A Weekend in London

Lanjutan dari cerita London yah, part 1 nya disini. Jadi trip kami ke UK kemarin tuh cukup muter2 juga, itinerary nya gini. 4 hari di London, kemudian road trip selama seminggu, terus balik lagi 2 hari di London. Ini lanjut cerita hari ketiga dan keempat di London yah!

Hari ke-3

Aku, R, dan teman kami A dan E memulai hari dengan brunch di daerah Fitzrovia. Tempatnya cukup spesial karena restonya halal! Ih seneng banget, walaupun sebenernya aku gak ikutin 100% halal diet tapi datang ke resto halal ini artinya aku bisa menikmati English Breakfast tanpa harus makan vegetarian option. Maklum, aku pecinta daging hehehe. Nama tempatnya Drunch, ada beberapa cabang di London.

Full English breakfast @Drunch

Sehabis itu kami jalan, mulai dari Regent’s Park, terus sampai Primrose Hill, sempat duduk- duduk liat kota London, dan lanjut ke Camden Market buat makan siang. Agak salah datang ke Camden hari Sabtu karena penuhhh banget dan bikin susah menikmati suasana. Di Camden kami makan di restoran Indonesia namanya Pino’s Warung (makan bakso!), lumayan enak cuma ya itu, sayangnya lagi penuh banget jadi gak bisa bener2 enjoy.

Karena belum puas kami lanjut makan lagi, hahaha makan mulu ya. Oke deh snack, yaitu crepes di daerah Hampstead. Tempat ini udah ada lebih dari 40 tahun di Hampstead dan masih rame terus. Lucunya, aku pertama kali tahu tempat ini dari orang2 Indonesia tahun 2009-2010 pas aku sekolah, dan kemarin ini pas aku kesana, kami ketemu sekelompok anak2 Indonesia yang lagi sekolah di London juga, sama2 ngantri crepes. Rupanya crepes ini masi jadi rahasia umum buat kalangan orang Indo kali ya haha.

Crepes yang super enak!

Setelah jajan, kami pisah sebentar dengan A dan E soalnya kami harus check in di hotel kami untuk 2 malam ini. Kami nginap di daerah agak dekat ke Timur London supaya bisa ngerasain ganti suasana. Setelah check in, kami sempatin ketemuan singkat sama D dan anaknya yang abis nonton teater di Barbican, deket hotel. D ini teman baikku sejak SMA, seneng banget akhirnya bisa ketemu lagi setelah lebih dari 5 tahun!

Hari Sabtu di London di tutup dengan makan di Poppies Fish and Chips di daerah Spitalfields. Enak banget, super recommended! Hari ini banyak jalan dan banyak makan, sungguh kombinasi yang ideal hahaha.

Hari ke-4

Hari ini hari terakhir kami bareng A dan E karena mereka bakal pulang ke Belanda. Kami janjian ketemu di daerah Spitalfields buat liat Sunday market di Old Spitalfields Market. Aku suka banget daerah Spitalfields, banyak toko kecil menarik dan juga suasananya vibrant banget. Deket situ bisa mampir juga ke Brick Lane, daerah yang banyak toko2 kecil termasuk Brick Lane Bookshop yang charming. Rasanya kurang cuma sebentar eksplor daerah East London ini. Besok2 semoga bisa balik lagi dan eksplor lebih lama.

Brick Lane Bookshop

Karena hari Minggu, kami tentunya gak kelewatan Sunday Roast dong! Ini tuh pertama kalinya R ngerasain Sunday Roast, soalnya di LA ngga ada tradisinya. Termasuk pertama kali R juga makan Yorkshire Pudding hehe. Katanya, tradisi Sunday Roast tuh harusnya di Pub, tapi kami makannya di Hawksmoor, karena udah ada janji sama P dan N, temanku waktu kuliah yang sekarang tinggal di London. Tip – kalau kamu ke London dan pengen coba Sunday Roast, baiknya reservasi dulu ya, apalagi kalau ada tempat khusus yang kamu pengen cobain.

