Fantastic Mr. Fox has nothing on this cosplayer. Photo Credit: Caroline Bodin

Have you ever fantasized about having superpowers? Do you dream of becoming a superhero? Does the flamboyant side of you wish you could wear tights, underwear as outerwear and accessorise with large weapons? Or maybe you just want to look choo-kawaii (supercute).

Hopefully any First Pint readers who do harbour these kind of leanings were at the Cosplay event in the Barbican last weekend. For those of you who couldn’t make it, or haven’t plucked up the courage to sew your own home-made hero costume, we have a picture slideshow of the amazing costumes on display at the Cosplay LATES night.

Cosplay is a Japanese phenomenon which allows the shyest person to don a costume and transform themselves into their favourite anime or manga character. There were a huge range of fabulous, terrifying, hilarious and out and out cute costumes on display. From celebrated manga and anime like One Piece to popular video games like Final Fantasy.

Ever been to a maid cafe? These ladies want you to experience it in London next month. Photo credit: Caroline Bodin

Next month, two of the London Cosplayers, bedecked in maid costumes, will be running a Maid Cafe in London. Maid Cafes sprung up in Tokyo a few years ago. In Harajuku, one of the city’s trendiest spots, you can go to a cafe to be attended to by girls in elaborate maid outfits.

The Cosplayers at the Barbican were a mixture of enthusiastic locals, hooked on the adrenaline of stepping into fantasy shoes while Japanese and other foreigners enjoying cosplaying in a new environment. The event opened with a parade of all brightly coloured costumes. This fashion show stood out from the regular though in that much of the audience was as well put together and outrageously costumed as the models sashaying down the runway.

Check out the pictures here:

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Rich colours and colourful traders, East Street Market has it all. Photo Credit: Daniel Ross

A large number of visitors to London find their way to Borough Market and consume the tasty fare until it’s time to be rolled home. But East Street Market is a different experience. Hidden away behind Elephant and Castle, this is the place for bargain hunters and anyone desperate to get away from the oh-so-trendy vibe of Borough and the like.

Stall holders intent on doing the serious business of making a living charm the crowds to their stall and make you an offer that you can’t refuse.

Need some industrial sized cookware? Feel like spicy cow’s feet for dinner or feeling nostalgic for Coca-Cola products not made and bottled in the UK? This is the spot for you.

Huge piles of satsumas and cherrys vie for attention with colourful material and pre-packaged duvet covers. To prove our point, intrepid First Pint photographer, Daniel Ross, went down to capture the scene for your viewing pleasure.

Another great product from Cincopa Send Files. Cincopa video hosting solution for your website.

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Traditional dance was just one of the entertainments as Spitalfields turned Japanese. Photo credit: Leilanie Cesnik

Okonomiyaki, yakisoba, sake, Asahi and sushi galore. It was the dazzling array and seductive aroma of a huge variety of food stalls that made the Matsuri Japan festival such a huge success in Spitalfields market two weekends ago.

There were also plenty of displays for the well-fed spectator to enjoy, from the Cosplay costume competition which invited die hard anime fans to dress up as their favourite character, to an omikoshi (shrine) procession through the large crowd. For those who love loud noises there were displays of taiko – huge booming drums - and kendo – the clashing of wooden samurai swords is an aural delight.

The crowd joined in the festival atmosphere with nihonjin (Japanese) and gaijin (foreigners) dressed to the nines in traditional Japanese dress, the women in richly coloured kimono and yukata.

Missed it?

Don’t worry, October brings an even bigger festival just down the road in Brick Lane. The Hyper Japan festival is for serious Japanophiles. It brings all the wonder of Japan’s pop culture to London for the first time and for three wonderful days on 1, 2 and 3 October.

Entrants in the Matsuri Japan Cosplay competition. Photo credit: Leilanie Cesnik

The Carnival of Cosplay lasts two days and the sushi challenge will take people who don’t know their California roll from their onigiri and turn them into sushi chefs (not an absolute guarantee).

If you’re another nipponryori (Japanese food) addict, Hyper Japan should rate well with you as Food Japan will be there to keep the crowds fed and contented.

The First Pint has strong Japanese ties and can’t wait for the style events. Kera, a Japanese street fashion magazine, is hosting Hyper Style a Go Go so we’ll be donning our GothLoli (Gothic Lolita) gear and heading down to check out the competition.

Hyper Japan 2010 is taking place in T1 Hall, The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL, London between 10.30am and 8pm on 1, 2 and 3 October.

Tickets are £8 and you can book tickets online or you can pick them up in the JP Books section of the Mitsukoshi department store at 14-20 Regent Street, London SW1 4PH.

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Tucking into our first pie. Photo Credit: Heng Lu

British cuisine doesn’t have the best reputation in the world. But here at The First Pint we’re real Anglophiles and like to try anything that comes our way – even if it involves ‘eel juice’. Pie and mash has been one of the most popular examples of East End comfort food you can find.

So Aoife Yourell, Kathrine Anker and Rachel McGovern went with their favourite cameraman, Heng Lu, to the pie and mash shop in Chapel Market to give pie and mash with eel liquor a try. Watch the video to see their reaction.

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

Philbin Bowman mixes controversial politics with razor sharp wit.

Abie Philbin Bowman is an Irish comedian who does not shy away from controversial politics in his humour. His first show, Jesus: the Guantanamo Years, queried what would happen if Jesus came back to earth now – after wandering out of a cave in Palestine and telling the authorities that he is a religious fundamentalist. Imprisonment and hilarity ensue.

On January 30, 2010, Al Jazeera released an audiotape, supposedly from the Al Qaeda leader, which blamed the US for climate change. As Abie told audiences a week later: “He’s effectively calling for ‘Eco-Friendly Jihad’ – but if Al Qaeda is so concerned about climate change, why do they repeatedly bomb public transport?”

International politics, religion, the US war on terrorism – Philbin Bowman flits lightly across major issues and has the audience following his irreverant take on major issues. His latest show, Sex, Lies and the Ku Klux Klan, was well recieved in Brighton and he has agreed to take the mic at the Soho club’s stand-up night on his way through town.

If The Daily Show is your idea of a good time, check out the Soho Comedy Club this Friday.

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Moving to a new country requires you to relearn a lot of things you already knew how to do. Basic skills that you’ve had down from the age of 3 or 4 are suddenly taken from you and you have to learn to do it all over again.

Hence the name of our website – for an indefinite period ahead every experience will be the first. It’s new, exhausting, challenging and exhilarating. There are highs and lows and nobody else’s experience will be quite like your own.

But you are not alone! We are international students living in London and we aim to inform, entertain and divert our fellow newcomers (and anyone else!).

In Translation is dedicated to dissecting the idiosyncrasies of British culture and offering up pieces of interest from our own countries.

Cheapside, as well as being the home of lots of not so rich banks, is our home for students in search of information or a good deal.

Over the Horizon gives you ideas for day trips and answers that question we all ponder while waiting for the tube – what is at the end of the line?

Tomfoolery is, according to the dictionary: “foolishness, silliness, horseplay, monkeyshines” – so what we all want to get up to in our free time.

Street Talk is our take on our new ultra-urban environment. So much goes on in this living, breathing city and we want to explore and talk about it.

We welcome you to our mutual adventure and so here we are – thefirstpint.co.uk – The first stop and last call for students abroad in London.

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.