The Battle of University: Week 4

Dear Readers,

Long time no read, eh? Well, the matter of the fact is that this year has already been flying by and I haven't had time to filter through what to do for my next blog post. However, it being the weekend, I thought this would be a nice little reminder that I still exist and still very much active and dedicated to this blog. So what's been new in my life?

Well, I have had a flurry of lectures throughout the last month. Formative season is coming up, so I am packed with various seminar activities to complete, essential reading to do, group work and also attempting to have some form of a social life. The latter one being far more neglected than some of you might think! That's right, Vlad Marin has not gone to the clubs in the past month and has been to two house parties! So it's clear the stress is getting to me...but in all seriousness, I want to do well and forget about who I was in first year. I am focused, determined and ready to do well this year.

Unfortunately, due to all the stress I have become a lot more frustrated, agitated and just need some form of relief. As many of you know, I am not a very chill person when stressed. So to try and remove all this negative energy within my system, I have done a few things that I find useful. Out of curiosity, I googled 'yoga positions' and it came up with a YouTube link to a yoga instructor who has created a 30 Day Challenge. So far I am on day two and am ready for day three. It has made me feel so much more relaxed and has helped me sleep better. 30 minutes a day of physical and mental stamina build and I am ready to tackle the day!Last week, I also decided to be a tourist for the day in Liverpool and go to Radio Tower where I could get a panoramic view of the entire city. It was breathtaking. In addition to this, I also took a retail therapy trip to Manchester today with Fran and we went to the Arndale Centre and just had a day out, away from all the distractions and had a genuinely lovely time. I made an absolute fool of myself nonetheless....for some reason, every time I walk through a store, the alarm goes off. On top of that, I sneezed and it was so loud that there was an awkward silence for a split second in the room and then I overheard a lady ask 'what the hell was that?'. Oops...my bad. When I went into Zara, I asked someone, thinking he was an employee, where the bomber jackets were....he just turned out to be a well dressed customer. Maybe, I should've just stayed at home, eh?

Anyways, this is my little update on my life. One of the things I intend to do with this blog, is make a new and improved version of it so stay tuned. Since I have so much work to do, I haven't time to think about the design, concept...its in the works but it will take a while. Promise you will not be disappointed.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Week 1 Of Uni

Dear Readers,

The summer has officially gone and I have been in university for 2 weeks. My lectures started last week, finally giving me an activity that I can work really hard on, in parallel to this blog. I am having several concerns, because obviously, one of my main aims is to make this blog bigger and better for you guys to read. But, where there's a will, there's a way they say!

Since being here, I feel like I have become a lot better at 'housey' stuff. What do I mean this? Well, I have been developing my skills as a Masterchef in the house, cooking an array of platters such as pasta, pasta and more pasta. Miraculously, I have not set anything on fire although I wish I could say the same about my housemate. Word to the wise, never chuck a frozen piece of meat on spitting hot oil. A fire WILL happen!

With regards to painting the town red, I haven't actually gone out to the clubs as much as I did the first year of university. When I was a fresher, I always considered second years to be moody creatures. Although, now I have come to realise the reason for this is that the amount of freshers that are around town in the first week is shocking. It is all about them and obviously all of the freshers are scurrying quickly to try out every drink and every single club that the famous Liverpool night life has to offer.

With regards to seeing all of my friends, one of the few genuine disadvantages of living in a house is that you cannot see all of your flatmates as easily or even people from different flats. Second year feels like nothing has changed apart from the geographical setting which unfortunately could cause certain friendship ties to be lost. But, at least we will always have the memories, eh? With regards to seeing all my friends on my course, it was awesome to have a catch up session between lecture breaks and find out how they celebrated their summers. Everyone has a cool story to tell.

But all in all, this week hasn't been very exciting....hopefully the future weeks will have a little more 'pizaz' to them. Let's see how I feel after week 2. £10 bet that I will feel like I'm behind on 50 modules although I'm only taking 4...

Moving Into University

Dear Readers,

This week has been a busy one. After 4 months of working at Royal Ascot, The Swan and going to Azerbaijan, I packed my bags to prepare for the next university year. That's right! I'm a second year student...time flies so quickly when you're having fun. Seems like yesterday I was in my shoe box of a room in Carnatic halls surrounded by all my friends. Now, it seems as dynamics haven't changed, just the geographical nature of them have.

