I always wanted to study abroad as I love to travel around the world since young.

Last year, my dream of studying abroad came true when I passed an interview as one of scholarship recipients from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) .

The interview

When I first went for the interview, my mind went into blank mode as I was very nervous about it. There were only 3 spots for the scholarship from MMU. I was the 3rd candidate to go into the interview room and at that moment, I literally cannot feel my legs and it felt like there was a force behind pushing me towards the room. After the interview, we were told that the results will be out on that day around evening time. When the clock strike 6:15p.m., I got an email from my school and it stated "

Congratulations ! You have been selected as one of the recipients of the ERASMUS+ FUNDING for Manchester Metropolitan University.

I was screaming for joy,but of course using my inner voice as I was out in the public and I did not want people to think that I an a weirdo. Since that day, the preparation for this global student exchange program was in a rush as I only had one month to prepare all the necessary the documents thoroughly.

It's D-day!

Reality hits when it was the day of my flight to Manchester. It was my first time flying alone for 16 hours and it was nerve wreaking for me. I had to stop in Dubai for 3 hours and transit my flight to Manchester. It was around midnight at that time when i reached Dubai International Airport. I had no idea how to spend my 3 hours there as the WiFi connection in the airport has a limited period of 2 hours. After travelling by plane for 6 hours, I just can't sit quietly as I felt like the bloodstreams in my leg are crying out for help. Thus, I wandered around the airport like a clueless Asian girl with her heavy backpack. At 3a.m. in the morning, I was dead tired and as soon as I boarded on plane, my brain started to shut down and I needed to sleep. My seating was near the emergency door and it was the front row for one of the section on plane. So, technically I was not allowed to put any items near or underneath my seat. One of the air stewardess saw and offered to take care my items. She promised to give them back to me as soon as the seat belt sign is off. I was blurred at that moment and I was like :

Yeahh...Okay.. Take them.. Thank you..

I fall asleep instantly after that and did not know what happen at that moment.

When i woke up, I was very surprised that there was a blanket covering me along with a small pillow beside me. I also noticed my items that were taken care by the air stewardess returned to me by placing them on the floor near me. The air stewardess even offered me food and drinks when I was awake. I felt the warmness from the air stewardess as well as their 5 star hospitality throughout that flight. It was the best flight I ever had in my life.

Meals I had during my flight.

After long hours of flight, I finally reached Manchester airport and the weather was cold and humid that day. After filling up the immigration card, I proceed to the immigration counter before retrieving my luggage. The immigration section of the airport was the strictest immigration I ever seen in my life. It was like they will not let any living things pass through the immigration, not even an ant. They asked a lot of questions about me as well as any proof of documents to check that I was really a student that is going to study in Manchester. After that, I waited for my other friends in the airport to ride the complementary taxi provided by the university to our temporary hostel. We were required to stay in the temporary hostel for a week as accommodation was not provided to us and we were required to use that one week in finding our permanent accommodation for 3 months.

The hostel

The lobby

The hostel was around 30 minutes from the airport and it was located in the city center. It was like a backpackers hostel and there were 6 bunk beds in one room with a bathroom attached in it. There were kitchen facilities provided as well for the guests to cook their meal. Breakfast was provided as part of the package and they served basic continental breakfast such as loafs of bread, cereals, coffee, tea, orange juice and milk. The arrangement of the rooms were done randomly which means that there were 10% of chances in sleeping together with your friends in the same room. My room was located on the 3rd floor which is the highest floor. My roommates were from all around the world as they were girls from New York, Denmark, Hong Kong and Italy. It was amazing to talk to them and get to know each other as it is not everyday you got to speak with different countries of people.

The kitchen

My room for the week

Overall experience : The hostel was quite new to me and the staffs were friendly. But, there are two Hatters Hostel in Manchester and their distance between each other is around 5 mins by foot. So, please do not get confused by them. The beds and bathroom is clean but please do not expect that they will clean your room everyday because that did not happen to my room for one week. The breakfast provided was basic and filling. I would recommend this hostel for short stay but definitely not for long stay.

The University

My friends and I walked to school for 20 minutes after breakfast to attend our first international students orientation. MMU was huge and there is no way that you can walk the entire campus by foot all day long, especially during cold weather. The Manchester campus of MMU has approximately 18 different buildings surround it. The Business School building is where I usually went as most of my classes held there. It is modern architecture building which has more than 5 floors. The building was next to an amazing library where me and my friends will go there for our assignments.

The Business School of MMU

The All Saints building which accommodates the Sir Kenneth Green Library

During my 3 months in Manchester, I regretted not travelling around UK more often as I was too obedient with my attendance in class. I rarely skip classes and most of my classes end at 6p.m. on Friday.Therefore, it was pretty hard to take a long weekend off to visit other places in U.K. ( EXCUSES...I know...)

During my free time after class, I will go to the gym near my university and let me tell you this, I fall in love with the gym instantly.It was like love at first sight. The facilities in the gym was so well equipped and at one point, I felt like suggesting to the management in opening a franchise in my university (Sorry to say that, the gym in my university is just... well... average..). There were also other facilities such as squash courts, basketball court and activity rooms for yoga or Pilates in that sports center. I went there almost everyday as I applied a 3 months pass to the gym. The 3 months pass also include a 3 times FOC Boditrax experience. The Boditrax experience includes the review of our body composition and movement statistics which enable us to keep track the health of our body.

