Stores in Malaysia/Singapore? Import/Export?

[litesky]

Hi. I've been reading this AQ forums for awhile, but never wanted to bother you guys until now. Why? Well, I'm making a trip to Malaysia and Singapore during July and I wanted to see if I can maybe get a chance to visit stores and pick out some rare plants. However, I'm afraid this probably won't happen if US customs wont' allow me to bring plants back.

So just a question. Do you guys know anything about export to import from Malaysia/Singapore to United States?

I was also wondering if you guys can help me by telling me which fish stores to visit. I'll be at these cities:

Kota Kinabalu
Sandakan
Trengganu
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur

Thanks for reading this message

[tawauboy]

guess you'll have to check with usda.
i think exporting small quantities of plants out singapore or malaysia is fine. the import regulations of plant material into united states should be your main worry.

fish shops are hard to find in kota kinabalu and sandakan. the hobby is not lively there. visited these 2 places before but have yet to see a fish shop.

in kuala lumpur, go to midvalley megamall. there is a fish shop there.

btw, what rare plants are you looking for?

[byronshoh]

You might like to visit the Ikano Power Centre in KL, they have a shop named "Pet Safari" there....

[roadspike]

hi litesky, like you i've been reading this forum but never participate before until i read your message. it's because this forum is mostly if not all about aquatic plant scene in singapore and i'm from Kuala Lumpur. I can tell you, you'll be very dissapointed if you are planning to get some rare aquatic plants in Kuala Lumpur, let alone the rest of malaysia. The aquatic plant hobby is much more active in singapore compared to Malaysia. Nevertheless, there is only one place in KL who is stocking those much more rarer plants. These rare plants im referring to like nuphar japonica,aponogeton ulvaceus, aponogeton boivinianus n etc can be easily found in Singapore. So i suggest you to visit those stores in Singapore instead of Malaysia.

Anyway, if you're still interested in getting aquatic plants in KL i can give you the address and probably a rough idea where is that place.

[vinz]

There are lots of places in SG for buying plants. Of course, some cheaper, some more expensive, and you may not be able to get every thing you want. Help us to narrow down which places to recommend by letting us know:
1. When and how long will you be here? How much time can you spare to shop? Maybe someone can bring you along to one of the plant farms if the time fits.
2. Where will you be staying and working at, if you know. Minor issue, actually. But, who knows, there may be good shops just a short distance away.
3. What, if any, particular plants are you looking for?

Some plants are not readily available at the shops, but can be ordered from the farms which usually export them. We might be able to pre-order, if necessary, for you.

As for export to US, I understand US authorities are concerned about pest and soil contamination (the plants must be completely soil free). Its strict enough that the plant farms here find it not worth their while to export to US.

[litesky]

Wow!

I'm going to generate my want list, but before I do that, I just want to say a few things.

First of all, I'm impressed (more likely DEEPLY TOUCHED) by the numerous responses and private messages that you guys have replied or sent. I was shocked. I'm a regular on some other forums mainly based in the states, and I haven't really felt the warmth that this community has already provided. So...I just want to say a big THANKS for everything. My friend wasn't lieing when he told me that AQ is by far the best aquatic forum out there.

I'm going to do a little bit more of researching because I realized that if roadspike and tawauboy are right about malaysia, then I will have a problem. Even if I did come up with some brilliant plan to some how "SMUGGLE?" the plants through the plane ride back, they would've already died in malaysia because I'm going to Singapore first. So my best bet is to actually have the plants shipped to the United States.

Ok. So how does that work out? There is a person (adriansg on AqauticPlantCentral from singapore) who was able to bring shipping of plants down to $10. I'm quite amazed by that, but how is that possible? LFS here in California always tell me that shipping for things are expensive. How does shipping plants from Singapore to US work? If i can figure this out, then I can prepare enough funds (if it's reasonable) to ship some plants out to the United States if taht is at all possible.

Well. I want to say thanks to vinz, roadspike, byronshoh, tawauboy and shadowfax for your courteous responses. I know I've left some questions unanswered, but I'll get to them ASAP. To save you the hassle, you don't need to come back to this thread, I'll pm you guys if I have questions.

Thanks AGAIN FOR READING!

sincerely,
sam