This Saturday, I moved into my first ever house. 4 of us have arrived and there is one more to go. Ever since stepping foot into it, I feel as if I am closer to adulthood than ever. More responsibilities have arisen, for example cooking for myself day in and day out, making sure that the entire house is clean and that I obviously stick to my academic studies.

With regards to my house, it has several communal areas that are far more comfortable than Carnatic. For starters, it has a kitchen that is large enough to have a table installed, as well as a gas hob and oven. This means, that I can now finally start to cook for myself a variety of foods as well as meat which I couldn't do in a catered environment. Goodbye microwaving pasta with pesto and grated cheese everyday! Another benefit is that me and my house mates can all have a social dining experience instead of standing up or sitting down on the counters.

Secondly, in terms of bedroom size, my bedroom is the largest and its in the shape of an L. I find this extremely useful as my desk is hidden away in the corner and my double bed and my storage is in the other part of the room. Unlike Carnatic, this means that I am not squashed into a cube of a room, barely being able to move and mentally fighting over where to do university work. The bed usually won and I ended up waking up in the middle of the night spooning my books instead of reading them.

Here are some photos of my amazing room! I am so proud of it and I intend to print some photos to decorate it with and a few posters to add a little colour to it.

Have a lovely week!

The Walking Dead: My Summer Series

Dear Readers,

As many of my close friends know, I've started watching The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black this summer to eat up the time between socializing, going to work and going on holiday. Despite being weary about the idea of a zombie apocalypse, my friend Rokas brought me out of this narrow minded view and I gave it a shot. And do you know what? I was pleasantly surprised! I had no idea that I would be into such an awesome TV series. ME! 

So I decided to do my Friday blog on this TV series, giving it my hardest attempt at not giving away too many spoilers. Currently, I have just finished Season 4 where the prison gang have reunited in a train cart, at a so called 'sanctuary' called Terminus. And what a hell of a journey it has been for all of the characters! 

What I love the most about this TV series is that the producers and writers have formulated such a realistic masterpiece, portraying a diversity of different personalities and how naturally, the human race would potentially cope if the world was coming to an end. Its interesting how each character has their own story to tell and how the main characters have survived through thick and thin, a flurry of emotional and action packed twists along their mysterious journey. 

For people who are interested in the Walking Dead, I say 110% go for it because its such an excellent TV series. The only disadvantage to binge watching the entire show is that each season is like a little chapter of an overall massive story, so the pace is quite slow as it feels like the story is taken day by day. But the good thing is is that its never boring and often quite thrilling. What could be better than watching a group of armed people running away from a herd of bloodthirsty monsters? FYI, it's not for the very faint hearted. You are constantly on the edge of your seat due to the growing tension that arises as a result. You never know who is next that will face their fate with the Walkers.

If you still need a little convincing, then maybe some statistics could tip you over the edge. The Waling Dead has the highest ratings in cable television history, including the most 18- to 49-year-old viewers of any cable or broadcast television series since Season 3. It is clear that this series attracts a multitude of people of all ages. Rotten Tomatoes has rated it over 80/100 which is the same as the overall average of reviews, clearly indicating its a top notch series to watch. Also, to all of you Game of Thrones fanatics like me, it would surprise you to know that average views of each episode in the Walking Dead is twice as big as GOT. It just goes to show the massive impact of this television series too!

So there you have it, if you have nothing better to do with your weekend guys, I suggest you make some popcorn and have a blood splattering night of watching the Walking Dead. Lucky for me, I only have two seasons to go before I am fully caught up and I can rest easy knowing Season 7 is just around the corner...!

The Colour Run Diary

Dear Readers,

As many of you know, I participated last Sunday in the famous Colour Run at the London O2 Arena. After spamming my friends on Facebook and Instagram with prismatic pictures of me covered head to toe in powdered paint, I thought it would be a great idea to bring you a little colour through my blog.

