Tag: life
All For Online Dating
Online dating provokes different opinions from different people. Some are all for it, while others claim it's sad, desperate and never works; or they...
A Little Bit Of Brazil…Does You A Power Of Good
Brazilians are well known for being warm, bubbly and very welcoming - not least to other Brazilians who are just starting out in East...
Plaistow’s Marathon (Space) Man
A Plaistow man came close to breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as an astronaut. Phillip Minns ran this year’s...
From Flexitime To Flexbowl
Molly Horne explains why the 'flexbowl' is the hottest image on social media.
It’s that time of the evening when your thumb is tired of...
From Shouts of ‘Paki’ To Equal Opportunities For Retail Therapy
Hanna-Mariam Chowdhury observes the changing fortunes of South Asian Muslims in East London.
East Ham's Green Street strikes today's casual shopper as a colourful array of...
Green Street Is The Height Of Fashion
The high-end Muslim fashion label, Aab Collection, has opened a flagship boutique in East Ham.
Its modestly modern attire includes military-style jacket-abayas, vibrantly printed ethnic...
The Children On The Bus Go Whaa Whaa Whaa!
Pamela Kokoszka wants a new sign on the bus
As a young adult with no children of my own, I don’t dread anything more than...
Newham Leisure Centres’ Cash Ban
Pamela Kokoszka becomes exercised about the need for older people to exercise.
Older people are constantly told that they should exercise. But Active Newham, the leisure...
East London Life In A Day: Daytime Is For ‘Athleisure’
'Athleisure' means looking a little bit sporty even when you are enjoying yourself. It can be done, insists Molly Horne.
The new catwalk is the...
East London Life In A Day: Wearing The Same Clothes, Morning, Noon and Night
Not that she's lazy or anything, but Grace Eracleous says it's miraculous that today you can go out and about in night attire.
East London Life In A Day: They Only Come Out At Night
Sam Curry visited Studio 338 to get a good look at East London's creatures of the night.
London is a city full of a variety...
London Is The New Loch Ness?
Cally Skinner goes hunting for Nessie Mark 2 near the 02.
After footage emerged taken from the Emirates Air Line cable cars of a mysterious...
City Life In A Day: Lazy Afternoons In Shoreditch House
Emma Brand admits to being 'obsessed' with Hoxton's hippest haunt. But she doesn't mind if you, too, spend a luxurious afternoon there (just don't...
City Life In A Day: Chilly April Mornings
I don't mean that the people around here are cold and nasty. More to do with this being the 'cruelest month' - warm one...
A Walk In The Park
Emma Brand finds she has become a celebrity magnet – they just keep walking towards her.
Who would think that going for a Sunday afternoon...
Chocs Ahoy!
Emma Brand is not a chocoholic but in the run-up to Easter she can’t get enough of the brown stuff.
As a way of getting...
Mysterious Disappearance of Beckton’s Boys In Blue
Terry Sorensen would be keen to speak to the police, if only he could find them.
On Saturday I decided to swing by Beckton’s local...
East London Model Spotted Up West!
Jonathan Tagle recognised a fellow East Londoner at a fashionable après-ski in Soho.
Eighteen-year-old East Londoner Tiago Coluna was one of the models chosen by...
Africa Comes To East London
Tasharna Brown Taylor strolls into Spitalfields and sees an array of African prints.
At the end of last month, old Spitalfields market was turned temporarily...
Taking The Hot Seat
A Facebook film of Londoners failing to give up their seat for a pregnant woman, has made many of us feel embarrassed. Savannah Walklate...
Does London Have A Foxy Problem?
Tom Hedley sees an urban fox, and looks him in the eye.
It’s the early hours of a crisp Sunday morning. The party kids have...
Women United
Nika Jazaee points out why there is still a need for International Women's Day - today!
Today is International Women’s Day. While millions of people...
African Fashion In London: Integration Or Colonisation?
African Fashion Week, Africa On The Square – a series of recent events in London has put African fashion on the map like never...
Let’s Get Serious
Jayce-Ebony Bell believes that 'these serious times' call for a new way of reporting what's happening to us. Indya Longmore-Oates recites her reading of...
Getting Out Of This Place
En route to Wimbledon, Jess Gray reflects on what little she will miss about living in Bethnal Green, and how much more she is...
Some Places Make For Sad Faces
Grace Eracleous reads the data on mood swings motivated by where we live.
