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Showing posts from August, 2014

Whitby Gothic Festival (WGW) - Gothics in the North East [Pics]

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I was fortunate enough to witness a gothic festival in 2013 when I was in Whitby. It is known as the Whitby Goth Weekend where it's actually a yearly music festival. Though I wasn't there so much for the music rather the crowd that the festival attracts, oh yes, a fair few thousands of people. People come from afar donning a variety of gothic costumes with some  really interesting ones (to look at I mean). Let me reminisce through some photos with you, shall we. The higher ground of Whitby. Overlooking Whitby. Notice Whitby Abbey up on the cliff? This is where I always eat whenever I'm in Whitby.  The Magpie Cafe  serves one of the best  fish n chips,  everyone has their own taste preference but I'm sticking with Magpie for fish n chips.The Magpie Cafe have been serving since 1937 but building itself has been around since the 18th century. Oh I should also mention that all you steampunkers, do check this festival ou

Staying/Studying in The UK Part 4 - Registering with a GP

You should have known this by now if you have gone through the welcoming articles provided by your university. During your orientation, you will be required to register with a GP (General Practitioner) aka doctor. Usually you’ll be able to choose from a list of clinics, so you can choose the one closest to you but this may vary from universities. After registering with a GP, a piece of document with your NHS details will be mailed to you from a week to a month from the date you register. This piece of NHS document will be required whenever you consult a doctor. If you have any enquiries about health services in the UK, go straight to NHS http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx . Related UK Guide: 1)  Staying/Studying in The UK Part 1 - Getting a UK Phone Number 2)  Staying/Studying in The UK Part 2 - Travelling Around 3)  Staying/Studying in The UK Part 3 - Food Updated on  28/8/2014.

Staying/Studying in The UK Part 3 - Food

I would just go through briefly on this one as everyone has their own preferences. There are a few big name stores for you to choose from to buy your groceries, but obviously it depends on where you’re staying. You may choose from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Iceland and so forth. Most of them do provide online purchase and delivers straight to your doorstep. There are Asian stores around as well if you miss Asian food cooking, you would have to explore or ask around though. If you’re busy or don’t feeling cooking, these stores do see cooked food from pastas to roasted chicken, pies to salads. If none of those are to your liking, and there’s an Iceland store nearby, head on there. Iceland is known to sell a wide variety of frozen food like pizzas, pastas, rice with a side dish inside like meat or vege, lasagne etc. All you have to do is microwave it and you’re done. Take note that they do sell some frozen food as low as £1 but they don’t taste nice at all, but w

Staying/Studying in The UK Part 2 - Travelling Around

The general rule of booking a train/flight/bus/coach ticket in UK is to book in advance. Just to show you the amount that you could save, booking a train ticket from Newcastle to Liverpool a month or two in advance could save you 50 to 60 pounds although it may vary based on season. The same applies to other form of public transportation. Bus As a student, there are lots of passes which offers discount on rides on public transport. Most of the time it is a localised pass, for example I was in Newcastle so the bus pass that I applied for was offered by the bus company ‘Go North East’ which entitles me to cheaper bus tickets. The best part is the bus pass was free to apply and is valid for a year! Though it may vary from region to region. You may look it up on the bus company’s website operating in your region. For example in Bristol, just Google search “Bristol Bus” and you’ll be able to see bus services in that region. This is one of the pass that offers price reduction in Bris

Staying/Studying in The UK Part 1 - Getting a UK Phone Number

There are various telecommunications company in the UK that you can choose from such as Virgin , Three , Vodafone, BT, Lebara and so forth. Instead of going through the phone plans of every phone company, I’d go straight to the point and suggest the phone plan which I have used and believe it is the most worthwhile phone plan around. *Phone plans in the UK is either postpaid or ‘pay-as-you-go’ (PAYG/prepaid). The telecommunications company that I used during my stay is Giffgaff , which offers PAYG packages. First of all, to get a Giffgaff SIM card, you’ll need to have a UK address because it can only be ordered online and the SIM card will be delivered to your address. They do not even sell their top up in shop as everything is done online. Now if you look at their website (http://giffgaff.com/goodybags) their PAYG packages are referred to as ‘giffgaff goodybags’. Once you have received your SIM card, you will need to activate by following the instructions on their website o