We had gone on a three day trip to Northern Ireland. We had taken a bus from Milton Keynes to Scotland and a cruise from Scotland to Belfast, New castle.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Trip to Malaysia: Complete Langkawi Kuala Lumpur guide!!
“Malaysia, truly Asia.” – claims the advertisements of Malaysian tourism. Did they coin this tag line just because Malaysia and Asia rhymed well? I had this doubt all along till I visited Malaysia in 2011. Oh my God! Malaysia is, definitely, truly Asia. A land full of mountains; A land so green and fresh; A land that can make you fall in love with nature. I love Malaysia so much that, when in 2014 (this year, last month) I got married, Malaysia was the first place I wanted to go with my husband for a honeymoon. Why did I love the country so much? What impressed me? Let’s go on a dream trip to Malaysia through this article.
5 Things one will be assured of when one visits Malaysia:
1. Fresh green mountains
2. Heights
3. Wildlife
4. Sea food
5. Islands & Sea
A dream trip:
“Have a nice trip” said the airhostess with a pleasant smile. There started my beautiful vacation to the land of mountains, Malaysia. I sat back, turned on flight mode and fastened my seat belt.
*Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
‘We will land in Kuala Lumpur in less than 30 minutes. The local time is 2:50pm. Please fasten your seat belt…blah …blah… blah…’ said the announcement.
I, quickly, looked through the window and saw a huge area fully painted in green. I couldn’t wait to go out of the airport.
I reached my friend’s place, dropped my baggage, had some water and packed my handbag for sight seeing. The best thing about Malaysia is that it becomes dark only after 7.
You can trip to Malaysia just to see the glittering KL Tower at night. The tower is so tall that you can see the tower from almost anywhere in KL and shines like it is studded with stars. It looks like someone had studded stars on the tower and spilled a bit of it on the sky. You can reach there through the metro rail and it is walkable from the station. The backside of the tower had a musical, colourful fountain, where people can sit and watch the beauty of the tower.
Six, bottom floors of the two towers are shopping complexes. For a vegetarian, Indian like me seeing a Saravana Bhavan there was like winning in a treasure hunt. There is a raised platform at a certain distance from the fountain where we can stand and click pictures with the tower.
The next best thing about Kuala Lumpur is HOP ON HOP OFF service which is a boon to tourist who have not planned anything. HOP ON HOP OFF buses operate from 8am to 8pm. I just got one ticket for 45RM and I was allowed to get in and get out from any hop on hop off bus at any destination in the below map. So you pay 45 RM and get to see all the interesting places in the city. You can also check the status of buses and the exact time of arrival of each bus at each stop on their site.
I boarded at stop 11, KL Sentral and got down at the national Museum. This place is a huge collection of stuffs that depict the culture and tradition of Malaysia. Most interesting and attractive fact is that this huge museum has a free entry.
National monument, lake garden are something you can see from the bus itself. It is a double decker bus with half of its top area roof free. My next destination was bird park, stop 15. This is heaven if you are a bird lover. You get to see all kinds of birds just walking and flying close to you. These birds are not caged and you can even take snaps with them. The entry is less than 50 RM per person and the area is too huge with a lot of birds which made me feel I saw more than what I had paid for.
I walked to the butterfly garden, orchid garden from the bird park. The best way to enjoy the butterfly park is to rub some flower on your finger and watch the butterfly sit on you. Best for photo-crazy girls like me.
The next best stop is 23, KL CC. Watching the KL Tower in the morning makes it as exciting as watching it in the night. It is so beautifully built that it looks like a beautiful silver art work, standing tall. You just have to walk into the KL tower, come to the fountain side and walk a little towards a triangular tomb like building to reach the aquarium. This KL aquarium has so many kinds of fish that, you will take at least 1 hour to come out of it. You have an underwater aquarium set up, too, where I saw the frightening shark just a glass wall away from me.
