A dash of London and a serving of Leeds

[pogonation]

Welcome to the UK I hope you have as great a time studying in the Midlands as I did.

How dare you say Leeds is in the Midlands lol

[AeroVoyager]

Hey Isaac thanks for sharing this TR
In a week time I'll be leaving for the UK for university as well. I was hoping that you can explain more about this dedicated lane for student at LHR immigration, such as do they asked for certain documents (e.g. ucas official letter, accomodation offer etc), questions etc.

Also when did you get your UK SIM? Did you get it at LHR as soon as you arrived?

[isaac]

Did you consider SQ328 to Manchester. I would have gone on this route, then take a train into Manchester for a connecting train to leeds from Manchester Victoria station.



They will pack your bags if you ask. Couldnt agree more about the people. Thats what its like though in Leeds. Other areas of the country are allot better. The prices of things down south are more expensive!

The wind has been really strong up north for the last few days. The bike shed at work got blown away.
Thanks for sharing your TR

I did but I wanted to experience London even if it was just for a few hours. I'm weird that way

Thanks for the TR!

Thanks for the TR Haven't been to the UK for over 40 years now, so it's changed quite a lot I see!

Welcome to the UK I hope you have as great a time studying in the Midlands as I did.

You're welcome

All the best in your studies in Leeds! Dentistry or Medicine?

Medicine

There is 1 survival tip I have for you. Make friends, make lots of friends

Thanks for the advice!

[isaac]

Hi Isaac.

Welcome to the UK and welcome to Leeds (The closest city to my home town). Leeds is a fantastic city and I guarantee that you will enjoy your time there! What are you studying... Medicine I assume?

It is such a shame that BD ended their LHR-LBA route however there are still a few options to get to LBA with one stop (KL and AF mainly ). Personally I always fly into MAN (millions of options available to MAN as well as SQ) and catch the train directly from the airport to Leeds station (If you book in advance with a student rail card this can cost about £4). Even if you fly to London I would advise you to catch the underground to Kings Cross and then catch a train to Leeds (2hrs).. Catching the bus is such a long affair and is physically draining.

In answer to your question about the M1.. The speed limit is 70mph for all vehicles which is the top speed limit in the UK and is applied to all motorways and dual carriage ways.

Also, don't waste your money buying Asda smart price water here lol.. The tap water everywhere in the UK is drinking water and IMO tastes better than smart price bottled water

If you have any questions about Leeds/Yorkshire or about Medicine (I am a 4th year Medicine student at Newcastle) then feel free to ask me

Good luck!

Thanks for the kind offer! Yes, I am studying Medicine. Who knows you might be my boss in future

About the water here... Sometimes when I turn on the hot water tap, it's cloudy Any reason why?

I also bought a kettle... Leeds water tastes... mineral-ish...

[isaac]

Hey Isaac thanks for sharing this TR
In a week time I'll be leaving for the UK for university as well. I was hoping that you can explain more about this dedicated lane for student at LHR immigration, such as do they asked for certain documents (e.g. ucas official letter, accomodation offer etc), questions etc.

Also when did you get your UK SIM? Did you get it at LHR as soon as you arrived?

they asked me for my cas and how I was going up to leeds, how i was planning to pay for my tuition fees.
my UK sim card was passed to me by a friend who has just returned from UK. It's a prepaid card (though the UK people have no idea what prepaid is, ask them for "pay as you go")

[mr_botak]

Welcome to the UK - if you think it's cold now wait for December. To echo the advice from j.lin - make lots, and lots of friends. Oh and probably don't flash the £50 notes around - they are not really in common use - I've never actually seen one in eighteen years!

[FN-GM]

About the water here... Sometimes when I turn on the hot water tap, it's cloudy Any reason why?

Believe it or not its usually caused by air in the water. If you leave it to stand for a while tiny (sometimes not visible) bubbles will go to the surface and it will go away. Leeds water may taste a little different as it has more calcium in it. After a time you might find a white substance developing on the element of you kettle, its called limescale and is caused by the minerals and calcium in the water. Its not as bad as other areas though. Its perfectly safe to drink. If you Google Hard Water you will find more.

PS: If you have any question PM me, i am fairly local to you so might be able to help

[phaleesy]

Leeds is a small city of around 800,000 people. I have to admit I was in for abit of culture shock over here. There's quite abit of implicit racism, ignorant people who ask which part of China Singapore is in, people commenting that I speak good English for a Chinese person. Besides that, there are the little little things that take adjusting to. e.g, not all washrooms are foc. you pay 30p per entry to a toilet. Which I have already developed a habit of looking for any foc toilets and relieving myself even if I'm not too urgent whenever I come across them (in uni, mcdonalds, Marks and Spencer etc), Groceries have to be packed by yourself in supermarkets, having alot of coins is the norm here, the cold weather. Banks are inefficient, 50 pound notes are thoroughly checked whenever one uses them. I also notice that there are alot of young mothers here. I suspect it has to do with the fact that the government fully subsidises O&G services and gives subsidies to mothers. The people here also drink alot, smoke alot and many have tattoos. Unusual for someone from prim and proper Singapore. Or maybe I'm just ignorant as well.

