How to prepare for SHN in Singapore?

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First of all: Congratulations! You are one of the few that was either able to leave Singapore and come back, or are allowed to come to Singapore for the first time.

Most probably you will spend some time in a dedicated stay home facility (SHN), and this is most probably a hotel. I've collected some considerations and tips for your stay. Unfortunately you don't know where you will stay, and there seems to be no way to know upfront or influence.

Sharing is caring?

If you travel with your family/partner you might have the option to share a room with them/your partner. Think twice before you do that. Can you really share a room for 14 days with another person? Would you have the same schedule? Do you have many meetings? My suggestion: Split into as many rooms as possible, and join over Skype for meals. This also gives you some privacy and you will experience things alone - things that can talk about over Skype later.

Your packing list for SHN

If you are already living in Singapore, you have an advantage. You don't have to bring anything from your overseas trip, but instead I suggest to prepare a box with all the items you need at SHN. Once you arrive at the hotel, let a friend send it to you. Your very own SHN survival box. How convenient is that?

When my SHN box and monitor got delivered...

For Work

Let's assume you will have to work, from your room for 14 days, so make sure you have a decent way of doing that. By setting up your room as you do when working from home
  • External Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard
  • A good speakerphone like the Jabra 510 (which I really love), or a good heaset
  • A good webcam, I I'm using a Logitech 960 and I'm super happy with
  • Notebook stand, like this one for dual screen setup
  • Notepad and pen to write things down
  • Power cord and multiple USB Power adapters for all your Gadgets
My workplace - decent, right?

Additionally, try to get you some mouse mat, as your mouse might not work perfectly on the table you get at the hotel

For Leisure

I hope you don't have to work all the time and have some time off. Let you entertain you - but most probably not solely by the TV, there are better options
  • Kindle, pack it in your SHN box, just in case you don't have it with you when you travel anyway
  • A game console like the Nintendo Switch, including the docking station and all cables so that you can attach it to the hotel TV
  • Chromecast (+ read below)
    Now this one is a bit tricky. You can attach it to the hotel TV, when you want do see Netflix on it, you have to have your own WLAN where your phone and the Chromecast is connected to. So in addition to the ChromeCast, you will need a
  • Mobile Hotspot (like the Huawei E5577Cs)
    This cool think connects multiple devices to the Hotel Wifi and allows you to watch Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime on your hotel room TV - how cool is that? Should there be any issue with the Hotel Wifi, just put in a SIM card, and all devices will go online seamlessly. Indispensable gear for frequent travelers anyway.

For your one-room household

Besides that, you might also need to do some laundry (in your room of course) or clean some dishes. What do you need for that?
  • Some washing powder. Why? This will be very handy to laundry some clothes, so that you don't have to pay an expensive laundry service. 
  • Sanitary items for a 14days stay. I bed you don't want to take everything overseas
  • Your personal spices, to pimp the rice you will get. Maybe Sriracha or BBQ Sauce as you like.
  • Comfy clothes for multiple days, so that you don't have to wash often
  • Some dish soap in case you want to give the mugs in the room a fresh up 
Some optional stuff you might enjoy 
  • An insulated food container, or even food heater. Why? Food is delivered by the friendly hotel staff at regular times, you might want to keep it warm until you actually are hungry.
  • A SIM card like the Singtel's hi!Tourist SIM which provides you (in combination with the Mobile Hotspot) good internet connectivity in case the Hotel Wifi is crap.
  • How about bringing your own Nespresso machine? I mean, why not?
  • Some clothesline in case you plan to do laundry a lot

Before and during SHN

There are some things that you might value if you do them before, besides organizing someone that can go to your house and send you the SHN survival package you prepared for yourself.

  • Set-up a couple of skype/zoom/etc. calls with people you might not have met for some time
  • FoodPanda, GrabFood, Deliveroo subscription, if you plan to order them a lot so that you don't have to pay delivery fee
At the same time, keep in mind that this might still be a challenging time, so try not to
  • Think you can solve your mid-life crisis questions
  • Order food at the same time the hotel food is delivered, because then they are busy already serving the hotel food.
  • Have too high expectations whet you will achieve during SHN, it will be challenging.

Final Tips

  • Walk at least 10mins in your room (like a tiger) after every meal
  • If you order breakfast, order the evening before

Luckily everything can be ordered in Singapore. These are my favorites

  • RedMart for all kind of groceries
  • Amazon.sg for everything else
  • Pandashop (Pandamart, Cheers, etc.) for deliveries within 20mins, via FoodPanda App
Hope that helps you making your own two weeks of SNH more enjoyable!

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