It has been 3 months since I arrived in London, and about a month since I've settled in where I'm living now. About time to reflect on some of the things that I encountered that left a really strong impression!
Sky high taxes!!!
I've always knew (in my head)taxes are very high, but seeing the calculation and estimating my own take home pay still really strikes me! And I'm not exactly sure where all the taxes have gone? Because all free museums still ask for public donations, I still pay for my NHS (as BNO passport holder), TFL doesn't seem to have the money to refurbish...One thing I won't deny is that I do miss all the available tax deduction and low tax rate in Hong Kong (even though I still thought it was quite a lot at the time I paid...)
2. Subscription is a thing?
I've encountered quite a wide variety of monthly subscription-base products / services since I arrived through all the different coupons, discounts that are made available. Ranging from snacks, dinner ingredients, wine, beer, plants, chocolate etc. And they all have 1 thing in common - luring new customers with some free or heavily discounted offerings, get your credit card details, and you either cancel after the first subscription, or you can charged monthly since. I'd happily accept whatever discounts these companies are giving but no - not everything needs to be subscribed regularly!
3. SPACE
Since we live quite far away from central London, I'm happy to say that I'm loving all the SPACE in the house and out on the street. A work room where 2 chairs don't collide, kitchen that fits 2 people (and a dog) comfortably, a spacious terrace... space is such an effective cure for any mental stress. This is not to say everywhere in London is like this - there are days when I go to central London, and it feels like Friday night in Lan Kwai Fong (pre-COVID).
4. Weather
Before coming to London, my impression was that it rains EVERY SINGLE DAY here, which of course isn't true. The rain actually isn't that bad, but WIND can be quite bothering, especially when there are a good few days when the artificial grass we put out on the terrace just cannot stay still in one place.
5. Transportation
As a tourist in London previously, I've only been on the most crowded / unpleasant underground lines. Yes it can be quite painful to take some of the underground lines during peak hours, but definitely not ALL of them are that bad. There are lines with no mobile reception, train wagons that seem to be from the last century, but also lines that provide quieter / more pleasant rides (and that's how we decided where to live). It also surprises me that transportation company doesn't get sponsored by government, so fare needs to go up to support maintenance, and there doesn't seem to be plans in place to refurbish the "hardware".
6. Dog walking / ownership
Having a dog here is so different from having one in Hong Kong - the owners' mindset, dogs' statuses, public perception of dogs etc. There's one key difference in the rules that show the contrast quite clearly - in Hong Kong, dogs are always on leash and there'd be fenced dog parks available in the city for dogs to play off leash. Here, almost all the parks allow dogs to be off leash, and there'd be fenced play area for CHILDREN to play. See the difference in freedom available to dogs in the two places?
7. Entertainment
London is definitely not a boring place to be, however, it can be quite costly to live a certain lifestyle. Entertainment can be as simple as going to all the different parks on the weekends, or visiting farmers' markets. There are also football games, musicals, operas, all different kind of shows available with wide range of ticket prices. Eating out is another change in habit. So far I've experienced proper dine out (which would cost around 50GBP per head) or very casual meal (5 - 10GBP per head) which I'd rather cook at home, or Asian dine out (~20GBP). In the area we live, I'd happily just cook at home!
8. Aerial Sport
This is an interesting one as I really wanted to continue practicing aerial dance / hammock. However, hammock isn't that popular at all (there isn't that many aerial studio to begin with). Aerial sports seems to be more related to circus tricks here whereas in Hong Kong it's all about elegance (And instagrammable lol) The tricks taught are all about level of difficulties, rather than the "look" of it. Besides aerial sports, Pole dance is actually a lot more common, indeed, a lot less stigma around pole dancing, which is quite encouraging for me to give it a try!
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