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I had planned to move from Singapore back to Austin in June. However, I have been offered a sweet job in London and have accepted. So, after a quick stop in Austin for some bbq, Barton Springs pool and Lions Muni I will be heading to the UK.

 

Has anyone made the move? What are the things you learned? Any other tips?

 

My job will be in north London near Camden Town.

9 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

 

I had planned to move from Singapore back to Austin in June. However, I have been offered a sweet job in London and have accepted. So, after a quick stop in Austin for some bbq, Barton Springs pool and Lions Muni I will be heading to the UK.

 

Has anyone made the move? What are the things you learned? Any other tips?

 

My job will be in north London near Camden Town.

 

anything-to-declare-dont-go.gif

 

Nah, just kidding.  Sounds often.  No advice.  Just envy.

  • Popular Post
1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:

 

I had planned to move from Singapore back to Austin in June. However, I have been offered a sweet job in London and have accepted. So, after a quick stop in Austin for some bbq, Barton Springs pool and Lions Muni I will be heading to the UK.

 

Has anyone made the move? What are the things you learned? Any other tips?

 

My job will be in north London near Camden Town.

 

Go to the dentist while you’re in Austin.

Housing ain't cheap.  Find someplace that is on a decent transport line (tube or bus) that gets you to work with a relatively low amount of hassle. E.G., my daughter lives in Hackney - the Mildmay line from Hackney Central to Camden Road will get you there in 25 minutes.

You single?  If so, you've got lots of options for where to live.  But truly, look at bus and tube routes, and then pick your place based on that.  Depending on budget, there are plenty of small flats, or if you're up for a co-living deal (private room and en suite, shared kitchen and common area), there are a lot of those that are plenty nice.

And honestly, once you get out of classic "central London," the rest of London living isn't as expensive as people often think (my daughter bitches about it, but that's because she's young and poor working her first job -- everything's "expensive" when you are making entry-level money).

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Housing ain't cheap.  Find someplace that is on a decent transport line (tube or bus) that gets you to work with a relatively low amount of hassle. E.G., my daughter lives in Hackney - the Mildmay line from Hackney Central to Camden Road will get you there in 25 minutes.

You single?  If so, you've got lots of options for where to live.  But truly, look at bus and tube routes, and then pick your place based on that.  Depending on budget, there are plenty of small flats, or if you're up for a co-living deal (private room and en suite, shared kitchen and common area), there are a lot of those that are plenty nice.

And honestly, once you get out of classic "central London," the rest of London living isn't as expensive as people often think (my daughter bitches about it, but that's because she's young and poor working her first job -- everything's "expensive" when you are making entry-level money).

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

1 minute ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

Yeah, saw that.  Still, there's a range.   We had a friend living in Singapore for a while, and she lived in a pretty small cube (nice cube....but still small).  Rents in both places (central city) are pretty similar.

5 minutes ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

From Raising Canes to fish 'n chips.

9 minutes ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

*faze*

Brain fart.

26 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Beer is warmer, weather is milder, pussy is hairier.

 

 

2 out of 3 ain't all that bad.. team bush

You can live in one of those long canal boats.  When crossing streets look right left right or you might get mushed.   They drive on the wrong side of the street often there.  
 

the national dishes are chicken tikka masala, fish and chips, limp bacon, and canned beans for breakfast.  Black pudding is not chocolate.  

Their bacon isn't actually bacon (pork belly), it's pork loin, hence why they keep it limp.

1 hour ago, dieucla98 said:

Their bacon isn't actually bacon (pork belly), it's pork loin, hence why they keep it limp.

https://englishbreakfastsociety.com/back-bacon.html
 

actually they use a cut that is part belly, part loin.  They cure it but I don’t think they smoke it.  It’s not very good to me, like boiled Canadian and American bacon.  
 

I prefer bangers 

  • Author

Good advice so far.

Taxes in Singapore are 12-17%. UK tax hits 45% at the top. You also have to pay council tax as a renter which can be like another £200+ a month.

It will be nice to be able to play golf again. They shut down the “cheap” public courses in Singapore ($150) and Indonesia added a $50 visitor fee for Americans, so golf there isn’t as reasonable.

