As I write this post I am currently in my last ever semester of university. Just 12 more weeks of lectures, a few exams and a dissertation to go and I will be out of education forever. Madness. Having spent the last two and a half years doing the whole uni thing myself it's fair to say I've learnt a lot, in more ways than I can even begin to explain. I wrote a post back in June last year titled 7 Things No One Tells You About Going To University and for today's post I thought we'd add another five to that list.

5 More Things No One Tells You About Going To University


1. Third year is actually the best year
Whilst the workload is by far the biggest of all of the years and it also counts the most, it's 60-70% of your degree, it is also the most fun. First year is fun because it's all new and exciting and there are so many cool new things to do and experience. Second year is fun because you move out of halls and into your first proper student house. But, third year is great because you've made all these great friendships, you've done all of the growing as a person/finding yourself etc, you have a lot more free reign of what you want to study and you're just well and truly into the swing of things. Whenever you hear about university it's always people saying how great freshers etc is, but no, third year is where the real fun is.

2. Student houses are worse than you think
I know that student houses are known for being bad, but it's never quite portrayed just how bad they are. I've written an entire blog post on the realities of student housing and spoiler: a lot of it is pretty gross. That being said, my student house this year is like the Ritz in comparison to the dive we lived in last year, so it's not all bad.

I've written an entire post on how to choose the perfect student house, so, if you're currently first or second year - check it out! You're welcome. Also, if you're nosy and  want to see the glow up between second and third year, you can see what my uni room looked like in second year here and compare it to now, here.

So, moving out of halls and into a house might seem like the coolest thing ever, but, be warned, a lot of the houses are actually pretty rank. Oh, and what comes to mind when you think of a student house, make it three times worse and add a few more rats.

3. You actually have to go out of your way to make friends
There's this whole perception that everyone makes all of their best friends for life at uni, and whilst I definitely have met a few, they don't just fall into your lap. I was very lucky with my flat in first year and we all got on really well and have lived together ever since. For other people, however, this is not the case, and making a good set of friends requires a bit more effort.

Make conversations with people in your lectures, join a society, go on nights out, get to know other peoples' flatmates. Going to uni doesn't immediately mean a huge circle of friends at your beck and call - you've got to go out of your way to meet people. My coursemates now I didn't really know for the first 6 months of uni... If I'd have just stuck with the people I'd met in the first few weeks I wouldn't know any of them now. But, going to socials, parties, doing things has meant that I've got to know a wide variety of people that I wouldn't have from halls/lectures alone.

4. Textbooks need a student loan of their own 
At school, if your teacher wanted you to read a textbook they'd give you a copy of said textbook to read. At uni, however, this is not the case. Lecturers will set required readings from textbooks and you need to go out and buy them. Yes, there's a couple of copies in the library but when in a cohort of 250 the chances of having it are slim.

So, you go onto amazon, search for the books and your jaw drops. How much for a textbook?! I have friends that have spent over £100 on a textbook that they needed to read for their exams... £100!! They don't mention that on the open days do they...

Thankfully, our course run a book sale whereby people sell their old textbooks to the new cohorts for waaaay less than the RRP. That being said, this doesn't work so well when you're in your final year and all of the year above - along with their textbooks - have left the university and are out in the big wide world. So, advice for any first or second years; get in touch with people in the years above and ask if they're selling their old textbooks.

Also, if your uni provides you with textbooks, I'm very jealous.

5. The halls you're in say a lot about you
I'm not sure if this just applies to my uni, but you definitely get very different types of people in each of the halls. Our uni has a catered halls, which is predominantly inhabited my boys, and not just any boys; mummy's boys who are part of the football/rugby/hockey teams. The halls actually in the town centre house those who go out a lot/feel the need to be close to West Quay. My halls was en-suite and really really nice, so you could say we were all the wrapped-up-in-cotton-wool kind of freshers who had to wait until second year to experience true dirt and grime. Sort of like the mummy's boys, but not quite so bad. One of the other halls is renowned for being the party halls and in first year that was where all the big pres/parties were held. Again, none of this is actually said during the open days/on the brochures but somehow everyone just falls into 'their' halls.



