Welcome to my video. Today I want to give you a peek into my daily life and some tips along the way. Every Wednesday, we go to a museum or gallery for my Art and Society class. This time, it was the British Museum. Taking one of these classes is a nice way to visit museums and look around London. On the way back home, I visited the Korean mart, “Oseyo,” for the first time. They literally have everything, from food, sauces, and instants, to vegetables and meats. It’s a franchise in London, so check if there is any that’s close to where you live!

​Ocado is an online website that delivers groceries to your door in your chosen time slot. You have to order ￡40 to qualify for delivery, so you might want to order with your friends. They have a wide selection of products you usually wouldn’t be able to see in your local grocery store, so I think it’s worth checking out once in a while. I made a burrito bowl with the ingredients I got from Ocado. Though I went a bit overboard with my ingredients, you can basically use anything you like. It’s nice and easy to make and I just make loads of them so I don’t have to cook every day. It really helps a lot when you are busy! I hope you enjoyed this video and I’ll see you in the next one!

A Filipino street food classic inside a rainbow-colored party truck, BBQ Dreamz has deservedly accumulated quite a following over the past few years at the sites of food incubator KERB and Brockley Market. Their Satay Curry comes with jasmine rice, coconut milk, fresh garden peas, coriander, spring onion and pineapple; while their signature dish of Lechon Kawali is a fragrant 24-hour cooked slice of pork belly served with mouthwatering Filipino Lechon sauce. ​

Where? Kerb King’s Cross, Kerb West India Quay, Brockley Market, John Lewis rooftop  
20 minute walk from UCL and SOAS, University of London
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More information: bbqdreamz.co.uk or @BbqDreamz 

This Borough Market staple serves amazing Valencia-style paella that always draws a long queue, but is well worth the wait. Their giant pan of paella features chicken, chorizo, Cornish squid rings, mussels and Madagascan tiger prawns amidst rice. Borough Market doesn’t lack in delicious offerings, but Furness’s Bomba Paella is one of the best.

Where? Borough Market
Take the tube! 10 minutes from University of the Arts, London
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More information: boroughmarket.org.uk

Founded in 2007, this Mexican street food joint is the place in London to try authentic Mexican food. Everything is cooked out of the owners' "food truck," a wild Citroën H Van (now two vans). They’ve fed the biggest music festivals in Britain and continue to serve up some of the best Mexican fare in London. They offer burritos, tacos, quesadillas and tortas, and all the ingredients always come fresh. Carnitas Burrito is a fat burrito stuffed with fennel and slow-cooked, orange-flavored pork, which is particularly popular.

Where? Brockley Market, Whitecross Market
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More information: luardos.co.uk or @luardos

This dandelion-patterned street food van is a shining example of how affordable and highbrow can go together. The famed "unmissable" food van serves addictive French chicken sandwiches. Their menu has been developed by chef Karl Burdock (who’s spent time in Michelin-starred kitchens), and the in-house team consists of talents who previously worked in a range of well-known establishments. The famous chicken sandwiches are made with seared and roasted Label Rouge chickens. Take a field trip, enjoy a nice sandwich and discover how regular chicken sandwiches can be posh at this stop.

Where? Exchange Square
Take the tube! 25 minutes from SOAS, University of London

More information: schmaltzlondon.com or @schmaltzlondon

Eat your way through the world in London! Kothu Kothu (meaning "chop chop") serves a famed Sri Lankan dish called "Kothu Roti." Slices of flatbread are mixed with vegetables, eggs and curry, then chopped up to make a delicious and hearty dish. You can choose chicken, mutton or both -- and ask for more spice if you like it hot.

Where? Boxpark Croydon

More information: @Kothu_Kothu

Oscar Wilde once said: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Well, in case you forget to look at the beautiful sky above you sometimes, let me remind you how astonishing the sky can be through these pictures. Oh, and those clouds — a poem suspended in the sky.

