Foodies Festival 2015

Regardless the drizzly day, we have been at the Foodies Festival on Sunday. It is a food festival which happened between 26-28^th June this year, and as a novelty, it has been held at the beautiful Clifton Downs instead of the Harbourside.

As recommended by the organisers of the event, we took the bus to get to The Downs, and our invitations were waiting for us at the ticket office right at the entrance. Two days earlier I was lucky enough to win a couple of day tickets in a competition at the blog A Life Less Organised, which I am very thankful for. ;)

I personally love food festivals because I love tasting free samples of... everything! Ginger beer, cheese, chocolate, chilli sauces, special oils an vinegars... Nonetheless, we also filled our shopping bags with some Ruby Mist cheese from the Snowdonia Cheese Company (one for £4; three for £11); chocolate from Sciolti Botanical Chocolates (£4), biscuits from The Sawley Kitchen (Offer! £1.50), although there were plenty of other tasty things we could have bought!

We stopped for lunch, which was a tasty rib-eye sandwich (£8) at BoyMeatsGrill and a glass of great wine (£4.50) at the Rioja stand, and continued with the route once our stomachs were full. There were many events for adults. I have been told that each ticket got you access to one of the events on each stage but on Sunday, probably because the weather was not in favour, there were many seats available except for the wine tasting event, which was very popular.

Nonetheless, it is not a festival for adults only. There were many activities for children as well. Starting from cookery classes to bouncy castles and slides, kinds can also have a lot of fun! However, only cookery classes were free: face painting for example cost £3.50, and the bouncy slide wasn’t free either (£1).

On our way out, we were given a set of freebies including a nice Stella Antois chalice, Chupa Chups bubble gum, a can of energy drink and some tea. Brilliant!

WEBSITE: http://www.foodiesfestival.com/bristol/

Bristol Big Geek Meet

Are you an anime fan? Do you like board games? There is a chance this Saturday, 27th June, to meet up with other gamers, cosplayers and geeks at the Bristol Big Geek Meet. Invite your friends and make new friends ahead of Bristol's big event next October (more info here)!

The meet-up will be this Saturday, 27th June at Bristol Temple Meads Train Station. The plan is to meet up at 12.30pm and move on at 1pm, go shopping and grab some food. They will go to Cabot Circus, Excelsior and around 4pm onwards, head to the upstairs area of King William pub where they will bring a selection of board and card games including Cards Against Humanity (I love it!), Cash n' Guns, Resistance and many more.

INTERESTING LINKS

Briston Anime & Gaming Con: http://www.bristolanimecon.com/

Bristol Big Geek Meet: http://www.animeleague.net/forum/showthread.php?101320

NOTE: Picture borrowed from Bristol Big Geek Meet forum. Thank you! ;)

Cycle as bare as you dare!

The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together en masse on human-powered transport (normally bicycles) to deliver a "vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world". The dress-code motto is "as bare as you dare", a distinguishing feature of the WNBR against other cycling events.

Although nudity is not compulsory, the World Naked Bike Ride will be riding Bristolian streets on the 27th June 2015 with bikes and bodies, highlighting the vulnerability of cyclists on the crowded roads in Bristol. A peaceful, powerful demonstration against car culture and oil-dependency. 

The theme this year is "as bare as you dare" and there fill be body painting, flags and banners to buy and decorate your bike at the Full Moon. The idea is to congregate in the Full Moon courtyard from 1pm to decorate the bike and the body and depart at 2pm. 

The route through Bristol will be a flat, 4-mile family-friendly ride, starting and finishing at the same point. Will you dare?

FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/1540797549515912/

Fundraising for Cancer Research on Father's Day

I am sure all of us know somebody who has beaten cancer, who is fighting it, who has lost the battle... or who sadly didn't even get the chance to fight it. That person might be a friend, a family member, a colleague... or it might even be ourselves.


Either case, as my mom says, cancer is nowadays a common disease; 15 million cancer cases were diagnosed in 2013. It has always existed, but now we have a name for it, a diagnosis and many, many cases. A year ago, when my father passed away, I started investigating on my family tree to learn how my grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents died, and I discovered that many of them died of cancer too.






Recently, researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York have achieved to reduce a large melanoma tumour in a 49-year old woman's chest with a new treatment; and researchers from the Case Western Reserve University have announced that they are a step toward turning the idea of using a new drug to regenerate damaged tissue into reality. One day, I would like to open the newspaper and read that somebody has found a vaccination to prevent the cancer. However, we need to do our bit in order to make similar discoveries happen.

