My friend asked me, 'do I have to bring the cooking utensil? It is going to be heavy!'. I said, 'yes to have to, and I am not kidding'.

Things are pretty much similar to our home country but with major differences. As foreigner will be able to relate and find some stuff that they need to live in here, they will also discover how ridiculously overprice things are.

To eat

For example, sea products like prawn will cost you around £1.50 for 100-200grams. You will still get to buy similar stuff but it is pricey. Things like pot, mug, spoon and other cooking utensil is surely expensive if you compare to your home country. As Pound Sterling is really high, stuff are relatively more expensive compare to other country. A cheap mug from Tesco will cost around £1.

 A set of spoon and forks which will give you 2 table spoons and 2 forks plus 2 teaspoons (let say, I don't remember) will cost you around £1.50. To get a complete set of cooking stuff, you might have to spend £10 to £20. So bring some from your home country. You won't regret it. Your list should also include knife, cooking scissors and cutting board. For Asian people who eat rice, getting a small electric rice cooker will not be a bad idea. Believe me, it is not. You will discover that you save a lot of time compare to cooking it the conventional way.

Compare on the net: For cooking utensil, one of the fair price is in Woolworths. Check out their webpage in Cookware price to give you some idea.

 To wear

Get yourself summer clothes for 2 weeks of stock. If you are a student and live in a rented house, then they probably have the washing machine. If you live in university halls, then they will have a washing machine. That kind of washing machine should be able to store your dirty laundry for 2 weeks. It will cost you around £2. And additional £1 dryer (of over 60 minutes) will help dry your clothes. Just be aware of the weather here. If it is not summer, the sun won't appear too much.

Beside summer clothes, get yourself enough sweaters and coats. Get yourself one waterproof coat so that you won't have problem during rainy season. As these are the things which will make your bag full easily, just don't bring it too much. You can get a good jacket for £20 to £30. The best time to buy is probably during Boxing Day which is 26th of December. They do have sales during Christmas but it is much cheaper of Boxing Day sales as it is the leftover of the festive season.

And more importantly, don't forget to bring enough socks and underwear. Get yourself a very thick socks and gloves as well. Some foreigner from the tropical country will find that the fall is cold enough for them, so they might need to have a hand gloves. However, it is not really a bad idea to get one from the shop in UK considering they sell a pair fine hand gloves for around £2.

Other than that, if you don't have enough things to wear and do not want to spend a lot, charity shop is not a bad idea.

Compare on the net: One of the good store is Primark. The clothes are cheaper than other stores. However, the website doesn't provide enough proof for that (You can actually, but kinda not user friendly). Some other popular store is Next. It is not really a bad one when they have sales. Check out in here.

To communicate

Mobile phones is a must nowadays. There are various phone line to pick in UK. Whether it is O2 or Virgin Mobiles or even Tesco Mobiles.

The idea is, if you pay around £20 -£30 per months, then you will get a free phone, and minutes of calling. That is quite convenient for people who has a lot of friends in UK. That is on postpaid. For me, I used prepay (or pay-as-you-go) and spend £5 for 1-2 months for my mobile considering I don't call and sms much.

However, I use Skype and VoipStunt. The price are provided on their pages. It is a better idea to use internet to call UK people, send them message but mainly for calling home country. VoipStunt provides free call to landline in lot of country provided that you pay a certain amount per month, which the amount can be used to call non-free numbers.

To work and play

Laptop is the best choice. You can watch a lot of things using the internet and play games and do your work as well. It is mobile. Expect around £300-400 for a new good laptop. It is pretty hard to get below £200-300 except if you go to computer fair. One of the good store is Currys. Check out the price here. They have a lot of stores around UK. One of the online computer shop that is good is Ebuyer.com. Check out from both sites before making decisions.

*Data taken on August 2007.

Nokia N73 is free with Virgin Pay Monthly Plan. It is £20 for 100 minutes and 100 messages*. But some other networks provide free call during weekend. So choose wisely.