Pub gardens in the summer are a special experience, but come autumn, roaring fires heat snug rooms that have welcomed guests for centuries with room-temperature beers. Many country pubs now are ‘gastropubs,’ serving local ingredients as fantastic meals for visitors from far and wide.

One of the greatest British autumn treats is to take a long country walk, heading toward your pub of choice--where you have a table reserved. At the end of your walk, you push open the pub’s heavy wooden door and walk into a room warmed by the fire, the smell of food cooking, and the smile on the bar staff’s face. ​

The climate of Los Angeles is a year-round mild to hot and mostly dry climate for the L.A. metropolitan area in California. It is classified as a Mediterranean climate, which is a type of dry subtropical climate. It is characterized by seasonal changes in rainfall, with a dry summer and a rainy winter season. ​

As sad as it is to see the summer slip away, the start of the fall season is always a beautiful thing to behold. It’s not the shorter days, the lower temperatures, or the pumpkin spice-everything that really makes autumn a season to remember; it’s the brilliant change of leaves, when the verdant green of spring and summer gives way to a fiery kaleidoscope of yellows, oranges and reds for a brief but memorable few months every year.  ​

There’s no better place to witness this dramatic shift in our yearly calendar than in one of the most scenic cities on the planet: London, England. Here are a few places, from parks to picturesque pubs, to soak in the brilliant fall foliage when you’re in London this autumn. ​

Nothing goes better with a crisp autumn day than an old-fashioned British pub. This Old World pub sits at the edge of the famous Hampstead Heath, immortalized in popular culture by many including the likes of the poet John Keats, and offers some of the most breathtaking views of this celebrated park. The pub in particular dates back to 1585, and is a celebrity in its own right; you’ll find mentions of the Spaniards Inn in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and legend has it that Keats actually wrote his classic Ode to a Nightingale in the beer gardens here.  ​

Part private residence, part world-famous performing arts centre, there’s simply nothing like the Barbican anywhere else in the world. Built in the Brutalist style in the 1980s, this feat of design is at the heart of London, literally, and figuratively, as an epicentre of classic and contemporary arts. What’s most interesting about the Barbican is that along with several theatres, galleries, cinemas and halls (one of which is home to the London Symphony Orchestra), it’s also home to about 4,000 residents, living in some 2,000 apartment units designed as part of the complex. It’s beautiful and fascinating to visit any time of the year, but it’s during the fall when the stark Brutalist architecture really comes into its own.  ​

It might seem strange, but London’s cemeteries are some of the prettiest places to escape from the busy city. There are several Victorian-era graveyards, sometimes collectively referred to as the “Magnificent Seven,” around London, but it’s Highgate Cemetery that’s perhaps best known. It’s the final resting home of major historical figures such as Karl Marx and George Eliot, as well as more contemporary figures like Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the singer George Michael. A place of quiet self-reflection, the cemetery is home to some of the finest funerary architecture you’ll see, as well as a profusion of trees and other wildlife. ​

What would London be without its canals? This tranquil residential area is a welcome respite from busier nearby hubs like Paddington, positioned where the Grand Union and Regent’s Canal meet. Peaceful and atmospheric, this is a prime place to stroll along the walkways and marvel at adorably charming houseboats that line the waterways, a glimpse into the quirky lifestyle of canal-dwelling. Unlike its Italian namesake, Little Venice is in no danger of sinking, so don’t avoid this dazzling neighborhood during the fall, where you can wander for miles under a gorgeous autumnal canopy.  
 
Worried about missing out on all the fun to be had in London in fall? Check out some of the exciting study abroad programs offered by the Study Abroad Foundation - just a stone’s throw from some of these extraordinarily scenic spots.  ​

Autumn (what the Brit’s call fall) is the time to try Britain’s more traditional and more ridiculously named dishes. I mean, fish and chips are obvious, right? But toad in the hole or bubble and squeak might puzzle even the biggest Anglophone. 
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As the rain sets in and the clouds adopt their winter grey, Brits turn to comfort food. Yes, it was once a country renowned for its nondescript, tasteless mush, but now there’s international food in the supermarkets, cooking shows on every TV channel, and it’s in the global top ten for Michelin-star restaurants. The Brits love to eat. And those traditional favorites are enjoying a renaissance, using great produce, interesting twists, and updated family recipes. ​

Bangers and mash, at its most basic, is a plate of sausages (known as bangers because they used to split when cooked) and a pile of mashed potato. But the Brits do love to tinker (attempt to improve things) with recipes.  

