london – Page 5 – Manisha captures

Chinese New Year in Chinatown

on 28 January 20171 February 2017 By Manisha 1 Comment

Last week the preparations for one of the biggest festivities of the year started: Chinese New Year. To experience this event, we went to Chinatown, the best place to get a good impression of the celebrations in London. Not many of people know this about me, but my grandmother is Chinese so that makes me a quarter Chinese. This is one of the reasons why I was even more excited to visit Chinatown. I was totally amazed by the huge amount of red lanterns which were spread all across the streets. People were selling all kinds of fortune decorations and snacks, said their prayers and I even spotted someone in a big Pikachu costume (very Chinese, I know..). We had dinner in this area and it was definitely a good choice. After strolling along a lot of restaurants, we finally picked one and ordered fried rice and pancakes filled with roasted duck and veggies. Yum! To everyone who is celebrating this weekend: Happy Chinese New Year // Gong Xi Fat Choi!

The Southbank area

on 14 January 20178 February 2017 By Manisha 2 Comments

It was on a cold friday morning at 08:00 am that I decided to spontaneously visit the riverside of West-London. The advantage of being an early bird is that you can take pictures in peace, without ten other tourists trying to steal the best spots. It was pretty quiet in the area, so the perfect chance to take a good stroll and enjoy the surroundings. I stumbled upon the London Eye and later on the Big Ben, the absolute highlights of this area. Just when I wanted to cross the Westminster Bridge, it suddenly began to snow. I began to wonder if I would transform into an icecube once I made all the way to the end, but still decided to do it. And yes, it was worth it.

First week in London: my thoughts, challenges and experiences

on 11 January 201723 June 2017 By Manisha

So here I am, typing this blogpost at my desk in a city which I can call my home for the next three months. Last week was all about settling: getting used to a new environment, my own place and the people. I have lived at my parents’ house my whole life, so moving to London was a big transition for me. Besides that, this will be the first time to experience life in a big city. With 8.6 million inhabitants, London is the biggest city of Europe. I had to get used to the big crowds and the huge amount of buses and cars crossing the roads every day. People in the UK drive on the left side of the road, stand on the right side of the escalator and walk both the left and right of the street… You probably understand that it gets confusing for me sometimes.

Since my classes started this week, I had enough time create a daily routine and got to know the city better during the last couple of days. I did a lot of strolls in my neighbourhood and jumped regularly on those cute red buses to get a better idea of where everything is situated. I went to the introduction days which were organized by my university and attended a boat cruise on the Thames that included an afternoon tea (as a tea-lover, you can imagine I was totally in my happy place!).

Living on your own for the first time in a country where you don’t know anyone can be a challenge sometimes. It gives you a big responsibility, since you have to figure out everything yourself. On the other hand, you’re provided with a lot of freedom (which isn’t a bad thing at all ;-)). My classes are starting this week and I’m ready to get involved into the British uni life: Bring it on!