An Australian exchange student who’s just moved to Manchester has been documenting his voyage of discovery with British culture on TikTok, including his first trips to Wetherspoons, Greggs, and even Tesco.
Sebastien Butler has been vlogging his move to the UK on social media for the last few weeks, visiting some places that will be pretty familiar to a lot of us Mancs.
But until we viewed them through his young Aussie eyes, we didn’t realise how weird a lot of British staples actually are.
In his video series, Sebastien has partied in some local nightlife spots, been perplexed by our crisp packet colours (salt and vinegar should be pink, apparently), and been alarmed by the ‘very big, kinda scary’ geese.
Sebastien has visited some local student nightlife institutions already in his short time here. He’s checked off Factory, Courtyard (Corona on tap? ‘That’s sick’), and student bar Squirrel’s (‘drinks here are so f*cking cheap’).
There’s also been SEVERAL trips to Wetherspoons, including The Paramount on Oxford Street, where he deemed the chicken wings ‘actually alright’ and was stunned to find you can order drinks to your table.
A trip to Walkabout left him – rightfully – upset that the only ‘Aussie’ beer on tap was Fosters.
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In fact, alcohol and the price of it seems to be the recurring thing throughout his TikTok series.
“It’s f*cked, it’s so cheap here. What are we doing in Australia?” he asked in one video.
Sebastien also said: “A lot of you guys in the UK think Australia have like a f*cked drinking culture, but I reckon you guys drink a lot more than us. And a lot more consistently. It’s fun though.
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“I just feel like in Australia because alcohol is more expensive, people go out drinking like twice a week and that’s about it, but here it’s like most nights you can do something if you want to.”
Sebastien has made us realise how weird it is that we have slot machines (or ‘pokies’, if you’re Australian’) in our service stations, and that we are indeed being ripped off by Domino’s, which is about half the price Down Under.
‘Whoever Gregg is, take a bow’ – Credit: TikTok, @sebastienbutler
His ventures with food and drink have made up the bulk of his content.
His conclusions? Nando’s is worth the hype, Lidl bakery toffee yumyums are ‘honestly one of the nicest things I’ve tasted’, and Tesco meal deals are his ‘favourite part of the UK’.
On Vimto, he said: “Ooo-oh. I don’t know. It tastes like one of the frozen Fanta flavours from Macca’s. Trying to remember what it tastes like. Tastes like bubblegum, that’s it.”
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He’s had two trips to Greggs, saying on his maiden voyage: “I’ve seen this place before. I think from memory they do like pastries and stuff… I asked inside and apparently the sausage roll is a Greggs classic, so.”
Sebastien then filmed himself taking a huge bite of his sausage roll, reviewing it: “Decent, decent. The meat tastes a bit fake but the pastry’s alright. For £1.20, pretty good, pretty good.”
Standing in Piccadilly Gardens, he pointed out the mad proximity of Greggs bakeries, saying: “Why is there a Greggs over there, when I literally just went to a Greggs here. Like are they that popular?” Yes Sebastien, yes they are.
On his second visit, he ordered better and got himself a steak bake, leading to this gem: “Whoever Gregg is, take a bow.”
His series has been going down a storm on TikTok with millions of views, even though he said he only initially started doing it to keep in touch with his friends back home.
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One person commented after a night out video: “The UK is gonna turn you feral.”
Someone else said: “Imagine coming all the way from Australia to go to Factory.”
Another wrote: “No as someone from Manchester watching an Aussie go to Factory is HILARIOUS.”
This Manchester hotel has a Bonfire Night ‘escape’ package for pets to help keep them calm
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most luxurious hotels is transforming into the ultimate pet refuge again over the firework season.
Bonfire Night is loved across the UK for the spectacular firework displays and all the festive-themed activities that go along with it, but the November annual event isn’t so fun for our four-legged friends, as fireworks can be frightening to pets due to loud bangs, flashing lights, and the unpleasant strong smell of spent explosives.
With multiple bangs occurring from numerous displays too, pets are rarely able to pinpoint where the booming explosions are coming from, only making it more terrifying for them.