Are there any more points that I've missed?
Becc4 Kuala Lumpur - Tips, Tricks and Things To Do
When we booked and organised our trip to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand we hadn't planned on spending a few days in Malaysia. But, after a couple of very rainy days in Laos, stuck in the hostel, we decided to head somewhere with a bit more sun, enter Kuala Lumpur. We flew from Luang Prabang to Bangkok, and then from Bangkok onto KL.

We landed at about 12am and went down to the ticket office to buy tickets for the KLIA2 Sleeper bus. With our tickets bought we waited on the ground floor for our bus to arrive, which, can I just say, was very nice indeed. By far the best bus we'd taken the entire trip. Anyway, when we arrived we booked a Grab and headed to our hostel in Chinatown. When we arrived to check in, the lady on the desk could not have been more rude and unhelpful. She spent 40 minutes faffing around and telling us we'd made the wrong booking when we very much hadn't and then finally checked us in at about 3am. She took us into our communal room, turned all the lights on, showed us to our beds - waking up all the other people in the room. What a way to make friends on your first night, huh? Sorry fellow hostel dwellers.

The following morning we woke up very leisurely and went for a wander around Chinatown. I had sizzling pork and mushroom noodles for lunch and they were delicious. From there, we walked to the Butterfly Park, had a wander around, and then walked to the Orchid Park - which was kinda disappointing - definitely not a must do! After that, we continued our impromptu walking tour and headed to the National Mosque. After wandering around we then headed to the Jamek Mosque. From there, we took the train to the Petronas Towers. Wow. What a sight. They really really really are impressive. There's even a mall inside one of them which is equally as impressive. It's full of all sorts of shops from Chanel to Gucci and even an M&S! That evening we headed back to Chinatown for dinner before jumping into bed after a very busy day indeed.

After a very uncomfortable night's sleep, we walked to the nearest 7-eleven to grab croissants before catching a train to the Batu Caves. There are lots of stalls on the way to the caves, many of which offer henna. We had ours done for about £3 and then climbed the stairs to the top! The views etc were a little disappointing, but the entrance was free and it was a very very nice escape from the bustling city.

We then went back to the mall and actually had a Nandos for lunch. When in Malaysia, hey? It worked out as about a fiver for a pitta, drink and 2 sides - amazing. After lunch, and another wander of the mall, we went back to the hostel, got all dressed up and headed to the Petronas Towers. But, they were shut. So, we had dinner at the food court in the mall before heading to a skybar for drinks. It was ladies night, which is essentially just free drinks for girls night... Hellooo 7 free tequila cocktails. After an eventful night - more on that another time, maybe - we headed back to the hostel.

For breakfast, we treated ourselves to another 7-eleven croissant and then got a taxi to Sunway Lagoon: a waterpark come theme park. It had a very Disney/Universal feel about it with all the rides and theming and I loved it. We did the 360 degree pirate ship before spending the rest of the day in the waterpark. After an afternoon doing the slides and swimming in the wave pool, we jumped in a taxi back to the hostel. We grabbed our bags and then got back into the taxi and headed to our next hostel - Sky Society. A girl we'd met in Laos had told us all about this hostel and told us that we HAD to visit and she was right.

The hostel itself was within a load of really nice apartments and had an infinity pool on the roof - it was incredible. A little pricier than our other hostels but worth every single penny for those views. We had a swim in the pool on the 37th floor, took some photos, and then got ready for the evening. We attempted to go up the towers once again but, unfortunately, they were sold out... Just our luck. So, out of convenience, we headed back to the food court for dinner and then went to the Helipad Bar for their ladies night. Which, as the name suggests, has a helipad on the roof. We drank free wine and free pineapple and lychee cocktails to our heart's content before heading back to our hostel that didn't look or feel anything like a hostel.