2 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Good advice so far.

Taxes in Singapore are 12-17%. UK tax hits 45% at the top. You also have to pay council tax as a renter which can be like another £200+ a month.

It will be nice to be able to play golf again. They shut down the “cheap” public courses in Singapore ($150) and Indonesia added a $50 visitor fee for Americans, so golf there isn’t as reasonable.

The golf can't be beat. We just joined a club in Scotland for the discounts on other courses for an upcoming trip - annual dues are only $350 and the course is an old Tom Morris design. Just bonkers how affordable golf is there. 

Moved to East Anglia when I was younger. I learned the colder it gets, the skimpier the women dress.  Postal addresses seem weird because many things are referenced just by their street or locality names and people seem to have encyclopedic knowledge of them. Other than that it was normal living. 

Great opportunity to rent Caterhams on the weekend and drive around the hill or countryside.

I lived in West Hamstead.  London isn't actually a cohesive city, it a collection of numerous closely related cities clustered together.  Be honest with yourself about what you value (hipster coffee shops and restraunts, family friendly, closeness to work, etc.) and pick one accordingly.  Dress for the rain; when people say it rains a lot in the winter, I didn't appreciate what that actually means.  It rains ALL THE TIME.  And not like a Portland drizzle - it downpours.  Avoid renting a basement flat.  All the wind, rain and trash collects on your front doorstep.

  • Author

Rent Prices are pretty crazy. Even compared to Singapore.

On 5/14/2025 at 7:34 AM, South Austin said:

Pro tip: They speak English over there.

But you might need subtitles.

17 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

Rent Prices are pretty crazy. Even compared to Singapore.

In the plus sudetou won

’t gwt caned for xhwing gum.

Someone who lived in London used to be a regular on the board. It seems like he disappeared.

I lived there for 2 years although it was roughly 20 years ago. The constant low cloud ceiling bothered me so probably the advice that first comes to mind is if you see the sun shining, go outside because chances are it'll be gone in an hour. 

London is an awesome city to be on an expense report.

Is this an Ex Pat assignment?  If so, wouldn't your company pick up the tab on rent? Or at least up to a certain budget?

Someone who lived in London used to be a regular on the board. It seems like he disappeared.
I lived there for 2 years although it was roughly 20 years ago. The constant low cloud ceiling bothered me so probably the advice that first comes to mind is if you see the sun shining, go outside because chances are it'll be gone in an hour. 

Daughter was just sharing the London mixed bag today. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny, she and a friend walked the city, went thrifitng, great day. Today…a damn half marathon through her hood, she went to Stratford, and now has to muscle through 9 million people to get home, packed streets.

Vacation in southern Spain. No biases. 

There is a very active Texas Exes chapter in London. They have game watching parties, even for the super late kicks. Highly recommend that you get involved. 

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

3 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

My daughter had a hellacious time with that.

I had an HSBC account already (had to open one for the boy going to school there - we needed it in order to buy a flat, so we didn't have a UK address yet).  You CAN open an HSBC account in the UK from the US.  It's a headache, but it can be done.  There are only a couple of banks that will let you do it, but HSBC is one of them.  Or at least, it was.

On 5/18/2025 at 8:38 AM, Jerry Callo said:

But you might need subtitles.

At least he's not moving to Glasgow

51 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

My daughter had a hellacious time with that.

 

Same. I think it came up in another thread. It took me, as I recall, four in-person bank visits at least. We had a rental and an address we lived at. If you've opened an account at a new bank in the US lately even that's an agonizing hour of paper work, even if you're a citizen. 

Edited by Chopper

1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

You may be able to get temporary accommodations and use said address if they'll let you pay with a credit card. I had a relocation service that paid for a temporary place for me for about a month, and I used that temporary address to open my bank account. I had my work write a letter proving my address, role, salary, and permanence of the job and took that to the bank in the UK to get an account. I used Barclay's FWIW.

You probably are well versed in having to transfer money internationally, living overseas, but I used Transferwise (now called Wise I believe) to transfer money between my US and UK banks with minimal transfer fees. There may be better options out there today. 

