to a whole coconut which he broke into in short order with his amazing claws.  Following this he retreated into a tiny little cage – we are not sure whether this is his chosen resting place (much as a domestic dog will choose to sleep in a crate) or if it is his, sadly tiny, pen.  I would have preferred to see him with access to a large enclosure with vegetation, trees etc.  He was generally healthy but did have a few, worrying, bald patches.  The other sun bears, who also live in the zoo, have rather miserable concrete enclosures and look very sad and frustrated.  These rare animals are classed as ‘vulnerable’ so all conservation efforts are good but I do wish they had a more satisfying place to live in.

We met this friendly hand-reared sun bear
wandering around the zoo.

He broke into the coconut in less than 2 minutes.

Other animals available to see include Peacocks, Parrots and Monkeys (chained to their homes and looking a bit depressed). Hornbills, Cassowaries and Sambar Deer. The Deer have a large enclosure which is grassed but they can also be 'treated' to extra feed bought from the attendants.  We did not buy any!

The deer do have grass to graze on but come to visitors who
are allowed to buy artificial feed for them.  

All in all although not the best zoo we have ever been to we did get the impression that it was trying.  Small zoos have a challenging path to walk in terms of welfare and break even.  As Miri grows as a tourist destination and more people come to visit hopefully the increased revenue can go to improving the living conditions for the animals, certainly boycotting (as some visitors advise on Tripadvisor) will not lead to any improvements. The keepers are friendly and knowledgeable, I can see that this is a place that we will probably be taking visiting friends and family members as  it is a good introduction to the local wildlife.


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How to find a new home in your new location.

We have just moved in to our new home in Miri, Sarawak.  It is amazing how being in our own place, even minus our shipment, can make me feel so much more relaxed about our new location.

As a child our new home was not really something I gave much thought to.  My father’s company set us up in interim accommodation until his predecessor finished the handover and left, we then moved into the predecessor’s house.  Often we were on company camps and there was no option but to live in the given property and even when we lived out in the community options were often limited.

Tied accommodation is the norm for resident teachers in UK boarding schools and from the start of our marriage we have lived in some choice properties (we could choose red carpet with blue flecks or blue with red, rickety furniture as standard) and we have become pretty adept at using throws, cushions, pictures etc to personalise a place. 

Some personalisation needed!

When we moved to Kazakhstan there was no provision for hotel accommodation so we were told that we would have to choose our apartment before we arrived and move straight in to it. In many ways this was fantastic as we were straight in to our new home.  HR could not, however, understand why I insisted on seeing photographs of every room in the proposed apartments, wanted a floor plan and a list of furniture that came with the property.  The estate agents seemed to be obsessed with photographs of bathrooms to the exclusion of any other room in the property.  I was told that it was normal, in Astana, for people to arrive and then move again a few weeks or months later if the property did not suit.  They could not understand that we wanted to keep the disruption for the children to an absolute minimum – to let them move into a home that they could feel was permanent.  It is one thing to stay in a hotel for a few weeks and then move quite another to hop between homes.

A tasteful interior - as an expat you too could live in a place like this!

Some of the decoration in the proposed flats was… interesting.  Having lived in tied accommodation in the UK and elsewhere (our house in Warri, Nigeria had banana yellow walls, cream and brown swirled carpet and grey (later orange and blue) sofas) I could see beyond this but there were certain non negotiables we were unwilling to compromise on.  We needed large space for the children and dog so they would not feel cooped up in the winter.  We needed a spare bedroom/office space so that I could work from home and we could have family to visit without making someone sleep on the sofa, underground parking, proximity to supermarkets and a lift.  We finally found the apartment we could be happy in only for one man in HR to tell us he wanted us to sign on a different, smaller apartment that met none of our criteria because he ‘liked the landlord’…hmmm.  He was a little miffed when I put my foot down but it was worth it, we lived in the apartment from the day we arrived to the day we left Kazakhstan.  Some other colleagues found, on arriving in Astana that they were moved into apartments that had nothing in common with the ones they thought they had rented and had to move.  I have never apologised for being fussy on my non negotiables!

Don't be shy about being honest if something does not work for you.
This delightful kitchen was one step too far for me!

