Fresher Flu - London Needs Better Tissues

There's been a nasty cold going around campus and I've recently caught it. :( Now 3 out of 5 of us in my study group are at various stages of sick. In fact one of our members was so ill previously, he ended up missing on our stream trip to Amsterdam.

If you sat in any of my classes, you'll find me coughing and blowing my nose, with a growing pile of tissues in front of me. In the last 3 days I've been through more than 3 boxes of tissues. Alas! It's rough having a cold in London. I've discovered that London doesn't seem to stock nice soft tissues for people with colds.

Sure, the boxes say "super soft", but honestly there's no "soft" to be found by my standards. Nothing like the super soft 3ply Kleenex Aloe Vera tissues so readily available at every supermarket in NZ. The Kleenex I've found here is pretty average - very disappointing compared to the quality back home, and no aloe vera or eucalyptus versions. :(

So now I've got a really sore nose, as well as a new appreciation for the huge variety and soft tissues that NZ has. If anyone knows where to find actual super soft tissues in London, I'd be immensely grateful! I'm a bit like the Kleenex ad they ran years ago in NZ, where the current tissues feel like I'm blowing my nose with sandpaper.

Oh and same applies to toilet paper as well. It's rough. There are some softer than others but nothing super soft. Hmm...maybe there's a business opportunity there?

Two Weeks of Crazy

Where have the last two weeks gone? Technically, although the MBA programme doesn't officially begin till tomorrow, life has already become a whirlwind of studying, socialising and travelling....oh and settling into London.

Studying

Since July, we've had quite a few things to do as pre-course work for the Leadership module at LBS. Mainly these have been surveys - lots and lots of surveys. I've lost count of the number of surveys I've completed from LBS. Our pre-course reading list also got released not that long ago, with a case and several articles that we need to prepare before our first class next week. There's also an official assignment to submit before the end of next week - and yes, that's a graded assignment.

Amongst all this official pre-work, some of us are trying to finish up the online pre-courses in finance, accounting and quantitative methods (some of us have given up); some of us are studying to try and pass the waiver exam for Managerial Accounting and Finance; some of us are brushing up on our language skills to get ahead in/pass the language diagnostic test (of which level 2 is scarily difficult for a second language).

Socialising

As people settle in and arrive in London, there's always some social event somewhere. The official Flat Hunters' Pub Crawls began on 4th August and so far there have been five events at different pubs around London. Don't let the name fool you though, because most people at these events have already found flats and are just there to party :). There's also been a tennis social and a couple of pedibus tours organised. Plus lots of lunches, dinners, drinks - there's really no lack of company!

Travelling

Our class is apparently the first to have organised a pre-MBA trek. About 50 of us and partners were over in Barcelona recently. Aside from this, we're already had the opportunity to participate in any treks organised by the various clubs at LBS. During this time, it appears that the sailing club has been the most active, it being summer. Signups to the sailing club treks have been on a first-come-first-serve basis, including putting payment down for the trek up front. Aside from this, those who have arrived in London earlier and are more settled, have organised thheir own trips in small groups as well.

Oh and as for recruiting, the consulting firms - Mckinsley, Bain and BCG in particular, have already organised pre-MBA events too where attendees were introduced to the world of consulting. And of course, the opportunity to network with existing consultants.

Does it sound like b-school has already begun? It certainly does to me. Timetables were released a few days ago and our calendars are now chocker. Bring on the mayhem tomorrow!

Flat-Hunting Around LBS

Now that we're in August, it's prime flat-hunting season in the suburbs around London Business School i.e Maida Vale, St John's Wood and Marylebone. A recent small survey of students unveiled the fact that around 50% have already found something but 50% are still looking.

Based on my observations thus far, several have formed their own flat-hunting groups of 2-4 people early on so all that's left to do is to find a flat that everyone is ok with. It's quite a bit easier to hunt for places if you already have a ready group. Good places within walking distance to LBS are popular and being able to sign for it quickly is an advantage - which you can only do if you have the required number of people. That said, there are always people who have already found or got an apartment and are looking for flatmates to join their group.