Finally, I went to China town followed by Central market to buy some stuffs. You can bargain as much as you are skilled to, in china town. The best place to window shop and bargain. I was so tired by the time I reached back KL sentral, where I stayed.
In Malaysia, almost all the buildings, even residential, are so tall that you could see the entire city from most houses. There is also a revolving restaurant, I think at the 30th floor or so. But please check the website and look for the dress code before you book tables. Worth the money, I bet.
The next morning, I took a flight to Lungkawi. The flight takes hardly half an hour and there are lot of flights all through the day.
Langkawi is the best and friendliest tourist spot one can ever see in Asia. The taxis have fixed rates all over the island. The taxi drivers are more like tourist guides and they tell you what you need to see at what time. There is no bargain or over demand done by taxi drivers as every taxi is pre booked and carries a book full of rates we can refer to. You can even rent a car or bike. But considering the climate in Malaysia I would recommend you to take taxi or car.
I stayed at Seaview hotel in kauh town. This hotel is surrounded by a lot of eating outlets, mostly non veg. The Seaview hotel serves a very wide spread for breakfast with amazing indian veg food. There is one Indian restaurant for Pizza named ‘Domino’ close to this hotel. This also has veg Pizzas and vegetarian salads. If you want to taste Dosas, go to Haji Ali restaurant; the cook is a tamilian here. If you want to have south indian food take a taxi for just 8 RM to Langkawi Pride mall. There is a small restaurant opposite to it which serves veg/non veg full south indian style food with banana just for 10 RM.
Oh my god! I am talking only about food and showing out that I am a foodie. Let me also tell you about the places I visited. The day I reached Langkawi, I went to the eagle square. This is a big eagle statue with a huge area around it. There is no entry to it and its ten steps away from Jetty point, shopping area. Best place to click pictures.
I booked an island hopping tour with the hotel before I went back to the room that day. The hotels arrange for transport to and fro the island hopping spot along with the ferry arrangement for island hopping. The trip started at 9am and costed me 120RM.
Island hopping starts from a ferry terminal opposite to the eagle square. You can see the eagle statue from this point. They take you for some 20-30 minutes in a ferry and drop you at the first island. You are let to be in this private island for 1 hour. The view of this beach was so nice that I wanted to stay there forever posing to photos.
The next hop was to mid sea where some fishes were thrown into the sea and the eagles rushed to the area from we had no idea where. Huge sea eagles with wild looks circled high up in the sky and took turns to hit the sea with their claw to pick up fishes. The moment they get hold of a fish in their claw, they pass it on to their beak and fly back to the far sky. I saw some 50-100 huge eagles less than 50 mts away from me. To my surprise I was not scared but admired those wild eagles.
It is important that you take something to eat and enough water along with you as it is obvious that you wont find water or snacks in mid sea. Also, carry a cap as these islands are so hot with not much shades. At the third hop, I had to walk up and down some 100 steps to reach a beautiful island where we were let to take pedal boats and also swim in the sea.
Finally, fully drenched and exhausted I reach the hotel to catch some sleep. I started again at 4 to the wild life park. I should say this is the best place I have ever been to. A lot of birds, fishes, reptiles and animals all over the area. You are let to feed them, lift and click photos with most of them.
I don’t know how often you see peacocks dance, but that was the first time I saw a peacock dance and pose for pictures. My luck was so good that day, that I saw 3 peacocks dance and one was a beautiful white one.
My husband fed the worlds most dangerous bird, the Australian cassowary, from her hand. He even fed a giant ostrich, goats, monkeys, parrots, ducks, swans and even rabbits. We had the best time with those animals all around us. Please note that the last entry is closed at 6 to this place.
Now, to the most attractive place in Malaysia, the Oriental village where the cable car starts. The cable car in Langkawi is the longest one and I think the steepest one. You get to see some out of the world views from there. At 700 Meters above sea level, fresh and cold breeze hits your face in a way that you just want to get evaporated with the breeze. There is also a sky bridge through which you can take a long walk, at that height but when I had gone this was out of service.
