Depending on how often you do your laundry (once or week or even once every fortnight), you will have to decide on your own the amount of clothing you wish to bring along.
You might wish to bring along formal wear for internship interviews or events like SingNite and Hwa Chong Night.
WARM CLOTHING
Weatherwise, long-johns are generally unnecessary. The temperature in London does not fall too far below freezing. You may also consider caps to prevent your head/hair from getting wet during the winter months. If you should prefer an umbrella, get 'em in London. They're relatively cheap (you can get one for �2.50) and much sturdier than those you can find back home.
You might wish to invest however in:
- Long-sleeved sweatshirts
- Sweaters / woollen jumpers
- Gloves
- Scarves
- Water-proof jackets (leather jackets work)
- Nylon tights for ladies who want to wear skirts
FOOTWEAR
Shoes sturdy enough for regular and sustained walking are recommended. Since most of you will live in halls for your first year, you will probably be walking to school almost everyday. Ladies, flats are recommended on London's potholed streets.
A pair of formal footwear should suffice. Sandals and slippers are useful for indoor use and even outdoor use in the summer term.
If you think you would require thermal socks, then these may be purchased in London at reasonable prices.
TOILETRIES
Toiletries are readily available in shops like Boots and Superdrug. However, you might perhaps want to bring your toothbrush and sufficient toothpaste, mouthwash, shower foam and shampoo etc for your first few weeks.
However, for those wearing contact lenses, you will be well-advised to get sufficient multi-purpose solution to last you till the next time you return home. You do not want to see the prices of multi-purpose solution here.
Because of the dry weather, please remember to bring lip balm and skin moisturiser.
HOUSEKEEPING
If you are going to be at an LSE hall, note that bedlinen is not provided. You should thus bring a few sets of bedsheets and pillow cases (two should be more than enough) from Singapore as they can be quite expensive in London. Don't forget your duvet covers! No bolsters are provided.
If you are going to stay in an intercollegiate hall, then bedlinen will fortunately be provided. However, only one set of bedsheet, pillow case and duvet cover is supplied. If you need one more, then you will have to get one for yourself. However, like LSE halls, bolsters are not provided. For those of you not used to flat or almost non-existent pillows, you have been warned!
Also, please remember to bring clothes-hangers. Bring enough washing power/detergent to last your first few days.
COOKING UTENSILS AND FOODSTUFF
If you need a rice-cooker, get one in Singapore. To save yourself the trouble of looking for utensils, bring enough of 'em for yourself. Otherwise, they're reasonably-priced. If you should miss Singaporean dishes, then buy Prima Packs from NTUC or Cold Storage. Sauces like soy and oyster are available in Chinatown - a 10 to 25 minutes' walk to all halls of residence.
Water filters can be bought from Argos - they have branches everywhere. However, note that a lot of us don't ever use water filters. Boiling the water should suffice.
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