As I write, I am about to start my 5th week of Lent term at LSE. In my opinion, Lent term is much more relaxing than Michaelmas term, as I don’t have as many classes and reading. I love my Lent term schedule as I have Thursday and Friday off, which means I can spend my super long weekends doing other things. I have dedicated Thursdays and Fridays to do my reading. A day on Saturday/Sunday to watch football and try a new restaurant in London and another day just to focus on my dissertation.

Last week, my Chinese friends celebrated Lunar New Year and I got invited to a Dim Sum party.  Dim Sum is a kind of Chinese tapas, where you share lots of small meals together. I ate Dim Sum a lot when I worked in Hong Kong (I miss Hong Kong). This is what I love about LSE, you learn to appreciate and value other people’s culture, and try new things that you’ve never experienced before.

My Holiday….

Two weeks ago, I went to Dublin with a good friend of mine. Dublin is such an amazing city and people there are so friendly, which made me fall in love with the city even more! My favorite place in Dublin is called Temple Bar, which is a bit like London’s Covent Garden. I ate some amazing chicken wings there (yum yum yum) at a restaurant called Elephant and Castle (I feel like going back to Dublin just to eat the chicken wings). They were definitely the best chicken wings I’ve ever tasted.

If you go to Temple Bar, don’t forget to go to the actual ‘temple bar’ and drink some beer while listening to some Irish music. Some restaurants in the area offer many varieties of Irish food.

Another place that you should go (if you are a foodie like me) is a Dublin food market.  At Temple Bar Food Market, which is open at the weekend, you can taste different types of food from around the world. My favorites were the yogurts, fresh oysters and spicy kofta (so so so so good).

A tourist attraction that is worth visiting is the Guinness Store House, where you can see how Guinness beer is produced, learn how to be a bartender, and drink beers from the ‘gravity bar’, a 360 degree bar, which enables you to see beautiful Dublin, with all the beautiful buildings. You only have one choice, either drink from the bar or be a bartender. My suggestion is go to the bar first and take your Guinness to the Gravity Bar. Lots of people thought that it’s not allowed so they decided to go to Gravity Bar instead. For people who like to try new stuff, try their Guinness chips, they taste so good.

During the Easter break, I’m planning to go to Barcelona, which is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I’ve never been to Spain before and it makes me feel so excited. I can’t wait to see all the beautiful buildings, eat all the seafood, go to the beach (hopefully the weather will be nice at that time) and watch a Barcelona FC match at Camp Nou. I’m not a Barcelona fan, but I know that it is every football fan’s dream to watch the legendary Lionel Messi plays football. Please give me some recommendations about Barcelona guys!

Football Stuff!

The last couple weeks, I experienced sadness and happiness, just like other Chelsea fans. Our two time player of the years, Juan Mata decided to leave for our rival club, Manchester United. I believe it’s the best decision for him and the club as well, as he’s simply not fitting in to our manager’s new strategy. Since I moved to the UK, I’ve accidentally met him a few times. He’s not just an amazing footballer but he’s always very humble to his fans. Best of luck, Juan! On the bright side, we won against Manchester City and levelled on points with them. Hopefully, we can beat Newcastle United this weekend (as I’ll be watching at the stadium). I also can’t wait for Liverpool FC vs Arsenal FC’s game, another big match this weekend. It will be fun entertainment. So guys, looking at the EPL so far, who do you think is going to win the premier league?

That’s all that I could write for this week. I’m gonna continue my ‘diversity’ essay right now. Hope you enjoy my post!

Enjoy yourself and be HAPPY!

Stephanie