Just now, ABZ said:

You may be able to get temporary accommodations and use said address if they'll let you pay with a credit card. I had a relocation service that paid for a temporary place for me for about a month, and I used that temporary address to open my bank account. I had my work write a letter proving my address, role, salary, and permanence of the job and took that to the bank in the UK to get an account. I used Barclay's FWIW.

You probably are well versed in having to transfer money internationally, living overseas, but I used Transferwise (now called Wise I believe) to transfer money between my US and UK banks with minimal transfer fees. There may be better options out there today. 

Wise is the best on fees and exchange rate.  But it acts up sometimes, and tells us "nope, you can't transfer money."  Usually when it's a bigger amount, but we've sent big amounts before with no issues, so we really can't figure out when and why it will give us a hard time.  Bank wire transfer exchange rate SUCKS.

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Author

My visa got approved and issued. But my start date got moved back a few weeks as my boss is on vacation. Booked flight over for July 10.

More BBQ, Barton Springs and golf until then

Women are fugly there. Date outside of the country.

They’ve got some cosmopolitan types who are mighty fine. But otherwise….yeah. As the boy has described them, with a sigh, “they’re all short, round, and orange.” The fake tan makeup they put on to cover up their paleness…it’s not good. Find a pretty and posh one, avoid the orange ones.
59 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


They’ve got some cosmopolitan types who are mighty fine. But otherwise….yeah. As the boy has described them, with a sigh, “they’re all short, round, and orange.” The fake tan makeup they put on to cover up their paleness…it’s not good. Find a pretty and posh one, avoid the orange ones.

*chavs, or chavettes, avoid

3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


They’ve got some cosmopolitan types who are mighty fine. But otherwise….yeah. As the boy has described them, with a sigh, “they’re all short, round, and orange.” The fake tan makeup they put on to cover up their paleness…it’s not good. Find a pretty and posh one, avoid the orange ones.

Gene Wilder Oompa Loompa GIF

On 5/18/2025 at 10:15 AM, tx 3 putt said:

 

I swear this is a true story:   My uncle was a police chief.   We were close to my uncle, and he was close to his cops, so we knew all of them and regularly saw them at cookouts, at the lake, whatever.  One of his cops, a woman named Tina, participated in some exchange program where she went to England to hang with their cops for a bit, and one of their cops came her after.  Of course, she ended up fucking the limey.  Anyway, we are all at dinner (my family, uncle's family, Tina and the limey) and the limey goes up to the bartender to ask where he can find a fag. 

7 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

I swear this is a true story:   My uncle was a police chief.   We were close to my uncle, and he was close to his cops, so we knew all of them and regularly saw them at cookouts, at the lake, whatever.  One of his cops, a woman named Tina, participated in some exchange program where she went to England to hang with their cops for a bit, and one of their cops came her after.  Of course, she ended up fucking the limey.  Anyway, we are all at dinner (my family, uncle's family, Tina and the limey) and the limey goes up to the bartender to ask where he can find a fag. 

image.jpeg.6538010efe9add1482d7a1fc9f9d3d16.jpeg

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

At the ATX airport. I’m bringing 2 suitcases, 2 boxes and a golf bag. We will see how hard it is get it all to the apartment.

They put me in Whitechappel for the first month. I hope there is a pub nearby.

It will be interesting to go back to work after basically 3 months of messing around.

  • Author

165 pounds to go from Heathrow to east London in taxi. I’ve flown round trip from Singapore to Bangkok for less :(.

3 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

165 pounds to go from Heathrow to east London in taxi. I’ve flown round trip from Singapore to Bangkok for less :(.

Shoulda taken the tube.

18 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

I’m bringing 2 suitcases, 2 boxes and a golf bag.

 

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Shoulda taken the tube.

That doesn't sound fun, especially with typically multi-flights of stairs.

18 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

At the ATX airport. I’m bringing 2 suitcases, 2 boxes and a golf bag. We will see how hard it is get it all to the apartment.

They put me in Whitechappel for the first month. I hope there is a pub nearby.

It will be interesting to go back to work after basically 3 months of messing around.

 

 

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