Things I Love about Coventry

I think I'd mentioned a few weeks earlier about how I've started loving The University of Warwick but not really loving Coventry and the UK, just yet.

Today, I can say that I've started to love Coventry too. Not as deep as my love for Gombak, Shah Alam or Wellington, of course...I've only been here for 14 weeks! 

But since the 1st of October 2015, I've been to short trips to other cities, like Birmingham, Cardiff, Swansea, Bath, Bristol, and Oxford. Not much, but I can start to see some additional appeal of living in Coventry somehow. 

The reasons I start loving Coventry are:

1. The People, The Culture

Malaysians here are quite a close-knit community and we help one another in all sorts of ways. Allah gives me the opportunity to meet like-minded Malaysians over here with whom I can be good friends, till Jannah insya Allah. For example, my friends Aireen and Hana are the closest to me now as they live nearby and come from related fields of study. and of course their characteristics too seem to blend well with mine, surprisingly, considering my eccentric nature. Alhamdulillah. 

So we get to grab some drinks together, have impromptu lunch, surprise one another with random acts of kindness,  go to gym together sometimes (we signed up together starting last December), go to the city together, join Parkrun and etc. I find friendships the most invaluable gift for now coz I don't get close to people that easily, that fast...and it's quite amazing I can do that with these two people. Alhamdulillah

-me with Aireen-

 -me with Hana-

Other Malaysians are super nice too. There are a lot of regular informal religious talks-usrah being conducted too, the kind of activities that I rarely attended in Malaysia :( . So this is a good exposure, clearly. and of course there's makan-makan too afterwards, that can give me temporary satiation for my lust for Malaysian food. 

-One of the Usrah sessions-

The beautiful thing is, other local people here are quite nice too. I've been blessed with wonderful neighbours. So I hope we could live in the same house for the next 3 years, insya Allah. Hopefully, the landlord loves us too. Never met him/her, though. and so far I've not experienced any racist encounters in Coventry yet. Alhamdulillah...May we always be protected by the mercy of Allah.

I also have fellow mommy friends like Siti, Nabilah and Esther who have children about the same age as mine. So we understand each others' challenges and get to meet quite often when we send our kids to school in the morning and fetch them at 315pm.

And I get the chance to attend some Islamic talks in the university too. The Islamic association here is pretty strong and established. Love it! 

Every single week there will be free talks that are open to ALL! Yes I mean ALL. You don't have to be Muslims, you are not required to don the hijab, etc. Although some religious preachers may not agree with this approach, I think such a welcoming and unrestrictive culture can really change the perspective about Islam and vanquish the growing Islamophobia among many people here. They can attend the talk and listen for themselves that Islam is a religion of peace. All are constantly reminded not to judge others. I can already see a number of familiar non-Muslim faces who frequently attend such talks, look very interested to join Islam and start learning about it. Alhamdulillah. And an additional advantage is I get to know new friends too! Just yesterday, I got to know two French muslims and two British muslims and they are soooo friendly!!!

2. The University of Warwick. 

Of course. I've even dedicated one post just on this. You can access it here too: The University of Warwick

3. The residential area

It's peaceful and clean here. I feel pretty safe, although I still don't dare to walk at night, except in the university area. 

I've been to Birmingham, and I personally feel that it is generally too crowded, dirty and less safe. What is quite embarrassing is that, usually a place in the UK is dirty and unsafe when it has a high percentage of Muslim population. :( . What an irony when our religion clearly promotes peace and hygiene. :(

4. The city

It's not as bad as I thought it would be before I came here. Not too 'kampung'...and not too extravagant. Yeah, it may not be as pretty as other cities like Bath and Oxford but it's fairly ok. And it's not as walkable as Wellington, but it's a fairly small city in which you can finish exploring on foot in less than a day. It has many eateries and even IKEA!And it has a reasonable amount of shopping places that can still tempt the shopaholic side of me. 

I like the fact that it doesn't seem to have places for clubbing. Or maybe there are, but quite hidden. 

The location of Coventry is also quite strategic, smacked right in the middle of England which means all other major cities are not tooooo far from Coventry.

5. The food!!

There's a huge selection of Halal food here. I was very surprised! Both at the university and the city. In the city, we have one halal KFC, one Halal Nandos, one Halal Subway, Chicken Cottage, and an endless number of other less established Halal eateries, from Middle eastern cuisines, to Indian, German chicken sausages, etc! We also have an area called Foleshill, which is pretty much a Halal food heaven! 

-where we usually buy our Halal raw meat-

Here too we have a mobile app named Just Eat for takeaways. I think it's something like Malaysian Food Panda.

You can filter your search for Halal outlets, and I found 58 choices of Halal restaurants from which I can make orders for home food delivery! That's impressive. But I've only tried that once. Though convenient, most ready-made foods in the UK are not exactly cheap. It's always cheaper to cook by ourselves as the grocery items in supermarkets are super-cheap!

6. The roads and rules

Yes, UK roads are notorious for its endless roundabouts. But, comparatively, the roads in Coventry are not thaaat confusing, with not that many cars. The rules are also easier to follow, and the city doesn't have as many cameras as other bigger or more 'established' cities like London or Oxford. We got two love letters (read: summonses) from Oxford only after being there for less than 3 hours! Crazy!! 

7. Weather

This may sound weird as UK is not known for good weather, in general. It also doesn't have a 'unique' weather like Wellington, but generally it's OK here. Fairly temperate. Generally not windy but it was quite windy at the end of Autumn in Nov/Dec. But stiiilll ok. The winter really feels like winter although snow so far seems to be an occasional phenomenon. It snowed this morning at 6am but I missed it. No heavy snow showers that have disrupted anything so far. But perhaps, too early to tell. The temperatures are plunging now and I haven't experienced Spring and Summer in Coventry yet. We'll see. 

-that morning when it snowed!-

8. My house

Hahaha.. yeah, not perfect. But I can call it my temporary home for now. Just a small terrace house with 3 bedrooms. Not as pretty as many other houses here, but oklaaa.. Comfortable enough to live for the next 3 years, insya Allah. There are also a number of nice helpful Malaysians in this area. I even carpool with some of them on certain nights when I want to spend longer hours in the university until midnight. and it only takes 5 minutes by car (and 30-40mins walk) to reach the university and the nearest 'shopping centre'. Not too bad. The nearest supermarket and hypermarket from home The Cooperative and Sainsbury, are just 5 and 10 minutes walk away from home, respectively.

I guess that's it for now. Will edit, if necessary.

Ciao! Salam.