So you might have bangers and mash with an onion gravy; the mash might have in it cheese, sweetcorn, mustard, cabbage, or anything else the cook can find in the fridge that might add a little interest. 
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The bangers, though, are often a huge source of pride. Yes, you can cook bangers and mash with everyday supermarket sausages, but every local butcher has his own secret sausage recipe, and many towns and counties have sausages very specific to them (look out for Cumberland sausages, Lincolnshire sausages). Not all sausages are equal.  ​

Yorkshire pudding is not a desert. Let’s clear that up immediately. The Yorkshire pudding starts out as a pancake batter (milk, flour, eggs), but instead of frying it in a pan, cook drops the batter into very hot fat in an oven dish and leaves it cook at a high temperature for about 20 minutes until it rises into little towers of delight, a little like Japanese Takoyaki. 

Yorkshire puddings are an exciting part of the famous Sunday roast, served alongside a mountain of vegetables, roast potatoes, and roast meat. ​

Bring together Yorkshire pudding and bangers and mash and you have toad in the hole. No amphibians to be seen, though. 
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After cooking the bangers in the oven for a while, the cook adds oil to the tin, turns the heat up, then pours the batter into the tin, covering the bangers. Add a pile of mash, greens, and onion gravy, and you have a British favorite. ​

A layer of minced meat, carrots, and peas in a gravy covered by (more) mashed potatoes. It’s a real winter warmer and a comfort-food favorite, and it’s one of those dishes that every family has its own recipe for—something a little special to make it their own.  
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The only fundamental difference between shepherd’s pie and cottage pie is the meat: lamb is the base for a shepherd’s pie, and it’s beef for cottage pie. ​

Roast meat is not a British invention, but the tradition of a Sunday roast very much is. The Sunday roast is an occasion; it gathers family and friends around a table heavy with vegetable side dishes (Yorkshire puddings, brussell sprouts, roast potatoes, roast parsnip, carrots, leeks, chipolata sausages, cauliflower in a cheeses sauce … the list goes on).  

And taking pride of place is the carving board with a joint of meat. Traditionally—we’re talking King Henry VII of the 15th century ‘traditionally’—the meat was beef, but these days it could be chicken, lamb, or pork. Some people go with goose, duck, or turkey, but that’s more around Christmas time. A nut roast is the perfect substitute for vegetarians. ​

Possibly the most exciting sounding of the UK’s weird-named food, bubble and squeak is a hotch-potch of all the Sunday roast leftovers, cut up and squashed into a skillet and fried as a patty with a delicious crust.  

Because, with the best will in the world, the Sunday roast is about, every now and again, eating a bit too much, so there are always leftovers.  
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The name ‘bubble and squeak’ comes from the sounds it makes when its cooking. It should be left to cook, not pushed around, so the squeaks come as the steam tries to escape from the top of the huge patty. ​

Yes, major cities such as London and Edinburgh can keep you busy, with tons of things to do. But the pretty little villages dotted around the UK are equally important when it comes to understanding the culture of this land. We’ve gone deep into the countryside and dug out these hidden gems for you to explore. Why not get yourself out and about and take some walks just like the Brits do, when you are studying abroad in Britain?

Located next to the beautiful grounds of stunning stately home Chatsworth House, the village of Edensor is made up of an interesting mixture of different but charming architectural styles, from Swiss-style cottage to Italian-style villas, from Tudor cottage to Norman house. The dominating feature of the village – St Peters Church - has a tall Early English tower and spire, beautifully designed windows and marvelous fittings.

Directions: Edensor is just over an hour’s drive from Manchester, and 2.5 hours from Oxford.