Essentially, what is the Colour Run? Well, these runs are an international popularity and are sponsored by a variety of companies and charities in order to raise money as well as provide a fun experience of live music, exercise and to reconstruct the festival of colours popularly adopted in countries such as India This year, Capital FM, NSPCC, Capri Sun, Renault, Skittles and Alpen Granola were at the forefront of the O2 campaign and all had their own stalls to promote their products. Try the rainbow, taste the rainbow, right? In terms of charitable success, Sunday alone raised over £70,000 which is a massive achievement in order to try and eradicate child abuse once and for all.

This blog will essentially will be a log or journal of what me and my friend Abigail did throughout the entire day. Our story begins at...

7:45 when the alarm rang. After a boozy night at Propaganda in Fleet where we celebrated Abbie's 20th birthday, we decided to eat some food and make our way towards the station. Despite being hungover, we were mentally prepared for what the day would bring us. We walked around Waterloo looking like a pair of lunatics until we found a lovely family of three that assisted us in our journey to the O2. Having arrived, we squirmed into the army of white, bonding with a group of drunken teens who were having the time of their lives listening to the radio bangers playing on the giant speakers. The atmosphere was extremely bright for a not so sunny day. When the race started me and Abbie began jogging although, let's be honest, we gave up after 1k and occassionally jogged after each colour stop. We were greeted with a group of people playing the steel drums, to add to the Tropicolour Experience.

Afterwards, we passed through several clouds of red, blue, yellow, orange and purple where me and Abbie went from white to multi coloured in a heartbeat. Every nook and cranny was full of powder. Today, I sneezed and my snot was blue, no joke! Once we reached the finish line, we entered into the O2 car park, where a stage was constructed for the live music element of the run, as well as adorable stands for food and merchandise. We were given a bag of colour which obviously me and Abbie threw at each other in battle motion. Next we headed to the stage, where Capital FM's Will Manning provided us with a delectable palette of chart music in the midst of a crowd filled with packs of coloured powder. The stage fired colourful streams and provided us with powder to chuck in the air once the bass dropped on the occassional song. If you weren't head to toe in colour on the run, guarnteed you would have been by the time you left the stage crowd. The two presenters also chucked a variety of knick knacks into the crowd such as rainbow socks, neon tutus and plastic sunglasses. Unfortunately, me and Abbie recieved no prizes, maybe next time...We partied so hard to the sound of club music that eventually, a few sun rays did seap through the stormy clouds and it just added to the fantastic atmosphere already present.

Once the show was over, we took the underground tube still looking like victims of  unicorn vomit. All of the passengers gave us the look of confusion and potentially disgust. As we walked through the station, we stood our ground and many civilians were trying to walk around us without being touched. If you ask me, we completely blended with the crowd?! Have you never seen a rainbow man or woman walking around the streets of London. Once we both got home, I decided to take a shower. Since my hair hasn't chopped for a few months, I soon discovered that it had sponge like properties. As soon as the water made contact, my head essentially became a bath bomb, with blue purple and red splattering against my walls and the bathtub! That was probably the most exhilarating shower I ever had. It's not everyday your hair becomes the victim of paint powder. Perhaps I could grow out my hair and become an 'edgy wall/street artist' who makes it famous by making art through whipping their hair. Imagine the money I could make...

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my little Colour Run journal. I had an amazing time and I would absolutely recommend it to write it on your bucket list. Don't believe, just look at the pictures I have posted at the bottom of this page!

Come Dine With Me: Vlad's University Secrets

Dear Readers,

Having had a solid 8 months of university, there are a few wise life lessons you pick up. First and foremost would be cooking for yourself. To go on to cook for yourself the entire year after being dependent on your parents is no picnic. Pardon the pun...but equally, university is the opportunity to bring out the absolute Master Chef in you. Don't believe me? Well, you are in luck because today I will be sharing with you my secret (not so secret anymore...) cooking tips and how I ensure I have the best dining experience as well as being able to maintain an obvious healthy diet.

1. You have to maintain a balanced diet.

• To clarify, the food pyramid that everybody reads nowadays is completely false, so please get the idea out of your heads. Many nutritionists refuse to give away the 'secret' food pyramid because it is only exclusive to a university students. With regards to servings, you will have to double your intake in order to survive a day of constant procrastination, Netflix, clubbing and skipping lectures. The time span is completely up to the individual but I highly recommend midnight snacking particularly during group events, post break up blues or exam periods.
• You will need to focus on the ratios of what you are ingesting, essentially, let's put this statistically. 80% of a typical student meal should consist of fats, sugars, salts and oils. A lot of carbohydrates are essential into fueling you up for a busy day of absolutely nothing. I personally recommend a wide variety of culinary treats such as pasta, pizza, chocolate, biscuits, crisps and a healthy serving of takeaways. Warning, your wallet may suffer from symptoms of emptiness and anxiety of a credit card gone into overdraft.