Last but not the least, you need to spend some time for water sports like banana boat at the cenang beach. You can see both white sand and black sand beaches in langkawi. Due to less amount of energy and time we couldn’t visit the cenang beach, which I regret till date.
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| Only photo in this post got from google. Everything else is a click from my photograph |
This was an amazing trip and I am always ready to visit Malaysia again. :)
Milton Keynes: Intu mall
Milton Keynes, aka MK, is a place I have fallen in love with, in the past few months. I always thought main attraction to me would be the Intu mall and I was right. The mall runs for several meters covering almost the entire street. You name a thing and the mall has a shop that sells it.
My favourite shops are BHS, Select and H&M. These three shops have amazing collection at a very reasonable price. H&M always has several lines with discounts and that doesn’t mean the collection is any less than other shops. There is also a John Lewis and Next, which I am sure is for the brand driven crowd. There are several toy shops like the Disney toy shop, the works; book shops like WHsmith, The works and lot more. There is a poundland, banks, Marks and spencers and what not.
My favourite in the Intu mall is the Middleton Hall. Events happen at this place. Previously they had a beach set up for kids, Air architecture, fashion week lasted till yesterday. It is always fun to watch out to know what’s next in the middleton hall. The best thing about the intu mall is the fragrance of coffee that tingles our nostrils as we walk along the coffee stores. There are a lot of café’ inside- Café nerd, pret a manger, Costa. There are also ‘Watch that child!’ ice cream stalls and the bubble tea stalls.
If you fall sick because of the excitement of roaming inside the huge mall, you just have to step into Superdrug or Boots; be it medicines or cosmetics these two rock. When you go out of the first few south gates, we get into a different phase where there is a round about for us to sit and enjoy the sun; this is near HSBC bank. Going further inside, we can find sports direct. If you are looking for quality shoes at a really low price, you just have to step into this shop. H&M is also located in this phase. There is also an Italian pizza shop in this area.
If you happen to step into central Milton Keynes, you should check out the Intu Mall. It is a must see in CMK.
Gate 6 is open after the mall closing times. Most shops are closed at 5 pm though there are exceptions. Gates are usually open till 8:30 on weekdays, 7:30 on saturdays and till 5pm on Sundays.
Read my post about Open Market, CMK.
Gate 6 is open after the mall closing times. Most shops are closed at 5 pm though there are exceptions. Gates are usually open till 8:30 on weekdays, 7:30 on saturdays and till 5pm on Sundays.
Read my post about Open Market, CMK.
Milton Keynes: Open Market
Are you new to Milton Keynes? Okay! Let me help you find the right shops to buy the right things.
If you looking for vegetables you can either get into the marks and spencers at the first gate of the Intu mall or if you want vegetables at a reduced price you can just get into the open market at the south side of the intu mall. As you enter into the open market you just have to go inside the second row. You will reach a vegetable stall that is open. They sell different vegetables and fruits, one pound a plate. You get more if you are lucky. You can get beans, lettuce, cabage, cauliflower, lemons, capsicum, tomato, runner beans in this shop. You can also get fruits from here right from oranges to strawberries.
The shop next to this open stall sells really fresh vegetables and fruits. You can get any vegetable you want from this shop at a reasonable price. The next shop to buy vegetables is the pound a bowl shop. Get into the path that runs along the huge vegetable shop, we were talking about, to its right. This shop sells vegetables one pound a bowl.
If you want to buy Indian spices or Srilankan ingredients, you will have to enter into open market from the mall and take the second stretch from your left. The shop at the end of the stretch to your left is run by a Sri Lankan couple and has everything right from puliyogare powder. Then walk past this shop and turn to your right, walk a few steps ahead to find another shop run by tamil speaking people. This is the only shop where you can find Dosa batter. There is also a Tamil eatery in the left side of the open market, just walk around to find it. You get nice biryani, dosas, samosas and a lot more there.
