All About Overseas Education

[Jennifer]

.zeit:

UK tap water is too hard for me.

How did your body react for you to know you cant drink the tap water directly without boiling?

[.010675zeit]

Jennifer:

.zeit:

UK tap water is too hard for me.

How did your body react for you to know you cant drink the tap water directly without boiling?

I didn't even drink a drop, as my UK relatives had already told me not to. I think it may cost hair loss thru washing or drinking. A friend of mine lost a lot of hair after 3 years.

You can google \"UK hard water hair loss\".

https://s15.postimg.cc/y8jel4ivv/2018-09-05_49.png\">

[sharonkhoo]

Jennifer:

slmkhoo, .zeit,

:thankyou: for the information.
the hall of residence specifically prohibits cooking devices, toasters, kettles in the bedroom, by order of the College Fire Officer.

There is a website https://www.unikitout.com/ ,with prices listed in SGD, which elder boy is looking at now.
I think he should check in the hall first, then see what cooking utensils he should get or share among the residents of the assigned kitchen.

btw the hall is self-catered, no meals provided.

No meals? Well, then he has to get his act together more quickly! He should also get to know the takeaway options in the vicinity for times when he doesn't want to cook or doesn't have time. Even if he isn't allowed to use kettles etc in his room, he may still decide to have his own electricals, and just carry them to the kitchen to use when he needs to. Depending on how many share the kitchen and how considerate they are, sharing can mean having to wait, or things getting spoiled or dirty. Teach him how to cook ahead and cook really simple and quick meals (but also nutritious).

I didn't mind the water. It's hard, but it's drinkable. Your son can buy a jug filter (probably also available from Argos!) if it really bothers him. I didn't like the film that developed on the top of a cup of tea, but I lived with it for many years. I drink many cups of tea a day! I lived in places (7 yrs in total) where the water was harder than London's, and it hasn't affected my hair. I did suffer temporary greater hair loss after each birth, but that's a separate issue. In fact, my midwife in the UK told me not to bother with calcium supplements when I was pregnant, but just to drink more tap water! The scale that builds up in kettles is a pain, but a cheap way to descale is to use vinegar (the cheapest and strongest in the supermarket is white vinegar, I think) - boil a cup of water in the kettle, then pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar into the hot water, and leave to soak for an hour or so, then tip out the vinegar solution. If there's a lot of scale, repeat. It's cheaper than buying the special descaling tablets or solutions.

[Jennifer]

.zeit:

Jennifer:

[quote=\".zeit\"]UK tap water is too hard for me.

How did your body react for you to know you cant drink the tap water directly without boiling?

I didn't even drink a drop, as my UK relatives had already told me not to. I think it may cost hair loss thru washing or drinking. A friend of mine lost a lot of hair after 3 years.

You can google \"UK hard water hair loss\".

https://s15.postimg.cc/y8jel4ivv/2018-09-05_49.png\">[/quote]wow, that sounds scary.

[Jennifer]

slmkhoo:

Jennifer:

btw the hall is self-catered, no meals provided.

No meals? Well, then he has to get his act together more quickly! He should also get to know the takeaway options in the vicinity for times when he doesn't want to cook or doesn't have time. Even if he isn't allowed to use kettles etc in his room, he may still decide to have his own electricals, and just carry them to the kitchen to use when he needs to. Depending on how many share the kitchen and how considerate they are, sharing can mean having to wait, or things getting spoiled or dirty. Teach him how to cook ahead and cook really simple and quick meals (but also nutritious).

That's right.

slmkhoo:

I didn't mind the water. It's hard, but it's drinkable. Your son can buy a jug filter (probably also available from Argos!) if it really bothers him...The scale that builds up in kettles is a pain, but a cheap way to descale is to use vinegar (the cheapest and strongest in the supermarket is white vinegar, I think) - boil a cup of water in the kettle, then pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar into the hot water, and leave to soak for an hour or so, then tip out the vinegar solution. If there's a lot of scale, repeat. It's cheaper than buying the special descaling tablets or solutions.

:thankyou:

[hercules]

Sharing my kids’ experiences:


1. If it’s a hall with a common fridge, food in the fridge faces almost like 100% chance of being stolen / eaten / drunk (I heard of the thief drink directly from the milk carton and put the carton back) ,never mind the students maybe from law, medicine, etc faculty.

2. Though external electrical appliances are usually prohibited from use in the rooms (for fear of power outage), students like my kids will still have their mini rice cooker, small humidifier, etc in their room (from what I know, usually a basic electric kettle is provided in each room). There maybe random checking of rooms but such checking will be announced and so these kids will hide their ‘illegal’ appliances on that day else will be confiscated. Very light cooking in the room (no pan fried etc).

3. If want to replace the basic electric kettle with a filtered electric kettle (‘illegal’), then buy from there and not here (coz not all filters are the same. Different countries use different types of filter as water hardness maybe different in each country and so the filters are made differently).

4. Usually can forget about using the common kitchen (dirty, messy, etc).

5. Nowadays they have those 1-pound shops there that sell things similar to Daiso. With the current exchange rate, it’s cheaper than Singapore Daiso. So, dont really have to buy many things over (but mini multi-purpose cooker maybe necessary coz not easy to get one there).

[cherrygal]

For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?

[sharonkhoo]

cherrygal:

For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?

It depends on the university. Some make it mandatory for students to live in a hall for the first year. Some may allow the student to live out even in the first year. I don't think any university makes it mandatory for more than the first year as there are usually fewer rooms available than students who would like to live in. Unless the parent owns a flat which the student can live in, renting outside is usually more expensive than living in university-owned accommodation.

[cherrygal]

Thanks slmkhoo!

[hercules]

cherrygal:

For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?

For first year, ideally to stay in the dorm and to have catered food coz the kid is still new to the environment (catered food looks interesting for the first 2-3 months, after that just wanna eat plain white rice). So, better to know a few more kakis and be familiarized with the environment and then head out to outside flats in the second year with those like-minded (unless dont mind to rent a studio to stay alone).

External accommodation (housing + own cooking) is generally cheaper as compared to dorm + catered meals.