Our recent move to Miri was a little easier in that we had two weeks in a hotel to house hunt.  Employers put us in touch with a local estate agent who showed us round.  Initially she had not been given a list of our criteria so the first few properties were unsuitable but she came up trumps pretty quickly.  Our main concern was to find a furnished place as we do not have any furniture coming in our shipment and do not have a furniture allowance.  Most properties in Miri are let un or only part furnished.  We looked at some amazing 7/8 bedroom houses with all the space in the world but they came with beds and a sofa nothing else.  Furniture may be relatively cheap in Miri but with a new baby on the way we do not want to be spending money we don’t need to.  Minimalist living may appeal to some but there is such a thing as too minimalist!  

We found a lovely property complete with furniture and some kitchen ware to tide us over and promptly decided to start negotiations to move in.  It has not quite been a week and we are still waiting for toys, books, personal items etc to arrive but this house already feels like a home so we know that we have made the right decision.

Top tips for finding a home in your new location:

• Will you have a choice of property or have to take what you are given?  If the latter you just have to be flexible and fit in or negotiate for a more suitable property once you are in place.
• If you are able to choose your own property find out your budget, do you have an allowance?  Are you willing to top it up yourself?  Let your agent know the budget range you are prepared to deal in.
• Decide what you need from your new house and be honest about it this should help prevent your agent showing you unsuitable properties.
• Do you have limited time in the hotel before moving, if so you may need to compromise a little more to get a property in time.
• Ask other expats about local idiosyncrasies/points to check ie in Miri I asked for the landlord to run pest control before we moved in.  In Astana I checked that the heating etc was working.  In the UK check how much council tax you pay on your property.
• Get to know your landlord - be nice to them and they will (hopefully) help you out beyond the minimum.
• Learn to love (or at least ignore) someone else’s taste.  The lighting/furniture/crockery etc may be hideous but you will have to live with it.  Get creative with sofa throws, pictures, etc etc.   
• Some times you will be living somewhere full of tasteless tat, sometimes in a home you could only imagine in your wildest dreams.  Our reward for the years in the Warri house (of banana wall fame) came on our move to Lagos.  We moved into a stunning old colonial mansion with the most amazing parquet floors and a huge garden with beautiful established tropical plants and (a luxurious necessity) our own generator rather than a communal one for power cuts.  Even the furnishings were (mostly) tasteful.  Learn to accept the rough and revel in the smooth. 

Sometimes you catch a break with a beautiful home.  

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Relocating With Your Expat Pet.

We moved from Astana to Miri, Sarawak last week.  We are currently settled in a hotel waiting for our new home to be ready and our shipment (our tiny, tiny shipment) is waiting at Astana Airport for a suitable cargo flight.  Our dogs are also settled here in Miri.  Borneo is a rabies free island so we have had to put them in quarantine.  The whole import/export process was, in fact, my largest worry but it seemed to go smoothly.

As a family we have moved pets internationally for 20 years or more – in fact one of our dog crates dates back to a 1993 move from Nigeria to Turkey – a family heirloom that all our pets have used at one time or another. 

Bessie and Perdita in Astana

The process is broadly similar for any international relocation – country A will issue an Export Permit and Country B an Import Permit.  You book the pet excess baggage on your airline and collect them in the airport arrivals hall when you get to your destination.  Each country has its own ins and outs, however, and these complicate the process.

The UK is famously tough to bring animals to.  In years gone by my parents took their dogs to the Netherlands and lived there with them for 6 months before bringing the dogs into the UK under the EU pet import scheme.  These days the repressive (and unnecessary) quarantine has been relaxed as long as you can show a pet passport and rabies blood test.  Import still requires you to jump through more hoops than just about any other country, however.  A friend is bringing her dog from Astana to UK – she has to provide a ‘third party country certificate’ which Kazakhstan refuses to offer.  Her cargo handlers (UK insists owners fly pets as cargo not as excess baggage) have said that the authorities at Heathrow sometimes waive this requirement but if they decide not to her poor dog (who has no infections whatsoever), will have to go into quarantine. 