There is a salon in the open market, which I prefer stepping in for a hair cut; Maria hair dresser. I took a layer cut for just 14 pounds and I loved the outcome of it. The stylists in Maria shop are super friendly people.
Coming to laptop repairs, as you enter the open market from the mall, take the third entry from left. The first computer shop to your right is run by a hindi speaking guy. He is a very friendly guy and does a good job with your laptop; very honest and reasonable.
In short, open market is a very nice shopping place if you live in Milton Keynes.
The open market is shut on Mondays and Wednesdays but the mall is still open on all the days.
Closing timings for the open market everyday is around 5 pm.
Guide to UK : phone selling, buying and second hand stuffs
Are you planning to shift to United kingdom? Are you already in the UK or planning to visit? Then this post is for you.
Most often when we plan to travel or shift to another country the first thing we do is to change our old,slow smart phones. If this is you and you are about to change your phone before moving to UK or if you are already in UK then hold on, read this post and decide.
Here, in the UK, the second hand electronics are really good and are valued unlike in India. They test and rate your smart phones or tabs or any electronic items related to entertainment like headphones, keyboards, laptops or even pedometer into three category based on the quality of the product we sell-"A" "B" "C".
If the phone or tab or whatever doesn't have scratches and is along with all accessories including the original box then they rate it "A". The box that we get when we buy the electronics can add value to it when we sell them here. So what you need to understand is that it's better to carry the box along, in case you change your mind to sell it and get a new one you will get a good cost.
The ones without box and in a good condition is marked "B" and the one with scratches is marked as "C".
As a seller: we can either get the money they are ready to pay as cash or get it as store credits. Obviously, the store credit will be more than what they want to give in cash. Store credit can be used to get something else from the same store.
As a buyer : when we want to buy some expensive electronic item and don't have enough money in hand we can confidently buy it in second hand here. If we are okay with the cost that they have coated for "A" grades then we'll and good,cue get the item that looks like new, in original box, but the only thing is someone would have used it before.
Another thing that confuses Indians when they try buying second hand phones is the word "unlocked". The concept of contract is not available in India as much as I know so I'm guessing that even if such a concept exists it's not popular. But here they give phones right from iPhone, in contract basis. Different service providers give you the phone at different monthly rent for the contract. Which means if you are opting to get an iPhone 6 with EE contract, you will have to pay a very less amount to buy the phone and for the rest of the term mentioned in contract you need to pay the monthly rent to use EEs service. There are lot of other benefits the service provider gives along with the phone like net packs and call packs. Names of a few service providers here are orange, EE, O2. So when you go to the second hand mobile sales shop and see these words on the phone that means the phone is under can use only the specified provider. I am not sure how legal it is to unlock a phone, you got to check that if you are going for an unlocked phone. But you can check of "any sim" phones.
The shops that I have seen who do the second hand selling and buying properly are GAME and CEx. CEx has a site where you can check the rate for which they take your device and sell a device you need: webuy.co.uk.
My personal experience with CEx was pretty good. I sold my Samsung S2, without box or any other accessories as "B" grade for 70 in store credits and got a nexus 4 "A" grade with original box and accessories for 155 pounds.
So, what have you planned? To change your phone before coming here or to come here and get a good trade with it?
When I talk about phone I thought I will also make a mention about how I got my SIM card, if you are wondering about it. I came here and got a LYCA sim for 2 pounds. No identity proof was asked to give me a SIM card and you get it everywhere even in pound land. I chose LYCA because they let you call India at 1p, not paise but Brit p, per minute. Here the denomination after 1 pound is called p.
There is also a site to buy and sell other stuffs named gumtree. There you can get couch or anything you want. There is also a column called freebies where people who are immediately leaving the place post their stuffs to be given for free.