Some bits of advice for future flat-hunters:

• Three bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments are much easier to find than 4 bedroom places. So if forming a group, look at pairing up or forming a group of 2 or 3. 4 bedroom apartments are pretty rare, especially within walking distance of LBS.
• Apartments with 3 equal sized bedrooms are not easy to find and most groups split the rent based on the bedroom size and features. It's best to have someone in your group who has a slightly higher budget and would be willing to take the largest room.
• Most LBS students usually try and find places within Maida Vale, St John's Wood and Marylebone. Marylebone is a much more expensive area out of the three.
• It's a pretty bad idea to make an offer on an apartment without at least one of your flatmates viewing it first. Skype and pictures do not necessarily match reality. One of my classmates offered and signed for an apartment based on the previous tenants showing them the apartment via Skype. The condition of the apartment ended up being in a much worse condition than imagined, which unfortunately they had to live with.
• For international students, if you don't have a UK guarantee or any credit history in the UK, you'll find yourself having to pay not just a 6 week deposit (what we call a bond in NZ), but also 6 months rent in advance. In most cases as letting agents are handling this, they insist on it. If you manage to deal directly with the landlord, you can negotiate this or apartments owned by LBS alumni usually waives this.
• Everything can be negotiated! You can negotiate the amount of rent, the payment terms - even whether the landlord should provide an unfurnished apartment with furnishings. Whether or not the landlord accepts your offer depends on how well you present your case.
• Renting through a real estate agent is the most common way of getting a place. However, this normally comes with various administration fees. The real estate agencies located around LBS will waive the administrative fees for LBS students though if you ask. So always try and negotiate for a better deal.
• There is a secret group on Facebook for LBS flatshares and sublets where rooms and people seeking flatmates hunt. It's very useful for finding a place or short-term accommodation while you're seeking a more permanent home. You'll need an invitation to see the group though.

Picking UK Mobile Phone Service Providers

Based on research and conversations with both current students and friends living in London, if you're looking for a mobile phone service provider and are on a budget, Three or Giff Gaff are the ones for you.

I recommend picking up a prepaid SIM (they call it Pay As You Go in the UK) from Three asap when you visit London (or are up for the Admits Weekend). This is what I did when I was there for a week. Here's why:

• I would be contactable without having to pay overpriced auto-roaming charges
• I'd have a UK number that I can give to friends and family for when I later move to London
• I'd be contactable and be able to contact people without having to pay overpriced auto-roaming charges subsequently when I move to London
• Three charges £0.01 per MB, £0.02 per text and £0.02 per min for calls, which makes it very cheap if you tend to do all your texting and calling through Whatsapp the way I do.

Why Three and not Giff Gaff? Well, Giff Gaff operates by monthly bundles, the lowest being £5. It makes it cheaper than Three overall, but since I wasn't going to be there for a month, why pay for what I wasn't going to use? As is, in that week I barely used £1 from my £10 credit loaded on the SIM.

£10 btw is the lowest value you can load on a Three PAYG SIM. Definitely worth my doing research before hand because they'll try and sell you the SIM with the £10 or £20 monthly bundle at the store so just make sure you let them know exactly what it is you want - a free SIM and to load some credit on it.

My plan after moving to London in terms of mobile providers would be to use up all my credit on the Three SIM, and then simply port my number over and switch to Giff Gaff for their cheaper monthly bundle. Well...that is if I run through credit enough to warrant it. One of the great things about Three if you plan to travel (which I am), is that they don't have roaming charges for a select list of countries. And in case you were wondering, Australia and NZ are on the list! See full list here. Go figure.

Save on Transport in London - To Do Before You Arrive

This post is meant for new travellers to London or future admits travelling to London for the first time for the Admits Weekend. Or anyone who doesn't know of the Visitor Oyster Card. This can help you save while travelling around in London.

