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I started out simply writing about this and that and what ails me. Yes this blog site is about me and my nonsensical love for my inanimate furball Garfield. This blog site is also about me and the difficulties that I face health wise, challenges in work life and Lords that gave me a hard […]

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london 3.5.20 sunday

this post is i think the most important post , to shout out to everyone why we write a blog, it is a reminder to everyone of us who writes and read blogs to always bear in mind; that way we will allow everyone  the freedom to write and say whatever they wish in their blogs without our taking things too personally or to be too judgemental. i will like if this post can be the header in every blog, to be read right at the beginning, and always there to remind us the reason why we blog. 

the currency exchange rate

the currency exchange rate

added 7march2022 200rubles=£1 1.1.23 89.24rubles=£1 21.3.23 94.25 robles=£1 12.7.23 117.51rubles=£1.10.8.23 123.75rubles=£1 = US$1.27

6.4.24 gold £1846/oz $2330/oz

11.4.24 each nhs prescription charge £9.99

added 8.3.22 unleaded petrol £1.70/litre london

added 8.6.22 unleaded petrol £1.80/litre

i won £125 on the monthly premiumbonds draw. it was one prize of £100 and another of £25. the cheques came in the post today. my right hand is still very weak, so that it is not comfortable to type with it. life is very nice for me .

london 4.20pm 19c saturday sunny 2024

i can type again

london 3.20pm 17c rain thursday 2024

i have been a long time away . this is because i have gout affecting my right hand. it is the first time that it affected my right hand , or my hands for that matter. usually it has affected my feet.

the effect on my hand is to disable it. my hand became swollen and immobile, i cannot do anything with it. it has become paralysed. and painful. at first i thought i had slept on my right hand and twisted it , and sprained the wrist so that it had damaged the hand and it has started to swell up. it was only a few days later that i began to suspect it might be gout, so i took the colchicine that i had left over from the last time i had a bout of gout. and it worked gradually reducing the swollen hand. and it is only today that i could touch type on it.

the whole thing started about a week ago.

i can compare what it is like… gout on my feet , to gout on my hand, and it is much easier to cope with the gout on the feet. i only walk on the feet, so when it is swollen, that is the only function i cannot do with ease but even then i can still walk on it, albeit with difficulty. but with the hands, i do much more with it, so when it gets paralysed like what happened, it is like i am crippled. i cannot do anything with that right hand. even now, typing with it is a bit uncomfortable… but it can be done . before today, i could not do even that. 

nothing doing

london 8am 11C cloudy wednesday 2024

i think people are just marking time. in s.e.asia with the high temperatures they are getting now, it is just coping with it until the rains come when the monsoon rains will alleviate the heat.

everywhere i see in uk, europe, usa , nothing much is happening… and anything that happens are frivolous things like the met fashion show of near naked ladies .

and i am here in my flat this morning making soft boiled eggs in my egg cup to eat with my toasted bread soldiers. very nice with a cup of coffee.

i am thinking that is what i do too, growing up in malaysia. and i was thinking if i had gone back to malaysia when i retired, i too would be doing that in the family house in petaling jaya now. i am glad i live in london, because much as it is a nice idea to  retire in malaysia , it would be rather dull… the family house is quite a distance from the bus public service, and a long way from kuala lumpur. so i remember the times when i visited malaysia for a long period of time, months, i find i  tend to stay in the family home all the time … i can drive, but am not very good at it so try to avoid it. and that restricts my movements, because it is so inconvenient to take public transport that i just stop bothering with it.

also what is there to do in kuala lumpur if i go there? i dont like going to the tourists attractions, nor do i like shopping, and even window shopping pales if u do it all the time. and that is what you do mainly when i visit kL, go round the shopping malls. to escape the heat if nothing else. 

now i am here in london, doing my retiring phase, i am very glad i live here.

i was reminded by this article news about londoners who have fled london during the pandemic, and now find country life is too dull, and are coming back to london. there are echoes of that resounding with what i found living in my family home in the back of beyond. 