Also, here there is a good practice of leaving good stuffs outside house when you leave, if you don't need them. Whoever wants will come and take it. So when you find something kept outside a house enquire and take it if you need it. I have even seen couches kept outside. This is not a low thing to do here. So when you vacate if you don't need something that's in good condition and don't have the time to sell it keep it outside the house and leave. It might help someone else.
Hope this article was helpful. Let me know if you want to know about something else.
Guide to a life in UK: Part 3: Shops and costs
Hello! Thank you for visiting my page.
What's this post about:
In my previous posts I had written about home maintenance tips for Indians/Asians in UK and must do list. In this post I will be discussing about shops and shopping. I will share with you my shopping lists and my shop preferences for various things in United Kingdom. This will make you understand what to carry and what to avoid
POUND LAND this is a wonderful shop that I frequent. Pound land sells almost everything right from cosmetics to baking trays. First thing first, I avoid getting food items like sandwiches, milk and cosmetics here. I get everything else from this shop.
You get spoons, containers, baking items including trays, mops, sweeping sticks and even knifes and lunch boxes here. Any product you pick will be one pound and that's why it's called pound land. But the cosmetics and ready to eat are of very poor quality do it's better you avoid getting the. But you can avoid carrying ever silver spoons, lunch boxes, baking sets from your hometown. This might help you reduce weight. If your house is going to have a fire burner then bring the Indian utensils else if it is an electric burner you can bring the induction utensils. Kadais, chapathi pans and stuffs like that are costly here so it's better you bring them. Spoons, mugs, knifes, rolling pin, tiffin boxes, containers can be avoided to save the weight you can carry.
Also, don't carry shampoos, soaps and conditioners as you get them at almost the same rate as in India here. You get 2 dove bars for a pound, 2 big Pantene shampoos for £4. They also put up a lot of offers now and then. I get bathing stuffs from super drug or boots.
There are shops like sainsbury, lidl, tesco and marks and Spencer's where you even get Indian pickles, sweets and snacks, including aloo bujya and samosas. These shops put up a reduced shelves for eatables which are really good but are nearing expiry date. Those are not something you should avoid, they are of good quality but you need to finish it off within the same day or date mentioned. We get lovely jam doughnuts 5 for a pound and chocolate doughnuts 4 for 60p at times from these shelves.
Remember most shops are closed around 5 in the evening.
Please bring your mixers if you are planning to make dosa batter and stuffs like that. The ones that you get here are good just for juices and not to break hard rice and spices. Do this should be your priority when you plan your weights.
Argos is the shop where we get electrical items. Argos has a wide range of products. You can check them online and see what you can skip bringing from India. One tip when I talk about Argos, I got a lovely toastie maker for £4. It serves us well for breakfast with breads and any vegetable stuffed in.
Iceland is where we get frozen items like frozen samosa, potato wedges, French fries and stuffs like that. We even get milk from Iceland. We use green capped bottles which are semi skimmed. The blue ones are whole milk. You get 4 pints for £1, if you are eager to know the cost. And most of the frozen items including ice creams and chocolates are available at £1 a packet. If you are a wine person you get them here and even in marks and Spencer's.
M and S sells vegetables, fruits and every possible food item along with clothing and accessories. But the vegetables that you get here are a bit costlier than Iceland and open markets. There will be open markets and Indian shops around your area where you can buy vegetables.
If you curious to know the cost of vegetables - onion can be got in bag for £1/4kg bag. Carrots you get 20 for £1. Potatoes small ones almost 40 for a pound or big ones 2 kg for a pound. All of these are like a pound a bag or a pound a bowl. There are some vegetables that are costly like the ladies finger, snake guard and the other Indian vegetables. Fruits are very very cheap compared to vegetables. You get 20big bananas for a pound, 20 apples, 3 pineapples, a lot of strawberries, three bags of grapes and stuffs like that for a pound. So you don't have to worry too much about the cost of vegetables and fruits, they are very much affordable.
Then comes the topic about rice, dals and spices. Spices are way too costlier if you convert and check against Indian rupee but remember you are earning in pound. Rice you get 10. Kg for £14. Wheat 10 kg for £10.