In the few months since I came to live in South East...
PhDealers?
Rudy Omisore meets a campus dealer who makes a point of selling to a highly educated crowd.
Universities generate a lot of opportunities - also for drug...
‘Tis The Season…To Work In A Toy Department
What does Christmas feel like from the other side of the shop front? Chanel Etienne went to Westfield Stratford to find out.
Christmas is just...
‘Tis The Season To Be….Traditional
Tradition is a counterproductive force that undermines modernity - am I right? Except when it comes to Christmas, that is!
As a Norwegian I think...
‘Tis The Season To Be Hot, Hot, Hot
Stephen Adu-Koranteng swapped fireside Yuletide for a Ghanaian Christmas on the beach.
What comes to mind when we think about Christmas? Evergreen Christmas trees, grandma’s...
‘Tis The Season….To Hook Up on Tinder?
Jessica Ann Gray asks how we can best avoid being lonely this Christmas.
As we approach Christmas and the New Year, I have seen at least two...
1991 – 2015: Asian Weddings Then And Now
Adiba Khat sees change and continuity in the recent history of Eastern wedding belles.
Young mother Salma Begum, aged 26, has been married for only...
Muslim On Board!
Schahrazade Halfaoui wonders whether commuters didn’t see her bump because they were fixated on her veil.
It was 9 o’clock and the morning rush hour...
‘Tis The Season….To Cut Christ Out of Christmas?
With festive coffee cups in plain red, Staburcks has been accused of sleighing into Christmas and cutting baby Jesus out of the picture.
JONATHAN TAGLE...
The Heretics Have Taken Over The Station!
Grace Eracleous cannot bring herself to breach the first commandment of travelling on the Tube. But that's what TfL is preaching at Holborn station.
London...
I’m Not Superstitious, But…..
Today of all days, bad things have been happening to Marius Holtan.
I'm writing this on a severely delayed train en route to East London...
East End’s Easy Drugs
Never mind the law, Terry Sorensen finds drug use ballooning.
“So, you wanna do a balloon?” “What’s a balloon?” I replied. “It’s laughing gas,” she...
Open All Hours – In My Dreams
Sydney Kauffman takes issue with London’s status as a 24 hour city.
London, the city that never sleeps – really? How about London the city...
Get The Surge Without The Sugar
Help yourself to a Protein Haus health kick, says Molly Horne.
Whether you’re a fitness fanatic, avocado advocate or just somebody whose stomach clenches at...
Young Rita’s Older Man
The UK definition of child abuse is not the same the whole world over, notes Schahrazade Halfaoui.
‘I don’t want to say that I suffered...
More Ghoul Than Kagoul
Halloween is not only for children and anoraks, reports Jenny Cottee.
Halloween is now arguably London’s biggest night out next to New Year’s Eve. Originally...
Blitzed Out
Jess Gray had never experienced anything like the music night at Brick Lane's Blitz retro store.
I was recently invited to an in-store live music...
Wedding Belles
Adiba Khat will be grooming everything bridal in a new series on the art of the South Asian wedding.
An elegant shade of red catches...
Comic Con Con?
Maybe not a rip-off but the Comic Con After Party was certainly a let down, according to Alessandro Carrara.
It was already raining when I...
Sisterhood In A Secluded Place
A girl’s best friends are in the toilets, says Sevi Kemal.
Somewhere in the heart of East London at a quirky yet classy nightclub the...
Nights Out With Mandy Are Not For Me
Louise Wade decides against getting acquainted with MDMA.
It has often bewildered me why drugs are illegal and alcohol is not. On numerous nights out...
Unwanted? The Future Of Hover Boards Is In The Balance
Drew Goodsell assesses the future for balance boards now that they have been outlawed.
Self-balance boards were briefly one of this year’s most-wanted items. Street-cred...
Same Difference: how hipster town just doesn’t add up
The Shoreditch vision of diversity is strangely uniform, observes Gabriela Fabretti.
In Shoreditch and the surrounding area you will find people of many different tribes,...
Consumer’s Guide To Season Tickets: never mind the team, feel the low cost
Michael Southey is joining the race to the lowest-priced season ticket, regardless of the football team he really supports.
The prodigious cost of watching professional...
Striving For Strobing
Jess Gray draws the contours of London’s most fashionable look.
Perhaps the hottest look in town is the famously ‘glam’ glow which Kim Kardashian and...