fresh chillis to buy again.

london 3pm 12C rain friday 2024

i went to uptonpark to buy fresh chillis. it cost me £1.84 for 425g… so it is £4.32/kg. the curious thing is the label on the chillis shows it should be £4.99/kg. i wonder if the server who weighed it made a mistake. i had a look at what it cost me on 15march, the last time i bought chillis there. and looking at what i wrote then, it reminded me  the chillis were £5.99/kg then. so it looks like these were larger chillis, hence the lower cost. i have almost used up the last batch i bought. and it is about 1.5months so  that was how long that batch lasted me.

by using fresh chillis, i have made my  cost  really very low, when compared to the bottled siracha chillis that you can buy from supermarkets . perhaps the comparison is wrong, they are not exactly like for like. but the end result as far as i am concerned is the same. i get my hit of chilli hotness all the same. haha. 

 

hearing news, craving it, while knowing it is not good to listen to so much news.

london 11.47am 13.1C cloudy tuesday 2024

i woke at 8am today and went opposite the road to the primary school where the polling centre was, to vote. today is polling day  for election of the mayor of london. the polling station is really conveniently situated , across the street from my flat.

it seems there was a loud storm in the early morning today… but we heard nothing . so either the storm missed london, or we are heavy sleepers who were not disturbed by the noise.

according to that mail news item, the storm seems to be over the channel, and southern england. uk is a  big country and lots of things happen that strike only a small part of the country and the rest of us just dont know about it or care about it.

and that is the problem with the modern day aspect of the news… we get to hear about things that happen that does not affect us at all and in the past we dont want to hear about it either, and could not care less about it. but now we are all force fed with it. and these news can make us anxious. or it can induce anxiety when none exist. 

the problem is we are all addicted to it . we all want to read the news… even myself. and if it can affect me, it can affect anyone… so we are all hungry for news, knowing it does us no good to consume so much of it. it is like seeing food everywhere and wanting to eat it all, knowing it is not good for us to do so. but we cannot help it.

i consider myself able to control it, but i sometimes wonder if it can control me  without me realising. 

heat wave in s-e asia now.

london 3pm 15.2C sunny monday 2024

its lovely weather today…. sun is shining, so everyone is walking in the sun, avoiding the shade, because there is a cold wind blowing. each by itself will be very uncomfortable, but together, they are perfect. 

i have been out , taking the bus to the victoria library, to read the papers, and then walking to the pimlico sainsburys to see what they have reduced… nothing because i went there too early .

when i got back, i went to browse the internet, and saw this in my reader feed… bangkok news reporting of this heat wave in s.e.asia now. i was not aware of it, because the news here in uk dont mention it at all. it seems it is hitting all records to be the hottest since dont know when. i went into twitter south east asia region and saw more reports about it. the thought occurred to me that the monsoon should be coming and the rains will alleviate all that heat. but when does the monsoon start? so i googled it, and got this and screen shot this

Country	Monsoon Season
Indonesia	October – April
Thailand	May – October
Maldives	May – December
Sri Lanka	April – May and October – December
Vietnam	May – December
Cambodia	May – October
Northern Australia	December – March
Northern Brazil	December – March
India	July – November
South and Southeast China	May – September
Taiwan	May – October

countries with all year round tropical rain

Country	Tropical Rainy Season
Jamaica	May and September – November
Cuba	May and September – November
Barbados	June – October
Philippines	All year round
Tonga	November – May
Fiji	November – April
Costa Rica	May – December
Peru	December – March
Hong Kong	April – August
Mexico	June – September
Singapore	October – February
Hawaii (USA)	November – March

no mention of malaysia, so when is malaysia’s monsoon season. i know it has two, the north east monsoon (nov to march) affecting the east coast, and the south west monsoon(may to sept) affecting the west coast. the north west monsoon is the more fierce … and cause wild seas that make fishing dangerous. the west coast is not badly affected by the south west monsoon, because sumatra deflects alot of it. but all this heat must make for a lot of conversation gambits for malaysians. and make the air conditioned shopping malls very popular i am sure. a good reason to hang out in the shopping malls. 

