We sent a ridiculously large and bulky wooden paddle to my family in Canada from Borneo, and some miscellaneous treats and souvenirs to friends in New Zealand. I wasn’t super confident in the process and was kinda full of regret at the post office. But I was totally surprised by how easy it actually was, and the packages arrived quickly and in perfect condition! Here’s what you need to know if you’re shipping from Borneo internationally.
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Challenges of shipping from Kuching to Canada
Our biggest hurdle was pricing it out. When shipping from Kuching (Sarawak) to Canada, we found an awesome Dayak paddle first, and went to the post office to investigate shipping options before buying. It’s kind of impossible to know what something like that would cost, and even the people at the post office couldn’t give us a ballpark figure. They were helpful, but ultimately kinda like “I don’t know, man.”
Semi-fortunately, POS Malaysia has a shipping rate calculator online. But estimating the weight and dimensions of the paddle gave us wildly different results. Like, hundreds of dollars depending on whether we listed the longest part of the paddle as height or length — it gave us a different “volumetric weight” and I don’t do math.
All I know is, 750 MYR is too expensive to send a 200 MYR paddle.
And we couldn’t weigh the paddle at the post office until we bought it, but we didn’t want to buy it before we knew if we could send it. The antique store told us “no returns.” It was quite the pickle.
What’s more, the post office in Kuching didn’t have any packaging. We were thinking they’d have some bubble wrap or tape or whatever, but nah. Not even for sale. Alas.
But look, I really wanted to send this paddle. And I was pretty convinced it wouldn’t actually cost 750 MYR, so we took a chance.
How it all worked out (shipping from Borneo to Canada)
Perhaps the postal gods were looking down upon us. I couldn’t believe how well this all went.
We bought the paddle and asked the antique store if they could help us wrap it. They at least had some bubble wrap, newspaper, cardboard boxes, and tape. A miracle. It was a pretty slap-dash wrapping job in the end, but we (us and the shop owners) made it work.
Heading back to the post office, the team was pretty helpful and actually helped us bolster the ends of the paddle to protect it. I don’t know exactly what math the agent did that was so different to the online estimator, but the shipping charge only came out to 80 MYR. And that’s including the 20% fuel surcharge we didn’t know about. We didn’t want to question it — felt too good to be true.
Mind you, we opted for the 7-28 week delivery option, but still. So affordable for going halfway around the world!
(Note: the 28-week option wasn’t visible on the website when we used the calculator, but when they offered it at the post office I was like, YES.)
We left the post office wondering if the paddle would make it in one piece, and whether it might truly be 28 weeks later by the time it got to Canada (if it got there at all).
My flabbers were literally ghasted when it arrived in Canada just 4 weeks after we sent it! All in once piece and everything. My parents were delighted.
Shipping from Kota Kinabalu to New Zealand
I can’t help myself, and I picked up a few things while we were travelling for friends and family in New Zealand. I love a little treat, and I originally had ambitions of just carrying everything with me, we don’t actually have an end date for this trip. So eventually when packing I was like… it’s insane for me to keep all of this.
Because things went so smoothly in Kuching, I figured it would be just as easy to send from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). I felt more prepared knowing I needed my own packaging and stuff, and the contents of this package were much more reasonably shaped and sized — it could all fit in one box.
The post office in Kota Kinabalu was completely different to the one in Kuching. They had shipping bags and boxes for sale, and it felt a bit more familiar, like the post offices in Canada and New Zealand. I ended up ditching the raggedy box I was going to use for a shipping bag because the lady said it would be better.
Kinda hilariously (but also tragically) my small, regular shaped and sized package cost double what I paid to ship the paddle. I was not expecting that, but I think it’s New Zealand’s fault for being so far away.
But what am I going to do, not send the stuff? I did it anyway. The shipping cost more than the contents of the box.
Again, I paid for the cheapest option (obviously). It was supposed to arrive in 14 weeks.
How it all turned out (shipping from Borneo to New Zealand)
This blew my mind: The package arrived just 4 days after I sent it. Days, not weeks! So while the package was still aggressively expensive, the items all made it in one piece and in true record time. Can’t even be mad.
Travel essentials for Borneo
📶 eSIM
Stay connected with internet access everywhere you go in Borneo and beyond.
💸 TravelSpend
Track your budget easily (ft. a colourful doughnut chart with stats).
✈️ Seats.aero
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💳 Wise or Revolut
Compare the best multicurrency cards for spending MYR, IDR, or BND like a local.
Tips for shipping internationally from Borneo
Based on my experience shipping from Borneo to the world, here are some helpful tips:
- Use the online POS Malaysia calculator. While it wasn’t really that accurate, it’s still a good resource to give you an idea of what you might pay. Better than totally winging it.
- Prepare to package it yourself. That means sourcing whatever you need from a box, bubble wrap, newspaper, and maybe even tape. While the post office in Kota Kinabalu had shipping bags and boxes for sale, Kuching certainly did not.
- Opt for the cheapest shipping option. Both packages we sent were the cheapest levels and they both came with a tracking number anyway. They also both arrived way before they were expected to. I can’t imagine anything you’re sending has a strict deadline, so save some ringgit by going with the affordable one. Can you imagine if I’d paid 100 MYR more for it to arrive around the same time??
Naomi Lai
Naomi is a Canadian travel editor and writer with 13 years of international travel across Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, New Zealand, and beyond. She covers everything from budget backpacking to luxury travel — always from personal experience.
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