Kirien Sangha

Below are some of the common questions I wanted to know when I was applying for my tourist visa to China. Hope they help.

1) This is the official site. Use it to print off all the forms.
2) You need to send ONE photo measured at 48mm high X 33mm wide. I couldn't find anywhere that did this specific size so I got a standard passport photo and trimmed it. 
3) Doing it by post is expensive. If you take the passport to the visa office it costs £36, by post it costs £54. You also need to send it Royal Mail special delivery and provide a pre-paid envelope which also needs to be special delivery. This is an additional £13. 
4) According to the official website, you have to book your flights and hotels before applying for the visa. I tried searching online to see how strict they are about this, but couldn't see much information and therefore I booked these before applying. 
5) You need to apply about a month before you go. It says on their website that applying by post takes between 7-10 working days for the visa process to be completed. I sent mine on a Thursday and it came back to me the following Friday. 
7) I sent mine to the Manchester office and the address is -  

@kirien89 ow.ly/hhpOq try this one. Have referred to it many a times #Shanghai ^GS
— Hilton Suggests (@HiltonSuggests) January 31, 2013

When I’m asked if we’re better off with social media, I always answer with a definitive “yes.” And here’s why.

@kirien89 We apologize but we have an option for you! youtu.be/4aDyguiDiPo #warbyvision
— Warby Parker (@WarbyParker) March 27, 2013

Onyx marked my first visit to a Michelin star restaurant, and what a restaurant it was. 

Everyone who knows me will point out my love of food, and how - unashamedly - I prefer food over almost everything else in life. I’m not usually one to dine in fancy restaurants, a career in marketing  doesn't really allow it. However, on a recent trip to Budapest a friend suggested we try this very fancy restaurant, and I’m so glad we did. 

As highlighted in the pictures below, each dish was perfectly laid out and tasted as delicious as it looked. Each course was brought out to us by waiters wearing gloves who carefully explained what was on each dish and did everything they could to make make sure our glasses were never empty. 

After going to my first Michelin star restaurant and tasting the quality of food, enjoying the décor, and talking to waiters who were as excited by the food as we were, I've built up an appetite for more Michelin starred restaurants. 

A major change is happening in our TV viewing habits and Netflix knows it.

Netflix, the subscription based company that for a minimal fee of £5.99 a month lets you stream as many movies and TV shows as you like, has gotten even better. Noting how we love to binge watch TV shows rather than waiting for a week between episodes, they’re now producing their own original TV series and releasing all the episodes at once. Such was the case with House of Cards, a political thriller starring Kevin Spacey.

I have to admit, for me, this is heaven. The idea that I can get hooked on a new TV show and watch it all at once, just makes me love Netflix even more.

But ­­Dustin Rowles sees it differently and in his article here, he explains why he’s staunchly against this strategy. His principal argument is that TV has now become so much a communal experience and this ruins it.

And TV has become communal, we Tweet and post messages on Facebook when our favourite shows are on. The cast of Scandal, an American TV show written by Shonda Rhimes, responds to viewers by live tweeting as they watch the show.

Between each weekly episode they use their Facebook page to flirt with viewers about the upcoming episode, asking questions and encouraging viewers to play games. We all know what role social media plays during big sporting events too, like the Olympics, just look here.

Rowles further points out that the biggest problem is spoilers. We haven’t yet managed to work out how we can communicate with just those who are on the same episode as us. Rowles makes a solid point and he’s right; I'm someone who regularly tweets about the shows I'm watching and I discuss the plots, as do my friends. But still, the idea that I can everything at once outweighs everything else. It doesn't mean that I'm against shows that are pushed out every week, I just appreciate that with this latest series, there's no waiting.

More interestingly however, was how Netflix knew that House of Cards would be a hit.
Based on the viewing habits of its 33 million users, it knew how many users watch movies starring Kevin Spacey and the Director David Fincher and how many people sat through other political dramas. And so we are starting to see the role big data has and the benefits of it.

Sources
/http://scandalabc.tumblr.com/post/34324920252/join-the-cast-of-scandal-for-a-live-tweet
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/511771/house-of-cards-and-our-future-of-algorithmic-programming/

The greatest thing about London, apart from the endless things happening in the city, from art exhibits to innovative yoga classes and quirky markets, is for me, the food.

I’ve even got a Pinterest board dedicated to the places I want to eat at in London. This is for two reasons: because I’m greedy, and for the people who visit London and say “Your food is awful.” 

A friend recommended going to Dishoom, a Bombay style café. They have two locations, one in Covent Garden (where we went) and they also have a place set up in Shoreditch. The interior has a modern vibe to it – big airy spaces, an open kitchen and lots of noise, but as you begin to look more, you see how they have sneaked in the Indian aesthetics.Think neon lights and plastic cups. It’s all done very tastefully which makes it ever more charming.

We arrived on Saturday at about 6pm and as expected, it was extremely busy. However, after a half-an-hour wait – whilst enjoying India’s 1977 answer to a coke, “Thumbs Up”, which is now owned by Coca-Cola – we were seated at our table by a cool American waitress.

I was very hungry so didn’t take pictures of my starter – lamb samosas, or my mains – the Chicken Ruby. Both were delicious by the way.

Desserts is where it got really interesting, my chocolate chai (yes, really!) and the Dishoom Basmati Pudding were both rich, indulgent, and creamy. I finished both of them and was tempted to go for a second dessert but thankfully I managed to restrain myself.

Dishoom is definitely worth a visit, here is the link to the website.

Dessert

@harpreetsethi

@belledame86

@adam_ashraff

@aislingemmajarvis

Food has become an even bigger subject in my life this year – I've gotten greedier. In January I turned 24 and decided I should try and switch my diet up a little by having more vegetarian and fish dishes. I’m a meat fiend and love nothing more than ordering a KFC on a Friday so I thought this challenge would be interesting.  

Thankfully, the food god brought me Anjum Anand. Some say she’s India’s answer to Nigella Lawson. I say her food is great; it’s both simple and easy to follow. Even though my dad is Indian, I shamefully know nothing about how to cook Indian food. And as we mainly have meat dishes, sometimes lentils, I decided to make Anjum’s Fish curry.  I left out the chilli just because we didn’t have any – bad Indians! – but it tasted just fine without them. In all, the dish proved to me at least, that you can easily cook lovely fish curries.
                              

For an extra treat we got this lovely dish at Cardiff’s Vegetarian Food Studio. A shop come restaurant that serves delicious vegetarian food and they let you bring your own alcohol. You can get a feast for less than £10, so is well worth a visit if you’re in town. 

Did I come back home with an urge to eat only vegetarian food? No, not quite. All I needed was a Dominoes Meat Feast pizza and that's what I ordered. It did however, make me realise the range of vegetarian food available and how easy it was to make.