One tip here, the rice that you get from the supermarkets are not as good as the one you get from Indian shops for using in a pressure cooker. First buy one kg from the super market and check if it suits you before buying a lot of kgs.
Clothing:
If you are here for a short time and not interested in clothes that lasts for ever then buy them at Primark. They have a good collection for a very nominal cost but they have compromised on quality. You can use those for hardly 6 months if you are rough using it and washing in a machine. If you want quality clothing then I think H&M, BHS and Select are very affordable. For shoes sports direct is very much affordable. Sports direct even sells night pants and tee shirts which are not any specific designed or fashion ones but are good enough and worth the money.
On December 26th you will have a boxers day sale when you can try out NEXT. They give a lot of good quality stuff at half price, otherwise this is a bit expensive compared to BHS and H&M.
There are a lot of other things I would like to share with you but I will stop this post here. Hope this was helpful. If you have any doubt please let me know in the comments below. Like my page for more such updates.
Next post will be about the places to visit in London, Northern Ireland and the rest of United Kingdom.
Guide to a life in UK for Indians/Asians: Part 2 Must do list
Hello! Thanks for visiting my blog.
What's this post about:
In my previous post I had written about the home tips for a Indian or Asian to stay in UK. In this post I will write about the things that you need to do to make life easy for you. This list will include medical guidance related information, library, movies and taxi information. All the details I give here are based on my experience and knowledge.
Medical care: the first thing you need to do when you land in UK will be to register yourself in NHS, national health services. This is a system that's followed in United Kingdom. You will be given an unique NHS number without which it won't be all that easy to meet a doctor for medical assistance unless it's an extreme case of emergency. You can refer to the official nhs site and get to know the simple procedure to get yourself registered. We just had to go to the nearby nhs medical centre and get a form to fill to do this. You need to carry your passport as a proof and your address in UK proof for this. Once you have registered with nhs you will get an unique number and an access to their online medical system. You can log in to their site and book appointments with doctors. If it is general check up and not an emergency you will get an appointment within 5-15 days. But in case of emergencies and urgent medical care cases you can call 111. They will identify you with your date of birth whenever you call them. All the doctor prescribed tests like blood tests are free here. Even consulting a doctor is free. So don't ask the doctor how much you need to pay while leaving the room like you do in India.
Also, the medical shops here won't give you medicines other than the on the counter medicines without a doctors prescription. Here medicines prescribed by doctors is free of cost but you need to pay for the prescription I think it's around 8 pound per prescription you give to get medicines. So no matter how costly the medicine is they charge you say £8 per prescription and I guess the ones for pregnancy is fully free. Another point to be noted is that if you are a regular medicine taker like you take tablets for BP,THYROID and the like you need to meet doctor show your Indian prescription and get it re written by them in order buy the medicines here. Also, if you have some not so severe problem like a rash around your eyes or flu or cold you can meet the chemist at the medical counter in any shop, I go to boots, and explain to them your problem to get the medicines. They will suggest you to meet physician if it's not within their limits to prescribe or diagnose.
I would like to mention this when I talk about medical care. You need to apply some moisturizer if you are used to applying it already. Specially in areas that will get exposed to cold like hands and face. Even applying a lip balm is very important, if not your lips will start to crack and even bleed. It is very important to cover your head when you go out. You might think why people cover their head and not the ears sometimes, because if you don't the cold will affect your head giving you severe head cold and also problems of hair loss and dandruff. It's also common to develop some rough patches in the hands and around the eyes. Nothing to worry, just meet the chemist and they will give you e45 cream. Apply it and you will be fine.