Sugden Sports Centre and its facilities

Public transportation

My new accommodation was located in a small area outside of Manchester City Center. The distance between my university and my accommodation is 1 hour and 15 mins by foot but 30 mins by bus. Therefore, I applied a 3 months bus pass which is the most convenient need in my Manchester life. I can go anyway around Manchester with that buss pass by a certain bus company. Although it is limit to one bus company but it is still super duper convenient as it exist in most of the areas in Manchester. I traveled to my university by bus everyday and I saved a lot of money for transportation. The total amount for the 3 months bus pass is 110 Pounds whereas the normal price per day pass is around 4 Pounds.

Well, you can do the calculations yourself and see whether is it worth the money.

I also applied the 16-25 rail card which can last for a year as it gave 1/3 of discount from the originated price. It was worth it if you want to travel outside of Manchester often. And of course, you can walk around in Manchester by foot like my roommate as she want to explore and see the surrounding more. (Yes.. She walked to the university everyday by foot , no matter rain or shine. That is one determination I did not have in my life... )

Example of rail card and bus pass

(Please note that the bus pass are only for university students which sold in the office of the university. As for the public, there are also weekly pass available but if compared to the daily pass, it is recommended to purchase the daily pass. There are also other options of bus passes online, just go to https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/manchester to find out more. As for the rail card, remember to bring a passport size photo of yourself when you want to apply the card. They will attached the photo together with the card applied. It only cost 30 Pounds per card. To find out more about rail cards, go to https://www.railcard.co.uk/)

Food

The food in Manchester are mainly western food. ( Like..duhhh.. We are in a western country..) A full meal in Manchester usually cost around 8 to 15 pounds, depending on what you eat. It will cost more if you dine in in an Asian restaurant which I spent a lot of my meal time in it as most of my friends will get"sick" if they do not consume Chinese cuisine after a few days.

My Top 2 recommendations for affordable meal
i) Five Guys
This is my top favourite fast food restaurant as the quality of food and beverage is just top notch. There are limited choices of burgers and sandwich but you can add in any extra ingredients to the burger for free. There are over 30 ingredients for you to choose from healthy vegetables to various types of sauce. There were no set meals offered which was a bummer but you just got to order the fries. You can choose the sizes and flavors of the fries which are Cajun or Original flavors. Not to mention, there are over 100 choices of soft drinks for you to choose and best of all, you can refill them. I did not get to try the milkshakes there but it is the same concept of the burger as there are around 8 toppings for you to choose that goes well with your milkshake.

Price : Around 10 Pounds, depending on what you order and whether you want to share the price of the fries with your friends.

ii) Middle Eastern cuisine

I know what you are thinking. I went to Manchester and ate Kebab which I can get that in Malaysia. As much as I love Malaysia's food, the Middle Eastern cuisine that I tasted cannot be compared to the ones I ate in Malaysia. It tasted so good and flavorful which made me ate that at least twice per week. The warm and steamy freshly grilled kebab is like my version of warm mushroom soup for the cold weather. The kebab must ate together with fresh salad vegetables and Naan bread to have a filling meal that can last for hours. There are various Middle Eastern restaurants in Manchester but I will usually go to the one that is opposite my university as the service is efficient and the quality of the food is absolutely awesome. There is also an area called the Curry Mile which is near the University of Manchester. That area is famous for Middle Eastern restaurants as you can choose to dine in in a normal restaurant or a more chilling Shisha cafe.

Price : 5 Pounds per meal include drinks , depending on what you order. If it is the Briyaini rice, it will be more expensive.

Places to visit

There are a few places I visited during my program in Manchester.

Manchester Cathedral - Not as grand as other cathedral that I have seen but it is quite worth to go as there are no entrance fees required. But, before you visit this attraction, be sure that you dress appropriately as in no sexy singlets and shorts allowed.

St.Peter Square - This square is next to the central library of Manchester and it is a great place to relax with your friends. You can bring your kids to chase the pigeons around and take beautiful pictures of the buildings around it.

Salford Quay - The view of the river is just mesmerizing and the cold wind during that time was so cold until I can feel them inside my body.

Manchester Food and Drinks Festival - Held annually in Albert Square which is 3 mins away from St.Peter Square. You can get various foods and beverages from Italian cuisine to different types of local craft beer.

Manchester Christmas Market - Held during the month of November to December every year. You can definitely feel the Christmas vibe in the market. It is best to try out the hot chocolate during the cold weather in the market and you can choose to either keep the mug or give it back to the stall owner as there are deposit required along with the purchase of the beverage.

Places I wish I had the chance to visit

Manchester United Stadium - Huge recommendation for Manchester United football fans , especially during match week. ( My everyday view as my route towards home will pass this stadium.)

Trafford Centre Manchester - The biggest shopping mall that recommended by the Mancunians. One of my friends said that it's like Genting Highland but bigger and better.

Will I recommend anyone to visit Manchester? Hell yeah!

Although Manchester is a busy city like Kuala Lumpur, but the environment and vibe are different compared to Kuala Lumpur city center. (A good kind of different)

I wish I can go back in time and be a bad girl for once so that I can use all class time to continue exploring Manchester.

Just joking... :D

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more stories about my Europe trip.

Cheers!