‘It’s Hard To Forget When Something Like That Happens’
Sabrina Ruffles listens to the wise words of a teenager who grew up in the shadow of his cousin’s killing.
The day his cousin was...
Private Dancer?
Nika Jazaee is captivated by the view from her café.
Glimpsed between the crowds of colourful people crossing each other in front of me, I notice a...
Losing Control
Alina Choudry chronicles how the quiet young man in her household turned out to be a raging bull.
Dear Alina and Rahiba,
I might be...
Superwoman Of A Certain Age
Asma Begum is juggling both sides of her life and coming out on top. Aside from being a student, she is a mother to...
Loud And Lewd
‘Zavi Z’ spoke to Alina Choudry about the ‘brave’ men of Green Street who won’t leave her alone.
'I have been living just off...
When All You Want Is ‘Out’ From The ‘In’ Crowd
Ebony Bell experiences the dangers of nightclub overcrowding.
Overcrowding in UK venues and nightclubs is a serious issue. Section 53 of the Licensing Act, 2003...
The Worst Thing Is Having A Bad Hair Day – No Way!
Schaz Halfaoui warns that Muslim women are threatened by something much worse.
It’s every girl’s nightmare to have her perfectly curled locks drenched by the...
Keash On Delivery
Hannah Blacklock enjoys being upbraided in Hoxton.
Keash Braids is the collaborative brainchild of two best friends from South London, Jessy Linton and Taiba Akhuetie....
Starter For 10
Jasmine Wing suggests 10 fun ways to keep fit in East London – some of which you may never have considered before!
1. Hill sprints in...
Intimacy In Court
Grace Eracleous witnesses an especially revealing scene in the courtroom.
Her fingers poked through the tiniest gap between the panes of glass. The curly haired...
Fast and Furious Police
Rudy Omisore comes across yet another police car chase accident.
I was on my lunch break, and this was the Brixton Road, so the police...
Far Too Fast Food
Under the time pressure that so many fast food delivery workers find themselves under, Rudy Omisore sees another pizza-delivery man come a cropper.
This time...
All Aboard The Night Bus
Concerned that the Greenwich night bus is due to be cut, Elise Briggs looks at the history of night buses, and what the cuts...
The Late, Late Show
Never mind James Corden, Rising East’s Elise Briggs and Mel Zumrutel go Gonzo in late night Shoreditch.
“Messy, but it works”
First stop: Zigfrid Von Underbelly,...
Music In The Air
Martista Rodríguez Villar explains why she swapped Madrid and a job in advertising for the London music scene.
‘I just wanted to discover different places,...
Hierarchy Of The Hijab
Alina Choudhry prefers real virtue to a show of piety.
I am a Muslim but I choose not to wear any kind of face or...
Elderly, Orthodox, Welcoming
Matt Wright warms to the cosy atmosphere of Hackney’s newest synagogue.
It’s just before 10am and the men and women who make up the relatively...
Pills Over Pints?
While London’s lacklustre St. Patrick’s day celebrations are scheduled for this Sunday, the Irish government accidentally un-scheduled a bundle of recreational drugs. Ferdia Carr...
Not Active Enough On Childhood Obesity
Emily Darter finds that Hackney’s anti-obesity programme isn’t quite hacking it.
The London Borough of Hackney has the second highest rate of childhood obesity nationwide,...
Abandoned All Ye Who Cannot Enter Here
Miftaul Islam points to the youth problem which government cuts have created.
A minute’s walk from Whitechapel tube station and there they are – a...
Where All the Flowers Are
Sandra Amas Egbaran reports from the famous Columbia Road Flower Market.
https://vimeo.com/121689338
Water, Water Everywhere
Tamisha Thomas wonders why the waterfall coat is splashed across the streets of East London.
The waterfall drape coat is everywhere! From fashion bloggers to...
Apocalypse From Now On
Elise Briggs shows the strain of working under threat of terrorist attack.
I took a keen interest in the video recently issued by terrorist group...
London – Runner-Up To Los Angeles
Continuing to converse with newcomers to London, Marius Holtan meets a wannabe actor who cannot wait to get outta here.
Many of London’s new arrivals...
Disorder In Court
Grace Eracleous remains unimpressed by London’s legal system.
Those in attendance at City of London Magistrates’ Court were clearly irritated. Their grumblings and mutterings reverberated...