With Father Day's coming up next Sunday, I thought it would be a good initiative to raise some money for those friends, family members, colleagues (or even ourselves) who might face cancer in the present or future.


Please, click the link below and support Cancer Research UK with as little/much money as you can donate. If you are a tax payer, do not forget to tick the Gift Aid as well!

Thank you very much!



https://www.justgiving.com/greatlittleplacecalledbristol

Bristol Grand Prix Bike Race

There are many plans for this summer solstice weekend. On the one hand, there is the Jamaica Street Open Studio (read here) and on the other hand, we have the Bristol Grand Prix Bike Race.

On Saturday 20th June, you will be able to show your abilities to cycle. This annual race for cyclist of all ages and levels, aims at inspiring people to cycle for leisure, travel and sport, and what better place to host than UK's first cycling city? The course if 1.3km long, suitable for any categories to suit junior or professional riders.

PROGRAMME

2.30pm - Love My Bike:  This is probably the funniest event of all. Take your friends, wear fancy dresses and cruise a lap of the course, there will be prizes for unusual bikes, beautiful bikes and happy riders!

3.00pm - Youth A, B:  This is the perfect race for junior bikers. 35 minutes and 3 laps.

3.45pm - Corporate Relay: This race is for all Bristol companies that have helped the event. In teams of 5, come join the race... or watch your colleagues ride!

4.45pm - Men's 3,4: Team race for local cycling club riders. 35 minutes and 3 laps.

5.45pm - Women's: Women's race. 35 minutes and 3 laps.

6.45pm - Men's Elite 1,2: Race for professionals. 50 minutes and 3 laps.

WEBSITE: http://bristolgrandprix.com/

Jamaica Street Open Studios

Jamaica Street Studios, one of the largest artist-lead studios outside London, will open its doors this weekend. The opening night will be on the 19th June 2015 (7-10pm) and studios, which are housed in a former iconic carriagework, will be accessible 20-21th June from 11am to 5pm.

The Fundraising Auction (21th June @5pm) is an annual event where each of the 40 artists at the studio contributes with a mini canvas, all the same size, which will be auctioned to raise money towards keeping Jamaica Studios affordable. Artworks are exhibited along the weekend and it will give you an opportunity to place a bid at any time if you are not able to go to the live auction on Sunday.

Come around and support Bristol artistic community at Stokes Croft! :) 

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/906422902732744/

Website: http://www.jamaicastreetartists.co.uk/

Applying for the NIN

The National Insurance Number (NIN) is a number used in the United Kingdom in the administration of the social security system, necessary if you wish to work in the UK. People born in the UK are assigned a NIN shortly before their 16th birthday, but people like me, coming from abroad, we need to apply for it to the Department of Work and Pensions.

I have applied for mine this morning and I am going to share with you how the application process works.

• The first step is to apply for a NIN by calling 0345 600 0643 from Monday to Friday (8am-6pm). They will ask you some details such as your name, an address, telephone number, how long you've been in the UK, why you need a NIN, your nationality, if you have double nationality...
• Schedule the appointment with the Jobcentre representative. Depending how busy the Jobcentre is, the appointment could be the following day... or in a weeks time. When I first called, they scheduled my appointment for the following day. I told them I could only make it on Fridays and they didn't have any slot that week. I was told that appointments were given week by week and that I should call the following week to schedule the appointment. However, I am not sure if this is entirely true because when I called the second time, we agreed to schedule the appointment in a weeks time. NOTE: Write down the reference number in case you need to reschedule the appointment.
• The appointment will be at the closest Jobcentre to where you live. The one in Bristol city centre is at the Eagle House, 16 St Stephen's Street (BS1 1JR). The offices are open Monday to Friday (8.30am-5pm) and you will have to go to the second floor. There, you will be called by one of the agents. You will be asked to provide your passport and a proof of address (a utility bill, for example) during the interview so make sure you bring it. They will also ask you for all the addresses where you have lived during your time in the UK, so remember to bring them too.
• You will receive your NIN at the address you have provided within two weeks. Make sure you don't lose it!

My appointment was at 8.30am but do not arrive earlier as the Jobcentre will be closed. It was the best excuse to have a coffee at the beautiful coffee-shop opposite the Jobcentre. At sharp 8.30am, door opened. Personally, the process of applying the NIN was a very fluent process and the agent was a very kind and friendly guy. I haven't received my NIN yet so as soon as I have it, I would be able to certify that it arrives within two weeks. Bear with me! :)