update wed 8 may 2024. 7.55am link

cooking your own food to eat is the way to go in the long term

london 11.47am 8.5C cloudy saturday 2024

woke

i woke this morning at about 9.30am. a cloudy day with an overcast sky. i went into the weather website and noticed it says a lot of rain fell and seem to be still falling. but i look out of the window and the ground was wet, but not waterlogged, and there was no rain. it seemed it rained very heavily at about 3am. but we two slept right through it. i heard nothing, which is quite usual here. the walls of the flat seem to dampen any noise from outside… but not when people are talking . talking noise seem to come through loud and clear.

i was reminded that in malaysia, perhaps i lived in a house, whenever it rains, we can hear it loud and clear, hitting the roof and making a racket. so we are always well aware if there is rain. and rain in malaysia can be very fierce, as it  usually comes round during monsoon season, and monsoon rain  comes down like it is solid water. but here in london in my flat, we are very cocooned from the weather.

i read this bit of the news about a man who went to live in thailand in ’98, retired in 2011 on his £75 a week state pension. now he is saying it has been frozen and it is not enough . well, everyone who left uk to live in thailand knows that will happen. thailand is one country where the state pension dont get raised like in uk. he has really lost out, but he knows that when he left the uk. i think even if is able to get the inflation increases has  it still wont be enough to live in thailand with the wife and kid. he has badly miscalculated. his wife should have worked but i guess he thought he got enough to support a family… 

 

i have a friend who did the same thing as him, but he also have private pensions, which made his income when added onto his state pension, quite far above the average and he is able to cope even in these days. so he has planned well for his retirement in thailand.

everyone who goes to live there always say the cost of living is cheap in thailand…but that is because they are converting their £ to baht, and that is a mistake. so eating out seems to be cheap because the £ is pulling in a lot of bahts then.  but prices will rise over time, and the £ will depreciate. and you can always depand on it, that it will be costly sooner or later.

then , there is your health. here in uk we got the nhs. but in thailand you have to pay , like he is having to do now, pay for his heart medicine. not to mention his doctor’s bill. 

recently i had been thinking about the attractions of eating out and the cost of it. i was prompted to think about it by mama li offering a week of half priced foods of roast meats cantonese style like they do in hongkong.

i went there yesterday finally going there , but there was such a huge crowd still waiting to be served, and this was at 3pm, that i just turned tail and came back.

so many people craving for it. people must really miss eating out and when this chance came that make it affordable, they just leap at it and be willing to queue for ages . i mean anyone can see why the attraction… just compare paying £12 the normal price to £6 the price at halfpriced. 

though when u think of it, even £6 is hefty, if u are doing it everyday… i think everyone will be glad when the offer ends, so they dont feel compelled to buy it everyday…

later that day i cooked pork for my dinner. it was delicious, i get the taste of pork which is what everyone likes when they eat pork, and i discovered that it matters not if it is in the form of roast pork, or char siew pork. mine was just steamed pork in the rice cooker on top of rice. so quick and easy to cook and delicious . makes me realise it is not that crucial how you cook it. that is why i have lost that craving for buying eating out food. mine is not salty either, unlike food cooked outside in eating shops. 

so i hope people realise ,  can see why bringing your own cooked lunch saves you so much money.  it makes me realise that if u migrate to another country just because it’s prices for eating out are low, in £s and on holiday, does not mean it will remain low when u live there full time. the cost mounts up.

and i think eventually it will dawn on you that eating out is just not a viable long term thing. sooner or later, u will have to eat in, buy the raw foods and cook it . no matter where u live, long term, you will need to learn to cook it yourself. and i bet you will notice that you will tire of the eating out foods,(too salty, too fatty,) and prefer eating your own cooking. 

