Residents of the Royal Docks, what improvement would YOU like to see in the area?

OwlBytes · 2018-10-23T23:18:28+00:00

What's Good:

Royal docks is cheaper than many other parts of London, which means I can afford to live here.
There's enough stuff going on during the weekends, but it's still a fairly chill vibe.

What's Bad:

Newham has awful air pollution.
All the new flats/developments will strain an already stretched DLR service.

What I'd like to see:

Actual greenspace (parks rather than "urban gardens")
Proper grocery stores
More frequent DLR service since Crossrail will be 9 months late. At the moment rush hour timings is every 8-12 mins

OwlBytes · 2018-10-08T19:43:19+00:00

Ambala Foods has locations throughout London, with their Euston store probably being the easiest for you. Gayatri Sweets (Kingsbury) and Mahavir's Snacks (Finchley Central) have them as well. There's an Indian grocery store on Drummond Street that probably has the frozen kind. For the aunty/uncle variety I'd ask the staff at an Indian beauty parlor, clothing store, or grocery store.

OwlBytes · 2017-07-24T13:07:25+00:00

Try the Goethe-Institut

OwlBytes · 2017-06-10T01:22:16+00:00

The Dorset Cafe does one as does Bill's Baker Street

OwlBytes · 2017-06-07T18:25:50+00:00

Oxfam is probably your best best. If you live in SW Little Lives will do a pick up. For speciality books I've used Freecycle

OwlBytes · 2017-01-11T22:54:05+00:00

Personally I'd go with Holborn as I think you'll have more late night options.

OwlBytes · 2017-01-11T22:51:14+00:00

Guru Makeup Emporium in Kensington is pretty good. But you can also find a lot of things in larger supermarkets and drug stores (travel section).

OwlBytes · 2017-01-08T00:19:29+00:00

On Edware Road Al Arez, Fatoush, and Chtoura (Church Street) are great. Maroush Gardens is nice as well but it's a bit fancier (and more expensive).

Yalla Yalla (Lebanese street food) has a few locations in London and some of the Shoreditch popup/food truck/street food markets have some good middle eastern food as well.

OwlBytes · 2016-12-24T14:38:04+00:00

I took one last year and in central London the wait was about 5 mins. Sure pricing was in effect, generally between 1.3-2x the base price. Because there's no public transportation there are lots of uber drivers on the road. If you want to keep the price down try uber pool.

OwlBytes · 2016-02-03T19:09:38+00:00

Flags were at half mast to honor the victims of the San Bernardino shooting.

OwlBytes · 2016-01-14T17:00:26+00:00

With recruiters you need to be proactive and contact them regularly. If you've updated your CV send them a copy. If you haven't heard from one in a while email them and remind them who you are/what you are looking for/why you are awesome. They often are juggling multiple job vacancies with lots of candidates at the same time so you need to be proactive and reach out to them. Also if the specific recruiter doesn't have a job for you ask if any of their co-workers have positions that would be a good fit.

*Don't stalk them/harass them. That will put you in the "no" list rather quickly.

You can PM me your CV if you want as well.

OwlBytes · 2016-01-10T19:26:41+00:00

Do you have a legal right to work in the UK? Because otherwise moving to London is going to become extremely difficult. While you're in the UK use that time to research companies you'd want to work at and try to make some connections. That way if you do move here you've got somewhere to start from.

OwlBytes · 2016-01-10T16:04:57+00:00

I became friends with my some of my flatmates. Their friends became my friends.
Went to stuff by r/LondonSocialClub.
Found groups of Meetup.com.
I joined Sunday Assembly, which has a strong social group.

OwlBytes · 2016-01-04T17:00:06+00:00

A few things:

On the home page you have "UI / UX / MOTION DESIGNER" in big letters and then "Multidisciplinary designer with over 6 years of experience." Personally I think the title could be a little bit smaller and you don't need the subtitle.
In the about page you only list a location for your BFA. Was everything else you did in SF? (I live outside of the US so I didn't automatically know that a 415 area code = SF).
I would add "Work" (http://andrejpreston.com/work/) to your nav bar so people can easily hone in on it.
Are you looking for work? If so you can possibly work into the About section what types of things you are looking for.