2. Your microwave will become your best friend.

• Personally, I lived in a catered accommodation and one of the primary tools I used in order to heat up my meals was the microwave. The microwave is an essential tool in replicating what a stove does. Living like Bear Grylls in the jungle, with a kettle and microwave has taught me that I can make a mean pasta. Want to know how I make it? Simple, I boil up a kettle of fresh water and pour it into a container. Usually, food packets will try to manipulate you and tell you that half a bag of pasta is for 3 people. Absolute baloney! There is no such thing as too much, you shake that bag until its penne-less. Next, you place a lid, not seal, into the microwave and wait for 10 minutes. After waiting a generation of your life and having endless chit chat with your flatmates, you drain the water and add an entire jar of pesto onto the pasta as well as grate half a block's worth of cheese. This is may seem like extreme measurements, but like I said, there is no such thing as too much, you need to stock up on fats and carbohydrates in unfriendly environments.
• For breakfast, boiling and scrambling eggs on the stove is a thing of the past. Whilst there is a risk of an explosion, please do not take to heart too much. Exploding an egg in the oven essentially removes the process of scrambling. It is a time efficient process that requires minimal manual labour.

3. Another man's treasure can also be your treasure apparently...

• Sharing a communal kitchen or fridge means that your food is at the risk of being taken by certain snakes on your floor or from other flats. But don't be alarmed, essentially morals go out the window as soon as you leave home and the war begins. One cost efficient pro to the act of theft is that you can selfishly enjoy what someone else wanted to treat themselves too. This goes far beyond food; alcohol and contraception too. My advice? It's survival of the fittest...if you do not want your food stolen - then lock dry foods or hide them in your room and place laxatives in others. Karma comes back around right?

4. The kettle will become your best friend.

• Signature dishes prepared at university will often include Pot noodles with a glass of tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Coffee proves essential when it comes to revision and cramming a week's worth of work into one night. In addition pot noodles, are an excellent starter to your lunch as well as artificial flavors. Repeat, artificial, not fresh!

5. Snack loading.

• Your shopping basket will primarily consist of this. Vegetables and fruits are not necessarily the best options to go for, only because they do not provide the same amount of nutritional value as a chocolate bar, digestives or a tube of pringles. Take it from me, these are essential snacks to keep you motivated. During the night before my coursework deadlines, I spent the entire night in the library with a bag filled with another 24 bags of cheesy wotsits as well as 3 packs of Oreo. Despite looking like a gremlin, it allowed me to get through the night and still not understand a word of what I was writing. 

6. Takeaways! AKA Takes away your money...

• You will find yourself on lonely nights craving a Dominos pizza. Despite being one of the most ridiculously priced takeaway foods ever, it will definitely fill up that cholesterol-lacking hole in your heart. My favorite dining experience in university was me and my best friend sat on her bed, eating a large pizza each, with a bottle of pepsi to share, cheesy garlic bread, potato wedges and a box of Ben and Jerry's brownie ice-cream. Is your mouth watering yet? 
• If say you cannot afford the luxury or are just a sensible spender unlike my friend and I, JustEat provides you with a flurry of food to eat - Chinese, Indian, Italian, your pick. Good thing about it, if you do not finish it all, you can refrigerate it and pray to the Lord Almighty it isn't stolen during the night. 

7. Alcohol is the new Water

• Your first year of university will consist of a lot of partying and alcohol drinking. Alcohol will essentially take form of your own blood by the end of the year.  Only way to cure this is to exercise or abstain from constant drinking. Who knew the cure sounded worse than the disease?! Going to a free wine bar was probably one of the highlights of my year, I simply couldn't resist and I ended up drunk, swapping two taxis to find my way home. That night, a fire alarm woke me, and the entire building was waiting outside for it to stop. Usually, when a fire alarm goes off, people take one prized possession with them to make sure it doesn't catch ablaze. My choice was a box of Maltesers that I drunkenly offered to all of my exhausted flatmates. Priorities eh?

