i was going to let that pass....but since you insist, that is actually premature and potentially bad advice....and the poor fellow is now asking about this in the pharmacy thread....i will leave it to the pharmacy students like zstan and practising pharmacists to deal with that....

that depends more on the airport than airlines per se....some airports are very strict about the hand carrys....

generally klia and heathrow are not too strict.....

it is not necessary to buy medical insurance....all international students will be covered by the nhs.....

for other insurances, it's up to you.....

yes

draft

no

Nobody fakes GBP notes.... Unlike the USD....

But avoid Scottish pounds notes....although I doubt they ever make their way out of UK....

why do you change so much cash for?....for most people, 500 quid is enough, for the initial setup, should last you a week easily, while waiting for you bank account and more importantly the atm/dd card to be ready....

you can use the 50 pounds notes easily, no need to change to smaller notes....i would advice that once you receive the atm/dd card, bank in all the extra cash except for some spare cash....you can pretty much survive with very little cash....all the supermarkets accept eftpos with the dd card.....

You don't need to bring your ic....it is useless outside Msia.....but take good care if your passport....

In which case you stand an equal chance of loosing your IC as well..

Some places in UK may recognise it as proof of age, but officially, it is not excepted....eg by banks....

Proof of age, as in being allowed to drink, is best served by the student card....

it's a sunday, you should walk to the marble arch end, to hyde park corner/speakers corner and listen to people talk all kinds of crap.... lol

surely this depends on WHERE?.....

300 quid is lots in some places, and hardly half the rent in others....

The one closest to your home or uni....

hsbc have branches in both countries, but they are still different banks, and the usual charges apply....

it doesn't matter what bank....just use tt/banker's draft for fast/normal funds transfer....drafts you need to send over physically, easily done with registered mail, takes about a week....only cost rm5, and no charge on banking in...

milo, maggi mee are fine...processed food, not a problem...

they are usually very lax about this, in contrast to australia...you walk through the red channel to declare, and often there are nobody there, and you just walk through.....especially if you are on the overnight flight arriving at 5am...

you declare on your customs form, walk through the red lane, if there is nobody there, just walk through and out....if they are there, show the card to them, they may want, or NOT want to check...if they confiscate, let them....most of the time, they will wave you through....

they seem to pay more attention to people arriving from the asian subcontinent, africa and the carribeans.....

simple as that...

what is 'direct transfer'?....

there is no such thing as a 'direct transfer'.....

the original 'electronic' funds transfer was the telegraphic transfer (hence the name tt), or wire transfer in america...

subsequently, several means of electronic funds transfers are created, called different names in different countries (eg meps in msia)....an international system being the swift....

in addition, with online banking nowadays, it can be done via your secured internet banking as well...

in msia, bank to bank transfers are via giro for domestic transactions, and tt internationally, .....and if to person, systems like western union or moneygram...

if you go and ask for 'direct transfer' they will stare at you....don't use non-standard terms and confuse people....

for the majority of msian students and parents, there are only 2 ways of funds transfer, like i posted above...

tt is the fastest and cost lots of money.....not recommended unless in an emergency....

normal transfer use the bank draft (also known as bankers cheque) in the currency of your studies, but you need to send the piece of paper physically (eg via post), or carry it with you when you go....only cost rm5, and no charge when banked into your account there....

that is a good way for quick money as well, but restricted by the usual limits at the ATM, which currently is 600 pounds. There are also charges by the card issuer, and exchange loss by Visa or mastercard....

it is never wise to get yourself into a situation that you urgently needs money...it is always better to plan, and convert when the rate is favourable...

Using msian ATM card to withdraw money is limited by the usual withdrawal limits. Also the exchange rates may not favourable...

Yes....a banker's cheque/draft from Msia denominated in pounds sterling and drawn on a local UK bank cost nothing to deposit into your UK account.....and you can buy the draft when there is a dip in the exchange rates....

of course it's LOTS harder to enter......otherwise how do you think they become top uni?.....