Setelah makan, kami antar A dan E ke stasiun kereta namanya King’s Cross. Uniknya, di stasiun ini ada toko barang2 Harry Potter termasuk photo-op platform 9 3/4.. fans Harry Potter pasti tau dong! Sayangnya untuk foto musti antri dan rada panjang, jadi aku cuma foto photo-op nya aja.

Habis pisahan sama A dan E, aku dan R naik tube ke daerah Piccadilly
Circus untuk ketemuan sama Puji dan keluarga. Kaget ya! Sungguh nggak nyangka bisa ketemuan sama Puji di London. Kami nggak janjian awalnya, tapi gara2 postingan di instagram jadi bisa janjian dan sempet ketemu sebentar. Habis itu kami lanjut road trip dengan tujuan masing2, tapi seneng banget bisa ketemu, termasuk foto bareng dong 🙂

Christa dan Puji 🙂

Sekian deh cerita hari ke-4 di London, kami balik hotel langsung teparr dan packing karena besok paginya mau berangkat road trip. Tujuannya London – Cambridge – Oxford – Birmingham – Warwick – Bournemouth – London. Ceritanya nyusul yah! ‘Til next time 🙂

London

London tuh emang punya charm yang beda deh. Padahal, selama tinggal di UK tahun 2009-2010, aku ya nggak tinggal di London. Gak pernah merasakan jadi warga London, tapi selalu seneng banget kalau lagi berkunjung ke London. Gak pernah bosan dan selalu berasa masih ada yang kurang di-eksplor.

3 Cities I Don’t Mind to Move In to

The idea to write about this came from a comment by Dita in my previous “3 Cities” series. Well actually no.. it’s not a series in this blog, but I just happen to wrote about  3 cities that I don’t want to revisit and also  3 cities that I would love to revisit. Do have a read if you haven’t! 😉

Life in Bournemouth

This is the seventh post in the “Christa in the UK” series – stories from the year 2009 and 2010 during my time living, studying, working and traveling in a small beach town called Bournemouth in South West England.

To be honest the first time I heard about Bournemouth was the first time I came across Bournemouth University’s MA Advertising and Marketing Communications program. I was doing an extensive research about master programs and universities and instantly got interested to the program. But.. I have never heard of the town before. So before deciding to choose the uni and ended up going there to study, I did a little research on the small town.

My initial search landed me to a beach image. I was then sold instantly. It has always been in my dream to be able to live nearby the beach! (Well… Jakarta has Ancol beach but that’s totally different. It probably takes me over 1,5 hours from my house to Ancol!). Long story short.. I chose to enrol myself in Bournemouth University’s MA Advertising and Marketing Communications program and lived in Bournemouth for a year.

So, what is it like to live in Bournemouth as an international student? 

First, you are not alone.  Bournemouth – thanks to its geographic location (a beach town so it’s really pretty, not too cold… and is relatively close to London), is a popular destination for students. In fact, based on my observation, most of the town’s residents are students and the elderly! Besides Bournemouth University, Arts University Bournemouth, and some colleges, Bournemouth is also home to some language schools so there are a lot of international students coming not only from Europe but Asian countries as well. The abundance of international students means you get to enjoy a very diverse environment… in simple words it’s very fun! 

Russian Food Night at my friend’s dorm! How cool was that? 😀

Second, your friends are from all over the world.  Perhaps it’s just how the UK attract people from everywhere. But still related to point number one, In Bournemouth you got to meet people from various countries. By various I don’t mean “only” famous countries like France, Thailand, Germany.. but also from lesser-known African countries and even the Caribbean! I never thought that I would be friends with someone from Trinidad and Tobago – because at first I did not know where it’s located! but I did, and we remain friends until now. My classmates are from around 15 nationalities and I also met other friends from work or other activities with different nationalities. The experience was so eye-opening and it helped shaping the person I am today.