8. Crying yourself to sleep....<Tears are essential>

Once you have completed the day and get ready for bed, take a good look at yourself in the mirror and begin to cry at the blob that you have become. Tears, loathing and self pity are the fundamental foundations that the rest of your university life rests upon.

There you have it. Essentially, buy cheap, buy fatty foods and drink plenty of alcohol kids. You have a rough three years ahead of you, make sure you are nutritionally balanced. Do you even succeed first year of university if you don't put any weight on?

Hell no!

P.S. to any confused readers, this is a sarcastic and ironic post...please do not follow instructions above. Have a lovely weekend.

Surviving First Year of University

Dear Readers,

As September is along the horizon, I thought it would be a terrific time to tell you about my experiences at university and how I seemingly managed to 'survive it.' Across social media, there are constant memes that provide you with some witty quotes, but maybe it will be better to take a minute of your time and read university through my perspective.

1. Freshers week - This is probably the social event of the year apart from celebrating end of year exams. This is the opportunity to make some hilarious memories with people you have just barely met for several hours. My story begins with me arriving late for pre-drinks at my flat. I entered a small and cramped laundry room where 20 people were attempting to socialise in a very compact space. Then, entered little innocent me and 20 pairs of eyes darted in my direction. After forcing everyone to tell me their names, I sat down and they offered me a drink and then the ice was gradually broken. After a few drinks, we all became a lot more comfortable with each other and began to head towards the bus. Outside were a thousand more of us who were equally drunk and ready to party. The university held a lot of events for us throughout the week and it felt as if we were all on a lads holiday. Essentially, clubbing, drinking and lots of other mischief shall we say...With regards to my flat, this was basically the golden opportunity to get closer with them and see them at their worst. Of course, I was stupidly the first one to take the bullet after eating just an apple for dinner on the second evening. I was carried back to my room at 11pm which is just embarassing....To put it in short, you WILL become best friends with everybody in your flat in the first few weeks of university, then all the friendship groups will form...

2. Alcoholism? - Essentially, your first year will consist of you testing your waters of drunken-ness to the maximum. I certainly have had several moments where the level of alcohol I consumed just didn't agree with me. There are countless stories that I could dive into but I don't think that's particularly necessary...Your facebook page will blow up with different types of events or raves that you or your friends are interested in therefore, you will not have an excuse not to go. One of the things you will find with this new found independence is that you will feel a lot less guilty going out. For example, say you want to have a quiet night in and you hear banging on the door with someone asking 'Do you want to come out to 'insert club name' tonight? By the second time they ask you, guaranteed ladies and gentlemen, that you will be trying to get ready in 5 minutes and getting drunk in the next 10 before the bus arrives. That's all part of being a student...

3. Sleep? - This will be one of essentials you will have to sacrifice during the night and do during the day. Night time is basically the time where you party with your friends or spend a night in watching a flurry of Netflix movies till the crack of dawn. The daytime is for napping and bracing yourself for the upcoming night. Napping will also become a very big part of your life, I was living in a shoe-box sized room where the bed was right next to my desk. I once woke up in the middle of the night with the lights still turned on, spooning my textbook that I attempted to read...

4. Money? - First year students listen up! This will be the year where you will learn from your mistakes. At the start of the year, you will end up spending a solid amount on textbooks and stationery. The rest of the year, you will either be spending it on a smorgasbord of food or on alcoholic drinks. My advice? Find the cheapest local stores like Aldi, Lidl, Asda or even Tesco if you are desperate and do a weekly shop and try to stick to that amount. Cheap or shop branded alcohol tastes vile but with a dash of 50p Tesco Coke, that will keep you buzzed for the night. In terms of buying food, do not buy everything you want at once, try and stick to a budget. You will need some healthy items on the list because you will be a hungover, homesick depressed mess if you are don't have something to liven up your day. Cheese, my good friends is probably one of the most expensive items I have come across in the supermarket. Do not buy grated cheese, it is a complete rip off and you get about 3 times less the amount than you would with a regular block. Also, deals, student discounts are something to keep an eye out for if you are a big spender. If you go shopping or have meals out, just be careful how much you spend because restaurant meals aren't designed to be cheap nor is Topshop. Primark will probably end up being your best friend for the year. With regards to nights out, drink cheap alcohol at pres and try and buy a very minimal amount whilst on a night out. Remember, people also have the tendency to go to the nearest burger or kebab shop to fill their stomach. Believe me, if you are to have the food sober, you would probably gag, but when all your senses are diminished by good pal Vodka, you will honestly think its heaven in your mouth. With regards to taxis, try and uber or alpha or delta it. Never get black cabs or at least do not get them on your own as it isn't worth spending a tenner, you might as well just sleep in the 24 hour campus library...