This is why, after becoming a huge success following its launch last year, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in the heart of the city centre has brought back its special ‘Bonfire Night Escape’ escape package, turning the already pet-friendly hotel into a firework-free sanctuary.
The hotel‘s year-round ‘PAWfect Stay’ package includes any dog staying at no extra cost, plus a pet tuckbox, a guide to the best dog-friendly places in the city, and a toy waiting for them in the room, but this fireworks season, pet owners will also get a luxury hamper including Pet Remedy’s ‘Party Season Survival Kit’
The kit comes together with a range of fast-acting products to help immediately in stressful situations such as fireworks, and includes calming spray, a plug diffuser, and some calming wipes too.
On top of that, dog owners can also take advantage of the hotel’s Music Concierge service, which allows guests to request a record player and vinyls to be placed in the room ahead of check in – with lots of classical and relaxing music records available to distract anxious pets from the noise of Bonfire Night celebrations.
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel has a Bonfire Night ‘escape’ package to help keep pets calm / Credit: Elisha Terada (via Unsplash)
The award-winning The Refuge Bar and Restaurant inside the hotel also offers a menu of carefully-curated dog treats throughout the week, as well as doggy Sunday roasts all Sunday.
David Lockhart, who is the General Manager at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, said he likes to think of the hotel as a “home-away-from-home for our guests”.
“Our top priority is making sure everyone is feeling safe and comfortable,” he added. “We can’t wait to welcome our November guests and help them care for their four-legged family members, giving them everything they need.”
The Bonfire Night Escape package at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is available to book from Friday 1 November, subject to availability, and you can request the package via the hotel concierge or by emailing [email protected] to book.
Scissor Sisters confirm reunion after more than a decade ahead of massive Manchester gig
Danny Jones
Still a firm cult favourite from the 2000s, Scissor Sisters are officially back and are bringing a special reunion tour to Manchester and the UK and Ireland at large.
The American outfit were one of the biggest and most well-known pop groups on this side of the Atlantic during their heyday, notching three BRIT Awards and two number-one albums.
Starting out in New York, like many bands in an oversaturated music market, they ended up proving to be much more popular here in Britain than they ever did in the US, not to mention becoming real icons among the LGBTQ+ community.
And now, over a decade later, the Scissor Sisters are set to repay the likes of Manchester, Leeds, London and more with a series of comeback shows, including one at Co-op Live arena – a gig which the venue has already teased earlier this week.
Confirming the reunion on social media on Thursday, 10 October, the band said: “Exciting news, for the first time in over a decade, we will come together again, live next May across the UK and Ireland.
“And for the first time ever, our debut album Scissor Sisters will be performed in full in celebration of its 20th anniversary – alongside all the other Scissor hits from along the way… See you very soon. Jake, Babydaddy, Del.”
Long-time fans were quick to notice that there was no mention of fellow founding member Ana Matronic nor former drummer Randy Real; the band themselves told BBC that the current lineup following their indefinite hiatus is by no means a way of replacing anyone but does give them a chance “to get some people on stage and ask some friends to do fun things.”
Frontman Shears’ 2023 Cabaret co-star, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, was also teased with a possible appearance on the Scissor Sisters reunion tour. Either way, they’ve promised a “little bit of chaos, anarchy” and an “‘anything can happen’ energy again.”
It’s been 12 whole years since we last saw them out on the road, so it’s only fitting that they give us a dozen UK/IE dates, starting at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena before bringing the comeback party down the home stretch in Dublin.
Scissor Sisters are set to stun the Manchester crowd with their Co-op Live debut on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, with special guest support from Alison Goldfrapp of the iconic electronic music duo, and we truly really can’t wait to roll back the years with them.
Pre-sale goes live on Wednesday, 6 November at 10am which you can access via their website and general admission tickets will be available from the same time the following Friday, 8 November.
We can’t wait to hear all the favourites – ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’, ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin”, ‘Take Your Mama’ and more – but, until then, the announcements coming out of Manchester’s biggest new music venue just don’t stop…
Daisy Jackson -
10th February 2023 