Me and my friends 🙂

Third, you can enjoy beach life. Yes, Bournemouth beach is one of UK’s top 10 beaches according to this source. But trust me it is really pretty. The beach is not too far from the University so if you want, you can spend some time relaxing at the beach after your classes. I used to go to the beach almost every day after I work on the city centre just to chill and enjoy the scenery. I only went home when it’s dark and it’s getting too cold :p It’s so nice and refreshing to live nearby the beach!

My amateur photo.. taken during one of my “chill-out” session at the beach

Fourth, without you realising, you became an outdoor person. Well, since Bournemouth is a small town, and as a student I did not have a car, I was forced spent a lot of time walking or taking public transportation. And because the bus system was not as established as London’s.. there were times when I had to walk to get to places. It was during my walks I got to enjoy my surroundings and learned to appreciate the little things. Oh, and it was during my stay in Bournemouth I went on my first ever trekking/hiking trip!

Fifth, don’t be surprised if you find yourself alone in the streets… Yep, again I need to emphasize that Bournemouth is a small town. Most shops close at 6 every day and they close on Sundays. Coming from  Jakarta, I found it hard to adapt at first. I missed the city lights, the hustle and bustle of a big city. But after a while, I began to enjoy the serenity and got used to life in a small town. Life was much more simple to me, less stressful despite the heavy assignment and part-time work. I guess that’s just the beauty of living in a small town 🙂

Empy town centre. I remember this was taken at around 8pm! 😮

The list can go on but I decided to stop at #5 this time 🙂 So there you go, my take on what is it like to live in Bournemouth as an international student. Did you study abroad? what was it like? 🙂

Around Dorset

This is the sixth post in the “Christa in the UK” series – stories from the year 2009 and 2010 during my time living, studying, working and traveling in a small beach town called Bournemouth in South West England.

How many of you know, or at least have heard about Dorset? Well I never heard about it until I set foot in England and learned that it’s a county where Bournemouth is at. To the world, Dorset may not be as famous as other places in England but while I lived there, I could not help but fall in love with the area, as turns out it has wonderful nature + tourist spots. Now, come and have a little tour around Dorset with me! 🙂

New Forest

To be honest I was not much of a nature person prior to living in England. Lucky me when I lived in Bournemouth there was not much to do (refer to this post to know why), except exploring the nature.

New Forest is a national park in South West England – a place widely known for its parkland and wildlife activities. There you can do all sorts of activities in the wild. For example, I took a walk with my friend and her host parents. You can also do horse riding, biking, camping, and there’s also a variety of attractions to see within the area.

New Forest is not far from Bournemouth at all, it’s only around 30 minutes drive from the town centre. So it’s easily accessible. Unfortunately since I went with my friends, I am not too aware of the public transportation to get there. But have a look at this page if you are interested to go!

New Forest

 Swanage Beach

Swanage – a coastal town, is around 50 minutes drive from Bournemouth. It’s known for a weekend/holiday destination of people living in South of England (other than Bournemouth, of course hehe). It is home to Jurassic Coast which  I am going to explain just after this, and also a lovely beach.

Personally, Bournemouth beach is still better than Swanage. Hahaha. I might be biased… :p. Anyway the beach is still not bad at all! Plus there’s a variety of cute local shops next to the beach, something that Bournemouth Beach does not have.

Swanage Beach

Beach Shop at Swanage

Jurassic Coast

Now this is definitely one of the best places I’ve been in this world! Just look at the images first and I’ll tell you why…

Durdle Door

Jurassic Coast

 Jurrasic Coast is located very close to Swanage beach. In fact,  tours from Bournemouth usually involves going to bost places, plus Lulworth Cove and Corfe Castle (explained next) because they are located close to each other, all within an hour-ish drive from Bournemouth.

To get to the coast and see the amazing view (note that the pictures were taken with my pocket camera and using no filter – really pretty, right?!), you have to do a little bit of hiking. But, trust me, it’ll be worth it.