Welcome to the UK!

I'm sure you'd enjoy your stay here. Rolling green green fields and countryside, beautiful coastlines, various peaks , stately homes, wildlife sanctuaries, museums, plays, ballet, opera, galleries, lots lots lots....

Unfortunately there's also the downside... the scum whom you've just described. Wait till you get into the NHS hospitals, then you'd see these scumbags going to A&E for freebies (paracetamol and lactulose?!!!).

I tend to steer clear of council estates and choose not to work in certain cities, so life is not such an eye-sore for me.

Yes, I am also from China and I speak good English for a Chinese. Which part of China is Singapore again?

I don't know about Leeds but I find that as long as you're not in London, you might find you're the only Singaporean or the very few Chinese or ethnic minority around. So it is very important to integrate and make new friends outside your "Singapore" circle.

I had a friend who was in Leeds for two years, then got a place in NUS in the third year.

The M1 is 70mph. The bus should be travelling at 60 mph. Sections of the M1 currently undergoing roadworks 50 mph.

[isaac]

Welcome to the UK!

I'm sure you'd enjoy your stay here. Rolling green green fields and countryside, beautiful coastlines, various peaks , stately homes, wildlife sanctuaries, museums, plays, ballet, opera, galleries, lots lots lots....

Unfortunately there's also the downside... the scum whom you've just described. Wait till you get into the NHS hospitals, then you'd see these scumbags going to A&E for freebies (paracetamol and lactulose?!!!).

I tend to steer clear of council estates and choose not to work in certain cities, so life is not such an eye-sore for me.

Yes, I am also from China and I speak good English for a Chinese. Which part of China is Singapore again?

I don't know about Leeds but I find that as long as you're not in London, you might find you're the only Singaporean or the very few Chinese or ethnic minority around. So it is very important to integrate and make new friends outside your "Singapore" circle.

I had a friend who was in Leeds for two years, then got a place in NUS in the third year.

The M1 is 70mph. The bus should be travelling at 60 mph. Sections of the M1 currently undergoing roadworks 50 mph.

actually you'd be surprised there's quite a large community of Chinese-race people in Leeds, comprising those BBC's (British Born Chinese-who mostly hail from Hong Kong), us Singaporeans and Malaysians (we are culturally homogeneous- I met a Malaysian the other day and mistook him for a Singaporean, our accents are too similar ) , and of course the PRC Chinese.

I haven't seen any council estates; are they very much similar to the inner city projects in New York or say Chicago?

[Kyo]

Bandwidth exceeded! Re-host? TR sounds interesting so far...

[prash]

us Singaporeans and Malaysians (we are culturally homogeneous- I met a Malaysian the other day and mistook him for a Singaporean, our accents are too similar )

yea the singaporeans and malaysians in the UK get along pretty well!

For me, it's lots more malaysians in nottingham than singaporeans (i'm final yr now). gonna miss notts after next year. i might get slammed but the UK's quite special- at least to us students though i'm sure they want us out after the degree

thanks for the trip report! brought back memories of my 1st trip over too! hope you're well settled....and your fellow singaporeans are friendly! best of luck!

ps: despite what some students will say, the water from the tap is fine man. i find any cloudiness goes away after you let the tap run awhile.

[jhm]

About the water here... Sometimes when I turn on the hot water tap, it's cloudy Any reason why?

I think it may be the case that the cold water comes directly from the water main supply whilst the hot water is heated up in a boiler and then sits inside a hot water tank until used. There might be gunk inside the hot water tank and hence why it's cloudy.

[CarbonMan]

I think it may be the case that the cold water comes directly from the water main supply whilst the hot water is heated up in a boiler and then sits inside a hot water tank until used. There might be gunk inside the hot water tank and hence why it's cloudy.

Hmmm, sometimes this may be due to very tiny air bubbles in the water which makes the water appear cloudy. Just stand the water for awhile, and the cloudiness should disappear quite quickly if it it's due to air bubbles. If it doesn't, then I wouldn't drink the stuff.

[eriond]

It will be my first time flying into LHR on SQ308 with a STA of 1530.

My flight will be on a Wednesday; any of the regulars know if I would have enough time to pass immigration (no IRIS), collect baggage, hop on the Picadilly Line and reach King's Cross Rail Station in time to catch a 1800 train?

I'm intending to buy an Advance ticket so it's non-flexi. The other option will be the 1918 train.

[jhm]

It will be my first time flying into LHR on SQ308 with a STA of 1530.

My flight will be on a Wednesday; any of the regulars know if I would have enough time to pass immigration (no IRIS), collect baggage, hop on the Picadilly Line and reach King's Cross Rail Station in time to catch a 1800 train?

I'm intending to buy an Advance ticket so it's non-flexi. The other option will be the 1918 train.

It takes at best an hour by tube from LHR to King's Cross and then you have to go up to the station and find your train etc. This means that you should be sat on the tube around 16:30 and hope that there are no tube problems. This timing does not seem feasible given a STA of 15:30, possible delays, immigration, delays in getting your luggage etc.