2. Library
It is very important you get yourself registered to the library near you. Almost every town has a library run by the council. All you need to do is take a proof for your UK address and your passport. They will issue a membership card and pin. This is FREE. This will let you borrow a number of books and magazines at a time, for our library the limit is 15 items, for Free. They also have movies and to show CDs, borrowing which might require a small fee. Libraries here are wonderful with tables, chairs couches and desks. You can pick a silent corner to read or even work on your laptop;not to mention the free wifi. You will have books ranging from technical, parenting to novels and kids books, biographies, religion, crime, philosophy, photography and what not. Also holding a library card entitles you to use their online system to borrow e book, renew and reserve items. It's also a good practice to follow your local library and newspaper on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. There will be a number of activities happening in your area like knitting classed, writers club meeting, yoga classes, painting, cartooning and what not. If you are a home maker then these will keep you engaged and get you new local friends.
Here we don't have much of Internet cafe. Internet is free in all the malls and shops, in most cases. But in case you want to check mails or do something important you can visit the library. You have computers there that they allow you to use for some 30minutes a day. Also, libraries have a facility to scan and take print outs for a nominal rate.
3. Cine world : In United Kingdom, cine world is a huge cinema theatre chain. You will have a cine world nearby you for sure. I would recommend you to get a unlimited card if you are a couple without kids. Because during winters movies will be the only entertainment here. A single ticket will cost you around £10 but an unlimited card that lets you watch any number of movies costs somewhere near £16 per month. So it might be beneficial for you to get an unlimited one. What's to be noted is that you can watch a film only twice with that card. This £16 one is a red one and doesn't include 3d films. But there is a black one for a little extra amount. Also with the red card you can book 3d films paying one pound something. The glasses you get for 3d cost 1 pound but it's a one time investment. You don't have to return them like in India. With this card you also enjoy 10% off at the food counter. If yo u are curious to know the cost of popcorn at cineworld let me tell you a small one costs £2.99 if I ll have to trust my memory and the largest costs you less than £5.
One more thing that we need to know is that we are allowed to take outside food to the theatres. But please don't take bread and jam, lunch and breakfast. Chocolates, chips, juices and pop corns from outside is okay.
One most important thing, I forgot to mention is that the unlimited card is to be taken as a one year contract but relax, you can break it without any penalty showing your return tickets. Just mail them with a copy of your return tickets and they won't charge you for any date later than your travel.
Garbage disposal
The council arranges for the garbage collection once a week, this differs from area to area, for us in central Milton Keynes it's Tuesday. They provide you with two sets of covers, a red one and a black one. Red one is to dump all your recyclable waste and black for the rest. You need to put all your garbage in these covers, tie the top and place it at the door at the side of the road. They will collect it on the scheduled time and day.
I would like to mention a few more things that I think are important to take care of. For some houses the agencies take care of all the bills but for the others you need to check all of these.
Council tax- you need to check with your agency or with the council of your area about the amount you need to pay. This can be paid quarterly or monthly. Don't frown reading this, with this council tax they give you free medicine, free education to your kids, keep your surroundings clean and also collect your garbages. So it's worth the money you pay as tax.
Water bills - you need to check with your agency or if there is no agency yourself, the water supplier to use. In our case we use Anglian waters. There will be a water meter which will be checked for your bills. In our case they will charge us a fixed amount every month and at the end of tenancy they will check the reading and make the adjustments to the amount paid, if it's less we need to pay else they ll pay back.
Gas and electricity- Gas will be used for the water heaters and room heaters in most cases. If your rent doesn't include bills you need to pay these along with water bills.
Hope this post was helpful. So when you search for a house here from India, under stand what all these means and enquire before making a decision. A house that says in the ad for rent that it includes bills will include everything like water gas and electricity. Some houses with gardens might charge you a garden maintenance along with rent. So decide for yourself what you really. Don't pick houses with garden if you are not really a garden person because here it will be too difficult to do gardening during winters unless you really like it.
If you have any doubts let me know through the comments below and I will try answering them. Was this post helpfulness? My next post will be about shops that you can afford, where you buy what and seasons and clothing in your budget. Also I am coming up with my travel posts soon. Like my Facebook page for more such updates about United Kingdom,
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