We slept like absolute babies, the beds were AMAZING. If you're ever in KL I'd highly recommend staying at Sky Society, it was fab. We then took the bus back to the airport to continue with our travel plans after an impromptu few days in Kuala Lumpur... Bangkok, you're next.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Incredible modern city with lots to eat, see and do

THINGS TO DO 
- Butterfly Park
- National Mosque
- Petronas Towers
- Wander the mall
- Batu Caves 

- Skybar/Helipad Bar
- Sunway Lagoon (if you fancy a day of slides and swimming)

TIPS AND ADVICE 
- KL was far cheaper than we were expecting - a very nice surprise
- Lot's of the locals kept filming us and trying to take selfies with us... Yeah...
- Take the trains, they're so quick, cheap and go everywhere!

WHERE I STAYED & REVIEW
The Bed Station 
As you can probably already guess, I don't recommend staying here. Even without the checking in palava, the beds were really uncomfortable and you had to walk through the lobby to get to the toilets/shower... 
 
Sky Society
I highly recommend, not only for the incredible pool and views, but the cleanliness, friendly staff and amazing beds. Can you tell we loved it? 

HOW LONG TO STAY?
3/4 days. There's plenty of things to see and do
Ahh January, the month we all set ourselves lots of goals and try to throw ourselves into the New Year with only the best of intentions. I mean, having spent the festive period gorging on beige food and laying around in an assortment of different Christmas themed clothing items, it's fair to say January has been a bit of a shock to the ol' system. I'm currently in my final year of uni, so am writing my diss and preparing for what could be the penultimate set of formal exams in my life, ever. So, yeah, I've needed to whip my finger out pronto and get straight back into a routine and actually spend my days being productive. In other words, I just need to get sh*t done, and lot's of it.

I like to think that I'm fairly organised and good at getting things done, but of late, I've been finding it a bit more difficult than usual. I'm not entirely sure why but I think it's because the end of uni is in sight and is hence acting as a bit of a distraction. I have 184729 things I'd rather be doing and career/travel/life plans that I'd rather be making than sitting at my desk slogging away at my keyboard typing up revision notes on the pharmacological treatments for ADHD.

But, I've managed to snap myself out of this rut of late and have discovered a few tips that really have been helping me get things done and stay on track. So, rather than just save them for myself I thought I'd throw a post together in the hope that some of these might help you out this year!

Becc4 5 tips to be more productive

01 - DELETE / BLOCK SOCIAL MEDIA APPS

Haha, wow Becca, this is some really innovative stuff. But seriously, I hadn't realised quite how much time I was spending on my phone until Apple updated and started telling us how disgusting our social media browsing habits were. I, for one, had no idea that I was spending that long on the internet. So, I've been making a conscious effort to block social media apps during the hours I'm trying to get work done, in a bid to be more productive. And oh wow, is it working. For one, by the time the evening rolls around my phone still has far more battery than it's ever had at 6pm before. But two, I've been getting far more work done than usual! Oh, and three, the world doesn't revolve around being on social media, all those pics will still be there when you pick your phone up a few hours later.

02 - CREATE TO DO LISTS IN THE MORNING FOR THE DAY / WEEK

I've always found creating to do lists really helpful but I've only just discovered how much more beneficial they are (to me) if I make them in the morning. It's really useful having everything you need to do written down, but when I used to write them the night before I found myself getting way too into it and wanting to make a start on everything there and then. Which, when it's 11pm, and way past your 10pm bedtime, isn't very helpful. I find making them in the morning really sets out my day and I can chill in the evening knowing that I've done today's list and don't need to think about tomorrow's until I wake up!


03 - ADD FUN THINGS TO YOUR TO DO LIST

In an attempt to get more of my to do list done I started adding fun things to the list and it's worked marvelously. Now, when I say fun, I don't mean anything exciting, just things other than work. For example, painting my nails, watching an episode of a series. Whilst they're not the most productive of activities, everybody needs a break and being able to tick them off the list is oh so satisfying. 


04 - TIDY AND DECLUTTER

There's nothing more demotivating than going to sit at your desk and seeing the piles of crap sprawled all over it. Fact. So, before starting any work put all that stuff away rather than make a pile of it on your bed to then be moved back to the desk once you've finished working for the day... Is it just me that does that?! Getting rid of everything I don't need and decluttering my workspace has been a massive saviour this month, plus my room just looks better too! 