4. Dropping out? - There will be at least one moment in your uni life where you will consider to drop out. I personally, had 3 breakdowns on the phone to my mum explaining to her that I need to find myself spiritually and that uni has gotten the best of me. Do not be fooled by this, its just a small phase or a moment of weakness everybody will have. Everyone who spends a few hours on their own will start overthinking and becoming homesick. It's simply an adjustment and essentially, university should provide you with the best years of your life.

5. Studies? - What I have found with studying is that you will have constant fear that you are behind on something. You will feel like you have 100 modules even though you have 4 at the most. Procrastination is a very dark demon and walks hand in hand with napping and stuffing your sorrows away with jars of Nutella. Essentially, try and be organised, push yourself in the short term and feel better in the long term. I made the mistake of being too lazy and I had to catch up with a lot during the Easter and Christmas holidays. The good news out of all of this is that you only need to pass first year for most modules and even if you do badly, it will most likely scare or wake you up for the next year when **** gets real. With regards to exams, make sure you revise on time and not try to cram in half a year's worth of work into one week. It just won't happen. During exam time, you will lose interest in how you look, smell or behave and you will just have to battle through exhaustion, stress and deprivation of absolutely everything you can think of. You never realize how much your parents push you or encourage you to do your work than at uni.

6. Snakes in the nest? - Of course, everywhere you go, you will find drama from someone or other. Essentially, having flat relationships is considered very incestuous and not to mention risky. It can change an entire group dynamic and especially if you have one at the start of the year, it could jeopardize your opportunity to make other friends. One of my personal hates, is having food stolen by other members of your flat. The countless times I have had to wake up with a message on the group chat reporting a missing milk or slice of ham is unbelievable. The best thing to do would either to put laxatives in your food or get a mini fridge. One of my saddest moments in university was when my father brought a kilogram of olives from Costco for my birthday and the next morning to find that half of it was gone. May that greedy goblin choke on the seeds....Another source of heat in the kitchen will be the anger boiling up inside you by filthy roommates who refuse to wash up their dishes and cutlery. Just to clarify, soaking it for 2 days straight is not an excuse not to do it. Mouldy, smelly dishes are not something you should put up with. In terms of other drama, you never really know what could come up around the corner. There will be a lot of opinionated people and of course views will clash. Religion is one of my all time favorite. The Atheist vs Christian debate where one tries to convince the other how they are wrong...

7. Sex? - Let's just say, university corrupts you in more ways than one...But sex is a perfectly normal and fun thing and just enjoy it. You will often find pleasure in finding out about your flatmates' one night stands as long as your head isn't sleeping on the other side of the wall. The beds in my accommodation had like a beam going up into the ceiling. I once woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was tossing and turning due to a bad dream but once I tried to go back to sleep, I realized it was people upstairs having sex like a sailor on payday....That was extremely grim. In addition, ever heard of a little app called Tinder? That 'little' app will be on a lot of people's phones and it is the perfect place to find a horny teen in your neighborhood. Who said chivalry was dead?

8. Societies? - Every year your university will probably have a society fair and it will be your opportunity to sign up to what interests you. Since I was still drunk from the night before, I ended up signing to every single society including Hindu society, Pole dancing society, Anime and reenactment society. I ended up getting emails from all of them and I did not go to one. I did try out the swimming and water polo societies but apart from that...I preferred a nice nap and Domino's pizza.

So there you are! hat's just an insight into my first year of uni. I can't wait to share many more memories with you guys in the future...Hope you enjoyed this extremely long post and can relate to it if you either have been or at uni or just about to go into uni. May this be your little guide for the social aspect of university...