 Other potential complications involve airline regulations on temperature and dog breeds (snub snout dogs cannot travel in high temperatures) and certain ‘dangerous’ breeds may be subject to import/export restrictions.  It is always worth checking with your airline and vet ministries in host and host to be countries to see that your import can happen.  Rules can also change at the last minute – some people in Astana found out just prior to a move to Indonesia that the import from countries with endemic rabies have recently been banned from import.  Their pets have had to find new homes.

The import to Malaysia was, in actuality very simple.  I spoke with a local vet in Miri who arranged for all the import certificates to be put in place.  In Kazakhstan we had to go to the Veterinary Ministry to apply for an export certificate.  On our first visit we took a local colleague with us to help translate and ask questions just in case it was complicated.  The people were very friendly, however, and the most difficult part of the process was finding the address and we did the rest of the process by ourselves. 

A few days before we flew we had to get our vet to issue a health certificate.  We had sold our car and at 27 weeks pregnant I was not walking both dogs on my own any more so the whole family plus dogs piled into a street cab, not the easiest to flag down with dogs in tow.  Once we got to the vets I was rather surprised to find that they did not even want to see the dogs and were happy to fill out the certificate based on their passports only.

Our certificate of veterinary health - no actual inspection
of animals required!

Two days before the flight we had to take the certificates to the Vet Ministry who used them to issue the Export Certificate 24 hours before the flight.  This is a trilingual document but the extra information was filled out in Russian only so we had to translate it to English for the Miri authorities. 

Our Export Certificate from Kazakhstan.

The day of the flight all we had to do was place the dogs in their crates and hand them over to the airline with documents and payment.  The transfer in Almaty was handled by the airline but we had to make the transfer between international and domestic terminals in KL.  In Miri we handed the dogs over to the vet officer and quarantine officials to go off to start serving their term.  It was a great relief to see them safe and sound – our younger dog had never flown before so we were worried that she would be upset, our older girl is getting infirm and we were worried that the stress and the heat might be too much for her.

We saw them a few days ago when our vet came to take bloods for the rabies test.  In Sarawak the length of quarantine depends on the time since the last rabies injection.  Our younger dog has only about a month and a half (if her bloods meet the test) but our older dog’s injection date means that she may have to be in for three or four months.  She has, however, a full history of rabies injections and we know her bloods meet the test standards so she hopes that the time can be reduced.  In the meantime they are in the kennels together which makes the process a lot less lonely.  We are also allowed to visit whenever we want which will also help. 

Bessie relaxing in quarantine.

The whole process is sadly expensive and stressful but pets are part of the family and we (and many people we know) could not be without them.

Tips for relocating with your expat pet:

1. Panic – this will be the most stressful part of the move.
2. Make sure that all your locally required vaccinations are up to date.
3. Check your host country’s export process.
4. Check your new country’s import process – colleagues who already live there may be able to recommend a good local vet to help with the process.
5. Get any further vaccinations required by your new country.
6. Get a handling agent if necessary (as in imports to the UK).
7. Check any airline restrictions on your pet.
8. Panic again – most of the export/import process can only be done last minute and you will stress until the papers are in place.
9. Make sure that you have the correct size crate for your pet.  IATA standards are instructive. 
10. Habituate your pet to their crate, keep it in the living room/their sleeping area and feed them in there.  If your pet is nervous start with the bottom half for a few weeks and then add the top half.

On the day:

1. Take your dog for a long walk – feed and water early in the day but not just before they go in the crate.
2. If your animal is nervous consider using a calming spray/rescue remedy etc.  Put something that smells of you in their crate – I usually line the crate with our towels -  they smell of us but it does not matter that they wil be ruined. 
3. Make sure that the crate has your pet’s name prominently displayed.  Sellotape a package of copy certificates/passports to the crate but keep all originals and at least one further set of copies with you.  Have your contact numbers on the crate together with a contact number for a responsible individual who is not flying and will be contactable throughout the travel period. 
4. Write on the crate the time of the last food and water – most pets in transit will be given a small amount of water at convenient times during the process, this will not be much, however, as the animals will not be allowed to leave their crate.  If the animal is travelling for more than 12 hours most airlines will give a small light snack in addition to water but do check this.
5. Have some light treats/water with you when you collect them as they will be hungry and thirsty. 
6. Make a big fuss of your pet.

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