05 - TURN YOUR PHONE OFF AND READ BEFORE BED

I might just be talking out of my arse, but, reading before bed has made a great difference to my overall productivity. Let me explain... Yes, I know that we all know that the blue lights from screens etc are bad before bed, but, I don't think that's why I'm finding this tip so beneficial. Reading always makes me feel so sleepy, so, when I put the book down and actually go to sleep, I fall asleep waaaay quicker than usual. I also don't get distracted before bed replying to group chats or Instagram comments, that's a job for future Becca. 

And there we have it, a few of the things I've been doing of late to be more productive. Take it from me, they actually are helping, I'm up to my ears in mindmaps, revision cards, and essay questions... 


What's your top tip for being more productive?






After about three weeks in Vietnam we flew to our next destination: Vientiane, Laos. Now, we hadn't heard too much about Laos but considering we were in the area and the photos we'd seen were gorgeous we decided that we couldn't not make a stop there. So, we flew from Hanoi to the capital.

We took the public bus from the airport to the city and thankfully our hostel was very near a bus stop. It was, however, incredibly hard to spot so we did walk up and down the same road multiple times cursing at google maps for not being much help. (Note to self; have a proper look on street view at where your accommodation is before you arrive. It's always hard to navigate a new place, but it's even harder when it's dark.)

We checked into our hostel, which was the most basic of our trip thus far - mattresses on the floor - and headed out for dinner. I had a pork and vegetable stirfry and it was delicious.

The following day we took the public bus to Buddha Park. It took about an hour to get there but was definitely worth it. We spent a while wandering around the park and then climbed up inside the huge Buddha which provided a great view of the entire park.

We then got back on the bus and headed to the mall/market. Here, we had lunch and a bit of a wander before heading to the Patuxai Monument. We paid our entrance fee and then climbed to the top, and oh my, it was a great view of the city.

Following this, we took our first tuk-tuk of the whole trip to That Luang Stupa, where there is a huge gold sleeping Buddha. We then took our tuk-tuk back to the hostel to have a quick nap before heading for dinner at Tyson Kitchen. Here, the food was delicious and the cocktails even better! After dinner, we headed down to the riverside where we came across a huge night market and each bought a few absolute bargains.

Once we'd woken up the following morning, we took a tuk-tuk to the COPE visitor centre. There is still lots of unexploded ordnance in Laos, which, unfortunately, still goes off and injuries many people every year. COPE custom makes (for free) prosthetics for individuals affected by this unexploded ordnance. Wandering around their visitor centre was both a humbling and upsetting experience. We then headed back to the hostel, had some lunch, checked out, and boarded our minibus to the next stop: Vang Vieng. The journey to Vang Vieng was the worst drive of the whole trip. I have never been on roads like it... One girl on our minibus was vomitting out of the window and those sat in the back seats were being absolutely thrown around. But, after four hours we'd made it to our next destination.

We checked into our hostel, and then headed for dinner. In a weird turn of events, we ended up going out clubbing in a club called Sakura. Vang Vieng is a very popular holiday destination with South Koreans, and so all of the clubs play K-Pop. So, we ended up dancing to K-Pop (neither Toria nor I know any songs), drank the worst tasting vodka of our lives and stumbled home at 2am with a souvenir Sakura vest in hand... Not quite the night we had imagined for our third night in sleepy Laos.

The following day we woke up to rain that was NOTHING like we had ever seen before. I know our summertime in the UK is the rainy season in Southeast Asia, but, oh my, does it rain and then some in Laos. We spent the morning chilling before braving the weather for some lunch. We spotted a really cute looking restaurant that ended up being a stoner's paradise - there was a 'happy menu' featuring opium shakes and weed fries. It's safe to say we stayed very clear of allllll of that and opted for some pasta - the ultimate hangover cure.

The rain didn't ease the entire day, and nor was it due to on the forecast for the week, so, after a quick google of the places with the best weather in Southeast Asia we booked some very spontaneous, last minute flights to Malaysia. We figured that we'd rather spend a bit more money and go somewhere that we could properly explore rather than waste the next week or so sheltering from the rain in our hostels... For dinner that evening, we had the most delicious Thai food at Happy Mango, it was incredible! If you're ever in Vang Vieng I would highly recommend paying a visit.

