Student Hotspots: Peddler Night Market and the delights of Kelham Island by Rishi Parwani

Just when you thought there wasn’t any other restaurant or food-related event left that I could review, I bring to you what was one of the more interesting food experiences I’ve had since coming to Sheffield! Taking place on the first Friday and Saturday of every month (which is perfectly fitting for this coming weekend), the Peddler Night Market is definitely a must-attend event if you are looking for a different eating out experience.

Having grown up in the Middle East, I’m quite lucky in the sense that the weather has afforded me the opportunity to go to a lot of outdoor food markets so when I heard about Peddler Night Market, my first thought was whether or not it would rain – putting me off from going during my first year. I finally went this year and I’m so glad that I did! I will stop yacking about my life now so I can tell you a little bit more about the Peddler Night market.

Located on Kelham Island, Peddler Night Market is an event attended by masses of people from Sheffield. Essentially, the market consists of food stalls of a variety of cuisines including American, Chinese, Italian, Brazilian, British, Japanese and the list just goes on. The market is also dotted with some really funky food trucks consisting of calorie-inducing desserts and there is also a bar on site selling traditional craft beer. You can’t begin to imagine how many times I walked around the market trying to find something to eat because when it comes to food, I feel the need to make the optimal decision on what to get. My friends already had their food in minutes but I took my sweet time and finally settled for a Brazilian Linguica (sausage).

The piping hot sausage was drizzled in caramelised onions and sauce in a toasted roll. Coupled with the rainy weather, this delicacy went down like a treat instantly warming me up. It was absolutely delicious and I instantly felt satisfied with taking my time to find my dinner.

The atmosphere at Peddler Night Market is absolutely brilliant too! Despite the rainy weather, live bands were there in full force singing and playing their hearts out. There is usually also a DJ playing a set which really does make for a fun and relaxed evening out. Our dinner didn’t end there though because how can we forget dessert?

Upon recommendation from a friend, we went to the Depot Bakery situated very close by to the market in Kelham Island. I had heard of this bakery for the longest time but never made the trip down there so I was excited about finally trying it out. Depot Bakery’s hipster and surprisingly quiet ambiance was a break from the music playing outside in the market, it’s a perfect place to nip in for a coffee and catch-up after grabbing some dinner.

The donuts (pictured above) looked absolutely heavenly but I decided on trying their famous brownies which one of my friends raved about. I must confirm that the brownies were absolutely amazing, they weren’t too soft nor were they too hard and the flavours were so unique. From what I can remember, there was a cheesecake flavour, a chocolate flavour and a Bailey’s flavour – all of which were just impeccable. I definitely recommend trying them!

So there you have it, a perfect evening consisting of live music and good food, what more could you possibly want? The market will be taking place on 3^rd and 4^th March so don’t miss out for this month!

Location: 92 Burton Road, Kelham Island, S3 8BX

Timings: 5-11pm on Friday and 2-11pm on Saturday

The Sheffield Malaysian Games 2017 by Muhammad Zainudin

Website : sg.smsa.org.uk

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SheffieldMalaysianGamesSMSA/

The famous Sheffield Malaysian Games was initiated by SMSA, a Malaysian society based in the University of Sheffield under the Student Union. The first Sheffield Malaysian Games was in 1999 where only a few sports were played amongst the member of the society. It has now grown massively and has numerous events across the British Isles. There can be up to 2,000 spectators every year. Participants registering for SMG 2017, was at a staggering amount of more than 1,000 players in 11 major sports. These include sports like Badminton, Ultimate Frisbee, Football and various others. Aside from sport, SMG2017 offers exquisite delicious Malaysian cuisine such as Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice), Roti Canai (Pratha) and Nasi Ayam Masak Merah (Spicy Chicken with Rice). In addition to this, we provide a day-care service for parents coming to the event with children. There are also non-food booths selling shawls, concert tickets and free-to-enter games such as the cyber games and mini traditional games.

I can still remember when applied to become a committee member for the SMG2017. This took place in October last year (2016), just few days after I arrived in Sheffield from Malaysia. I received a call the following day for an interview in the Students Union with the Director of SMG2017 and the president of SMSA. I was competing against good candidates but I made it through and was elected as Vice Director (MASSOC) of SMG2017. This year was the first time SMSA had ollaborated with MASSOC (Malaysian and Singaporean Society) and Sheffield Hallam University, so three Vice Directors were needed to represent each of the societies.

A lot of hard work and organisation went into making this year’s Sheffield Malaysian Games a successful one. It took a tremendous amount of dedication and effort, from the committee of SMG2017, which began in October 2016 right through until the day of the event, 18^th February 2017. We held fund-raising events, approached various sponsors, promoted SMG2017 through social media by making videos and had numerous meetings in between. Fortunately, we received generous funds from two sponsors, Chaffinch and MABEC. I was responsible for the Major Games, the Protocol Unit, the Equipment Unit and the Volunteering Unit as I was the PIC (person-in-charge).

On the day of the event, all the committee members arrived very early at the venue (King Edwards Lower School VII) at 6 am in the morning! We set up the food stalls, the sports equipment and signage to guide the players and spectators. At 7am, players began to arrive and the food vendors began serving their food. The Games then started at 8.30am as some players were coming all the way from Ireland and Scotland.

I was stationed at the Football Astroturf field to supervise football matches, as they were the most popular with numerous fixtures that needed managing. The Games were a great success with all the  sports running smoothly.

The event ended at 4pm and prize-giving ceremony which was presided over by our VIP guest, the Head of MARA UK, a government body that sponsors Malaysian students to study in the UK. He carried out an inspirational talk, acknowledged the great organisational work carried out by the SMG2017 committee and was very complimentary about the event. The Games officially ended with the presentation of medals to the winners from each sport.

I was very happy with the first event I successfully managed during my first year at the University of Sheffield, supported by a dedicated team. I learned so much from this event such as working with groups of different people with different backgrounds, communicating with sponsors and managing the committee to ensure everyone was doing their job. Even though I had a more senior role, I worked very closely with the advising them and was hopefully a good mentor.  I hope that SMG will continue its great legacy and approach more international participants in the coming years.