If you're in London, chances are you'll end up using public transport at some point - the tube, bus or train to get around. London is very well connected via public transport (unlike NZ!). Locals carry the Oyster Card which is the cheapest way to pay for single journeys on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, Tfl Rail and most National Rail services in London.

I recommend that visitors or people first moving to London get the Visitors Oyster Card which gives you local travel prices on public transport. Thing is, you can only purchase it online and have it posted to your home country. It can take 8-10 working days to get there so make sure you buy it in plenty of time before depart! You can't buy it within London from a ticket station unlike the regular Oyster Card. Well actually you might be able to and have it shipped to a UK address where you can pick it up, but I've not investigated this.

The difference between the Visitors Oyster Card and the normal Oyster Card is that you only pay £3 for the card vs £5 for the normal card (though you'd need to pay shipping fee so get the card posted so it does end up costing more overall for the card alone). But the Visitors card also gives you access to promotional offers on attractions too. See here for details. Like the regular Oyster Card, just top up when you run out of credit on the card.

By getting the card sent to you, you save right from the start travelling from the airport to your accommodation in the city via train or tube. You can also use your Visitor Oyster card to pay for travel on train services to/from Gatwick Airport, including the Gatwick Express. The airports are really well connected. I took the tube from Heathrow to my mate's place in Canning Town and using the Visitor Oyster Card, it cost me £3.10 (off peak). If I'd paid cash, the same journey would've cost £6. You can look up fare prices here on Transport For London.

For visitors not planning to return to London, you can cash out any leftover credit in your card before you leave. As for admits to LBS, you might as well keep the card for when you return to London as it would take some time to apply for a student Oyster Card.

Budgeting for London Living Costs

When thinking about funding, I've found that it's easy to forget though that aside from the huge fee for tuition alone, there's 2 years worth of living costs to work into calculations as well.

So how much do you really need to live in London? I've been doing a fair amount of research to estimate this, after speaking to friends who live in London, LBS alumni and current LBS students. Obviously this is highly dependent upon your lifestyle and what you plan to prioritise with a limited budget. I'm just going to share here what I've gathered so far.

Speaking to alumni, something like £300-350 per week is a pretty reasonable budget as living costs. I thought this sounded quite good so I've been using this as the basis for my living cost budget.

Of this budget, the bulk of it would naturally go towards rent. Especially since I plan to live close to school (which everyone advises is a good idea at least for the first year). I did some research on rentals and you can get a room in a 2-3 bedroom apartment in St John's Wood, Marylebone and Maida Vale (suburbs near LBS) for £230 per week, all bills inclusive. I've thus made this my max price for looking for accommodation.

I've heard from friends that food in London is cheap - if you cook it yourself. Basically what this means is that groceries are cheap, but eating out isn't (expect £15-20 at an average restaurant). Friends have said that groceries are cheaper in London than in Singapore. For instance, you could get 3 whole chickens for £7 (though that is a lot of food for one). I'm not sure if I'll find time to cook properly much, but putting together sandwiches and the occasional cooked meal for lunch is doable. Mind you, I'm not a very big eater so I'd say my food budget tends to be on the leaner side. Current students have also mentioned that every now and then corporates sponsor a reception or event with drinks and nibbles i.e. free food that helps cut down on costs ;) I've also heard that it's not unusual that some students attend these events solely for the free food...so you do what you gotta do.

Entertainment is extremely varied depending on how social you are and how much alcohol you're looking to consume. Despite having worked in the alcohol industry, I'm a very light drinker so I'm not expecting to have very high entertainment costs.

Summary of my expected general weekly budget

• Rent in shared apartment - £170-190
• Bills - £40-50
• Transport (should be low if you live close to school) - £10
• Food - £40
• Entertainment (depends on how much you party/drink and I don't drink much) - £40-50