Once we'd woken up, we headed to buy snacks for our upcoming 5 hour bus ride to Luang Prabang. Thankfully, this one wasn't a school minibus and the journey was far more smooth. We did, however, drive through a quarry, a landslide, fog, sun, rain - the lot. We checked into our hostel before heading for dinner at one of the local restaurants. We then headed for drinks at Utopia having heard so much about it both online, in guidebooks and from other people we'd met on our travels. Now, it was nice but it certainly wasn't life-changing...

Breakfast at the hostel the following morning was incredible. We had banana pancakes and they were the best I've ever had - 10/10. We'd booked to go to Kuang Si Waterfall through our hostel, and so after breakfast we were picked up in a minibus and taken there for a few hours. If you google Kuang Si it is absolutely stunning. The most gorgeous turquoise waters, it looks like heaven. What we saw when we arrived was definitely not that. Due to it being rainy season there was just brown water EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere. The footpaths themselves were waterfalls whereby the water was kneedeep... It was hard to picture it as a calm, serene spot, but it was nice to get out and do something having been trapped in the hostel the previous few days.

That afternoon I took a solo mission to the Royal Palace whilst Toria napped. It was pretty and a good way to learn a lot more about Laos history and culture. That evening we had dinner - I had the best mushroom fried rice ever - and then wandered the night markets. The markets were huge and there were so many different things to look at. Whilst lots of the products were the same as the other markets we'd seen there were also so many other things too. We then headed back to the hostel for an early night ahead of our early rise the following morning.

We set an alarm for 4.50am to go and observe the monks receiving alms and to climb Mount Phousi in time for sunrise. Now, we were most definitely in the wrong place but we did still see a few monks and it was nothing like I'd ever seen before. It really was eye-opening. We then clambered the steps to the top of Mount Phousi but unfortunately, it was really overcast so we didn't really see much of a sunrise. A bit defeated, we headed back to the hostel to sleep some more before setting an alarm for breakfast; a second round of the delicious banana pancakes.

From our hostel, we walked to the UXO visitor centre - another on the unexploded ordnance - before having our last meal in Laos. I had sweet and sour pork and my first Beerlao of the trip - I couldn't leave the country without having one, could I? We then flew to Bangkok, switched planes, and flew onto Malaysia...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Much much quieter than Vietnam and Thailand, and fewer things to see and do

THINGS TO DO 

Vientiane:- Buddha Park
- Patuxai Monument
- That Luang Stupa 

- COPE Visitor Centre
Vang Vieng: 
- Tubing (which we decided not to do because of the horrendous weather)

- Night Markets
Luang Prabang:
- Kuang Si Waterfall
- Royal Palace
- Mount Phousi
- Watch the Monks Receive Alms.
- UXO Visitor Centre


TIPS AND ADVICE 
- Avoid Kuang Si if it's the height of rainy season 

- Be more covered up, the dress sense is far more conservative in Laos 

- Budget a bit more money, it's more expensive than Vietnam, Thailand etc

WHERE I STAYED & REVIEW

Avalon residence, Vientiane
Very basic but there were cornflakes for breakfast, woop woop

Real Vang Vieng Backpackers Hostel
Good location, has a pool but not the cleanest of hostels

Sunrise Hotel, Luang Prabang
Really relaxed vibe, very popular with backpackers and INCREDIBLE banana pancakes

HOW LONG TO STAY?
A week or a week and a half. We saw the majority of the main sights and felt we'd had a good amount of time there to experience the country!
We NEED to make more of an effort to look after our planet. Yes, I know that big change comes from higher levels and as 'laypeople' we can only make a limited contribution, but, as Tesco would say, every little helps. And it does. During blogmas, I wrote a post on more eco-friendly wrapping and have made being more eco-friendly one of my 9 goals for 2019, so yeah, you could say things are starting to get slightly more sustainable around these parts.

Also, I am so over those people that are saying it’s too late and we shouldn’t bother. Why wouldn’t you help prevent something from getting even worse if you could? 