On our way to see THE Jurassic Coast

Best time to visit will be in May-June because based on my experience that’s when you will get to have sunshine and can even jump into the water like myself! Not so much in late August/Early September because it can get very windy and foggy, like this picture, taken during my second visit in Early September (!!!)

Very Foggy!

But then even during that kind of weather, my friends successfully dragged me to go on a hike all the way until the peak! That is, one of my greatest achievements so far hahaha. I was so scared because it was showering and the wind was very strong, but I managed to hiked up to the top. Yay me!

I hiked all the way to the top!

Lulworth Village and Lulworth Cove

Within the area of Jurassic Coat is Lulworth Village. It’s a small village with a cove that has a very clear water. I did not remember doing much there but it’s still very interesting to do a little bit of sightseeing and enjoy the atmosphere of British coastal village.

Pretty building at Lulworth Village

Lulworth Cove

 Corfe Castle

How often do you get to see a Castle? (remains, in this case). To me – I have never seen, yet been to one prior to living in England and that’s why I was so excited to go to Corfe Castle!

The castle is a survivor of the historic English Civil War and I wish I can tell you more about it but I’m lacking the historical knowledge. However, for ordinary tourist like me, the castle is still very magical and interesting to see.

Corfe Castle

And Corfe Castle wraps up my tour around Dorset. Now you know why I love Bournemouth so much. Not only that I got to study, but also have the chance to go on day trips to amazing places during my holidays! 🙂

Challenge Accepted!

This is the fifth post in the “Christa in the UK” series – stories from the year 2009 and 2010 during my time living, studying, working and traveling in a small beach town called Bournemouth in South West England.

I still remember my very first “Strategic Marketing and Branding” class at Bournemouth University. We were put in groups of 4 and had to discuss about the future of TV. I was the only Indonesian in my class and also the only Asian in that small group. As much as I was very eager to learn and keen to succeed, I was confused. I did not know what to contribute to the group’s discussion. I thought I am outspoken enough as a person, but at that moment I felt afraid to say a word. My group mates were European students, they appeared much more experienced and more confident.

Of course they were more experienced, at least about the subject we were discussing. Back then in Indonesia TV was still the biggest media. It was still growing in Indonesia, yet in that warm classroom we were discussing about what is next after TV, how can TV survive the future in Europe. They are Europeans, so they must know what was being talked about. They were able to express their opinions and contribute to the discussion. Me? I was struggling to speak, I felt shy, I felt incompetent.

At the end of the session, I finally managed to express my confusion to my group. I was able to explain the situation in Indonesia, where I came from. I managed to overcome my struggle, but I have to admit that it was quite a rough start to my journey in getting a masters degree.

You see, going abroad obviously is very challenging. Behind the glitters of actually living abroad, there’s the learning process, which was very much different to what I experienced back home. It can be daunting, it can be stressful – Oops, don’t be discouraged though, it will be very rewarding in the end, you just got to go through it! 🙂

How to succeed, then? I think, the key is having a careful preparation. Prepare as early as possible – by preparation I mean everything! Prepare to live in a different culture, prepare to study in a different learning environment, prepare to be homesick too, hehehe. Like I mentioned in this post, going to study abroad needs a lot of preparation. I consider myself lucky because I was able to adapt to the “foreign” environment quite smoothly. But still, now you know that I had my challenges. It was hard, but I managed. I wish I had more help though…

Btw, not long ago I had the opportunity to meet with EF‘s country manager in Jakarta. EF may be familiar to some of you for its language schools. But little did I know that EF also means Education First, a worldwide organisation which offers various study programs in many countries (They also run an English program in Bournemouth! 😀). What interests me is that they have a University Preparation program which can help future students to prepare before going to study abroad.

Of course there are also other sources of help, but I think the kind of programs that EF offer would be very much helpful in helping you to adapt – not only to the culture, but most importantly, the learning environment. Because at the end of the day, we all wish to be successful in our education, right? 🙂

Cheers,

Me, looking very relieved as this picture was taken after I submit my final assignment 😀