If someone asked me what there is to do in Manchester, I don’t think I’d suggest the usual tourist spots. My version of the city is a lot smaller. It’s a few streets I know well, the places I eat at way too often and the spots I always seem to end up in. So this isn’t a list of must-see attractions, it’s just what my everyday life here looks like, which mostly comes down to food and the places I keep going back to.

Most of my time happens around Oxford Road. It’s busy no matter what time you walk down it. There are students everywhere, people half-running to lectures, others sitting in cafes or just wandering between places. It’s the part of the city I see the most, basically where my whole day-to-day life plays out. I wasn’t a big fan of the food here at first but over time it became almost impossible to get bored of trying new things. I’ve worked my way through so many cuisines just from places near Oxford Road. You name a cuisine and it’s there, so you can eat something different every week if you want. Mr Su’s noodles is one I like, it’s affordable too but if I had to pick a favourite, it’d probably be Red Chilli on Oxford Road since I absolutely love Chinese food. When I want a drink, I usually head to Gong Cha, especially between classes or when I’m out with friends. My go-to is their strawberry taro tea. I used to get it constantly and it’s still one of my favourites.

For somewhere more social, I almost always end up at Turing Tap. It’s a sports pub but it’s also packed with games like chess, Battleship and Jenga, so it’s way more fun and relaxed than you’d expect. You never plan to stay long and then suddenly it’s hours later and you’re still there. I also visit Grosvenor quite a bit. I like playing chess or pool there and they’ve got karaoke, darts and photo booths too, which makes it a good place to bring friends. Kro Bar and Big Hands are two more spots I keep going back to grab a pint. They both have that chilled student vibe and you always end up either bumping into people you know or meeting new ones without trying. On campus, I spend a lot of time at 532 Bar & Kitchen in the Students’ Union. It’s just an easy place to meet friends and grab food. It became part of my routine before I noticed it happening. And when I need a proper break from everything, I sometimes go to Whitworth Park. It’s close to Uni but feels much calmer than Oxford Road. I’ll just walk around for a bit or sit somewhere. In the evenings it’s the nicest, when there are people around and kids playing and everything slows down for a while.

When I first moved here, none of this existed for me yet. Manchester was just an unfamiliar city I happened to be studying in and living somewhere new on my own was honestly a bit scary at the start. Somewhere along the way that changed without me really noticing. What makes it special to me now isn’t the places themselves, it’s the way they slowly turned into routines, the same walks over and over, the spots I go back to without thinking. At some point, it stopped being a place I study and became a place that actually feels like home.

Written by Priyasha, a current postgraduate student in SEED. 

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