Watching The Visitors
Marius Holtan monitors the tourists looking at London.
'We’ve been real tourists today,' I hear them say as they jump off the tour bus and...
Mistaken ID
Walking the street does not make me a streetwalker, Alina Choudhry points out.
Prostitutes and pimps, brothels and drugs. Growing up in a provincial city,...
Great Beigel Bake Off
Emma Brand feels the love for Brick Lane’s Beigel Bake.
Whether it is 4am or 4pm, if you head to Brick Lane there is somewhere...
A Christmas Snapshot
Beatrice Groth samples the Christmas atmosphere outside Stratford’s Westfield Shopping Centre.
The area outside Stratford Station teems with shoppers, and buskers. While members of The...
Are The Police Racist?
Omar Richards talks to young East Londoners about policing and racism.
In the wake of the protests across America against the perceived racist killings by...
To Screen Or Not To Screen?
Farida Dahiru goes onto the streets of East Ham to ask black African residents their views on Ebola screening at UK airports.
https://vimeo.com/113908073
The Meaning Of Ashura
Kay Ayed joins the Ashura procession to find out what the day means to Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Muslims from East London joined over ten...
Ebola: can it happen here?
Beatrice Groth takes to the streets of Plaistow to ask white and West African residents how they rate the risks of Ebola.
Newham Council...
New Cross: living above the chicken shop
In the first of a Rising East series, Elise Briggs opens a new window on the streets where we live.
I knew before I came...
A Caring Kind Of Christmas
While many of us are gearing up for festive shopping, Mohammed Khan recalls the night he gave something back - as a volunteer at...
You’re (Almost) Psyching Me Out
He knows it’s a far out city, but Marius Holtan is also made edgy by London’s hot-and-cold stare.
I am two months in to...
Only Having A Laugh?
Gary Otchere looks on as Shoreditch goes numb for nitrous oxide.
In amongst the beer bottles and cigarette ends, metal shells are strewn all around....
The Takeaways Are Taking Over
Miftaul Islam reports on the fried chicken shops taking roost all over East London.
Health officials in East London are on high alert, after figures...
Muddling Through
Grace Eracleous witnessed the English legal system fumbling for justice on a grey afternoon in East London.
It's 2.10pm, Stratford Magistrates’ Court. The court was...
Riding High Above The Houses
Ferdia Carr savours an especially smoky cafe.
Everything is maroon; and nearly everything is made of plywood. No kidding - a room of maroon-painted plywood....
Don’t Stand So Close To Me!
Aren't the English supposed to keep their distance? Marius Holtan feels otherwise.
As a well-brought up Norwegian I keep my distance from strangers. I would...
The Return Of Pub Rock?
Callum Crumlish hopes that rock music’s Back-to-Basics is on its way back to East London.
In the 1970s Pub Rock (live bands in dodgy pubs)...
From Super-Fast Megacity To Slow Motion London Town
Marius Holtan came unprepared for London’s day of rest.
You Londoners are a mixed-up bunch. Just when I am getting used to the hectic pace...
Light And Easy Does It: Diwali comes to London
Schahrazade Halfaoui marvels at the joyously relaxed atmosphere of London’s Diwali celebrations.
As a Muslim woman with my hair covered in a colourful headscarf, I...
Do The Hustle?
Emma Brand thinks twice about food touts.
‘Chicken curry and poppadoms, only £5’.
If you have ever walked down Brick Lane you will know what this...
Eid Mubarak – Have A Blessed Eid
Schahrazade Halfaoui celebrates the most important festival in the Muslim calendar.
Just another day. I came downstairs to set the table for breakfast. But already...
Am I Cool Enough For East London?
Fresh off the plane, Marius Moen Holtan wonders whether he’s got what it takes.
The Norwegian countryside didn’t prepare me. A year in beach-town Australia...
Watching Football In The ‘Network Society’
George Sessions reports that divided loyalties have created a twenty-first century schizoid fan.
Instead of lifelong allegiance to a single team, the loyalty of today’s...
Price of Travel
Terry Hills wonders whether Tilbury's latest migrants are glad they came.
‘Tempted? You’re only human’.
When 35 Afghan migrants were considering whether to pay their way...
Pentonville or Purgatory?
Jasmine Wing endures the protracted process of a prison visit.
The white concrete walls seem to go on for ever. Finally I arrive at the...