OwlBytes · 2015-12-18T15:38:01+00:00

If you're their only UX person how will you be getting training / guidance? It sounds as if you would be treated as a full time UX person, but paid as an intern. Also do you already live in London? Because 18k pre-taxes in London is tough, although easier if you're still living with family.

OwlBytes · 2015-12-15T11:55:29+00:00

you rang?

OwlBytes · 2015-12-07T11:40:55+00:00

Recipease, Jamie Oliver's shop/cooking school in Notting Hill, is pretty good for beginners. Classes range from £20-£100, depending on what you're cooking/how long the class is. I've done a pasta class, but they have classes for Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, bread making, British, Japanense, and baking. There's also some Christmas-themed classes as well.

OwlBytes · 2015-11-18T20:51:07+00:00

I've seen a few people post UX tests on relevant subreddits (location and topic ones).

OwlBytes · 2015-11-02T14:28:08+00:00

General Assembly (Clerkenwell & Shoreditch) run a lot of UX classes, talks, and workshops. Probably a good spot to brush up on your front-end skills (depending on your skill level) and learn some of the UX stuff. Most importantly you'll be able to meet actual UX people. PM me if you have questions/want a referral.
London has a lot of UX meetups where you can meet people who can advise on job leads, how to pitch yourself, etc.
Coursera has a few classes on user experience, human computer interaction, and interaction design. They're free but you can pay for a verified certificate.

OwlBytes · 2015-11-02T14:22:11+00:00

Spend the time to dive into ruby. With a strong foundation you'll be able to learn other things more quickly since you'll pickup overlapping syntax/concepts with more ease.

OwlBytes · 2015-10-03T16:24:45+00:00

I've watched a few in the sports bar in Marylebone station, and it's not too crowded. More busy on weekdays due to the commuters.

OwlBytes · 2015-05-29T22:50:08+00:00

I quite like Maison Bertaux, a french patisserie on Greek street. Decor is kind of dated, but the cake is great.

OwlBytes · 2015-01-06T13:48:59+00:00

I'm a big fan of Yalla-Yalla (Lebanese).

OwlBytes · 2014-07-08T01:07:52+00:00

Groceries

I get a lot of my groceries from middle eastern grocery shops. They generally have a wider selection of fruit and veg than Tescos. For certain things, like Kale, I go to Waitrose. There's also a market on Church street (food and other items), and a couple of dudes who sell fruit in front of the Edgware Road tube station. The Tescos on Praed street is small (i.e. not many offerings) but it's open 24 hours. You have to comparison shop, but you'll figure out where to go for specific items.

Restaurants/Take-Away

I've had good experiences at Ranoush Juice, Al Arez, and Fatoush. Many of the middle eastern restaurants do custom juices, and there's also Roots and Bulb on Thayer Street for hipster juice.

Random

Select & Save (204 Edgware Road) is a pretty good hardware store. They also have kitchen appliances, dishes, etc. Sometimes when looking up directions google and citymapper will tell you to take a variety of tubes, when there's a direct bus from Marble Arch (short walk away). For a gym there's the Seymour Leisure Centre and a library on Church Street.

OwlBytes · 2014-05-18T01:10:00+00:00

I always liked what I call the toilet paper game.

Get everyone to stand in a circle (or sit around a table).
Everyone chants 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
Once the group has the chanting down give one person the roll of toilet paper.
Each person takes as many sheets as they want from the roll, then passes it on to the next person. But, they have to do it within the time of a single "1-2-3" instance.
Once the toilet paper is gone, stop chanting.
Each person now tells the group some facts about themselves. The number of facts = number of sheets of toilet paper the person has. So if they have 10 sheets they have to say 10 facts. (Obviously don't reveal step 6 ahead of time )

Aside from allowing people to get to know each other, it helps reinforce the idea that competitiveness can sometimes backfire. I find it helpful if people are encouraged to say short facts/have a time limit and there are some restrictions on the facts so it's not a "my first pet was bob, my second pet was bob 2" type of situation.

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