I studied Biology at A Level Biology (and got an A, woop) and ever since have been very much more aware of the impact we as people are having on our planet thanks to the legend that was my biology teacher. I'm sure you've all seen those heartbreaking photos of Bali floating around Twitter at the moment, but, having been to Bali this summer, and seen it in all its beauty, those photos really did hit a nerve. Failing that, I’m sure we all saw Blue Planet 2 and heard the nation’s Grandad, Sir David Attenborough, voice over what can only be described as some devasting footage.

There are lots of little changes we can all make day to day to help reduce the impact we are continually having. So, for today's post, I thought we'd talk alllll about one that I've been doing for the last few months or so... 
Ecobricks: How To Recycle Plastic. Sustainable, ecofriendly
Ecobricks. I first came across the concept of Ecobricks whilst scrolling through Facebook and decided that I ought to give it a go. We throw so much unrecyclable plastic into landfill every day, so, a solution for what to do with it? Incredible. 

If you haven't heard of ecobricks before, let me explain... Essentially, you just cram a load of plastic into an old plastic bottle which can then be used in all sorts of construction projects around the world. Simple, huh? And that's exactly why I knew I had to give it a go. 

It really couldn't be easier. 

We have one at our student house sat on the windowsill, and two at my family home, and whenever there's any suitable plastic (more on that later) it just gets squished into the bottle and poked down with a stick. 

So, now you roughly know what they are I'm sure you're wondering what on earth they can be used for. Well, let me tell you. They're, as the name suggests: bricks, so can be used to make anything from buildings to benches to boats. 
Ecobricks: How To Recycle Plastic. Sustainable, ecofriendly

How to Make an Ecobrick

  1. Take a clean, empty plastic bottle
  2. Collect some plastic to go inside, anything from crisp packets to vegetable bags. (Note: it MUST be clean and dry! This is to prevent any microbial growth and nastiness going on inside the bottle. I repeat, it must be clean and dry!)
  3. If they're large pieces, cut them down. It makes it so much easier to get them in the bottle.
  4. Find some sort of poker. Some kind of implement to squish everything down with. The aim is to get everything as tight and compact as possible.
  5. Keep filling it and then fill it some more. Keep pushing it down with the stick.
  6. Avoid putting anything that's recyclable in your brick, just recycle it, duh.
  7. Weigh your brick. There are minimum weights for each sized brick to ensure they're the best quality for building with. For example, a 1.5L bottle has to weigh at least 500g.
  8. Add some more plastic. No matter how much you fit in your bottle, there is always room for more. They just seem to keep going and going and going- I’ve been adding to these for ages and we’re nowhere near the target yet.

Now, there aren't that any official collection points but you can use this map to find local organisations/families/individuals that are collecting them. I've just had a look and at the time of writing this, there are 6 collection points within 10KM of Southampton!

Obviously, the numbers vary across the country, but there are lots of them about. Alternatively, why not try building something with them yourself? There are tonnes of ideas online, I've even seen photos of one lady using them as part of her exercise routine at home!? If I was less inept I’d definitely try and build a hot tub or something with them, how cool would that be? A hot tub made from old recycling? I’d be the talk of the town. (I’m not sure it’d logistically work, but a gal can dream). 
Ecobricks: How To Recycle Plastic. Sustainable, ecofriendly

Since doing some more research whilst writing this post I've realised I've made a couple of mistakes with mine so far. So let me let you learn from my mistakes...The Ecobrick website states to layer lots of the same colour plastic at the bottom of the bottle for aesthetic purposes, oops. I didn't realise this so none of mine have this, but I'm not sure how much of a detrimental effect this'll have? It's just a brick after all. 

Also, the website suggests starting with a smaller bottle to get the hang of it, but, here we are with a thicc 2L boy, powering through. So yeah, if/when you start making one, maybe start with a smaller bottle to get the hang of it. 

And there we have it. I urge you all to give it a go, honestly. There really is no argument not to? I mean, it takes a bit longer than just throwing all your rubbish in the bin but it's about the long-term isn't it really?

If this post inspires even one of you to give it a go then I'm going to award myself a Blue Peter badge and give myself a clap on the back. If you do get stuck in, keep me updated! I'd love to see how you're getting on!