 

a lot of freebies, and half priced opening offers.

london 12.27pm 9.1C cloudy monday 2024

there have been quite a lot of freebies. this morning i went to canary wharf, for the burgerking free 1000whopper or chicken royale they are giving out to celebrate their new branch there. they did not give their address, but i thought it must be near the canary wharf tube station.

unfortunately i got off at the other end of the tube train, and so took the exit that is not through the main exit. it led to the shopping mall underneath the station. but there were lots of security staff around so i was able to ask one of them where the burger king was, and was told to walk through the shopping mall to the other side and then go up the escalator 3floors up . i got lost half way but saw a chap carrying a burgerking takeaway, so i stopped him and ask where is the burgerking.

there was hardly any queue at all, maybe because it was so difficult to find, no signs pointing to where they were. i was 67 in the queue when i ordered.

i got the whopper, though i dont mind getting the chicken royale too. but i was told i can only get one. i can of course come back and queue again… haha.

i took my order as a takeaway, and i asked a security guard how to get to the canary wharf station that is not through the shopping mall which is on the basement level. he told  me to get out of the building … and i discovered it is only a short distance to the main exit at cabot place….

i was looking back to fix its position in relation to the main exit …, when u get out of the station, you turn right, walk up the stairs to the road above , cross that road and enter the building and u see the escalators, go up 2floors. i was thinking if i want to come back later it would be useful to know this direct route .

i got back and ate the whopper. it was not as nice as i expected, maybe because it has gone cold… but there dont seem to be much inside. … no pickle for one thing and i do like the pickle, no onions, no lettuce, only got tomatoes and the meat dont have that barbecue flame grilled flavor; maybe i have to ask for the pickle or onions  to be included , but i have not ordered a whopper for a long time so dont know what the procedure is now. in the past everything is included as standard, and u have to ask for things to be excluded, but nowadays with so many picky eaters and allergic ones, it is the other way round. nothing is included unless u ask for it.

on the tube back, i read the  leaflet that i pick up at the burgerking… and it showed £2.99 double melts (chose from bbq doublemelt, classic double melt, and it shows it got cheese in it) with regular fries . and the picture showed a double beefpatty . that sounds good.  the other side of the leaflet shows their offer of £8.99 for large whopper,large soft drink and fries which dont sound as good. according to their menu , a whopper by itself is £7. 

today is also another free burger offer , from temper, in white city , in the former bbc television studios.it is near wood lane tube station… an obscure station quite difficult to get to, in that only one way to go there via paddington.  it is a proper double burger, with fries, and they are giving away 100 a day everyday mon-friday… i decided not to go today. it clashes with the burgerking offer.

i am mindful of my gout, and thinking all these burgers wont do it any good. haha. so i have to restrain myself from not eating too much of it. i have completely recovered from that last attack, so no worries there. but i must be mindful not to trigger another one by carelessly eating too much beef. how much is too much, is the question i ask myself and to date, i dont know the answer.

well all these food offers are very nice to have, but i can take them or leave them . london has a lot of these free food offers, or half priced ones… i wonder is that unique to london or what…?

i mean just this week starting wednesday 24.4.24, mama li is opening a new branch in moorgate, and giving out half priced cantonese char siew, roast pork , soya chicken on rice for 5days . no duck i think for this promotion half price off.   they are mimicking 3 uncles, who have been very busy when they did the same thing (they offer duck too in the promotion half price offer) and that must have shown them there is a market for these cantonese meats. they actually have a thriving branch in tower hill, but i think they are expanding their operation, opening more new branches, but all in the city it seems. 

i have not been able to find out their menu prices so dont know what half price means… is it £6 maybe, assuming it is normally £12 .

added… i found their tower bridge menu price and it looks like £12.49 for any one meat +rice. £13.49 for 2meat+rice, ££19.80 for just 2meats no rice. i wonder how it compares with chinatown prices. though at half price it will be cheaper. so quite worthwhile to go there to buy them at half price.

the curious thing is  people are supposed to be feeling poorer nowadays and yet all these businesses are expanding , opening new branches… so which is it? though i can guess that workers in the city of london must be rather well off… these people must be earning a good wage, far above the average i am sure. so it stands to reason why businesses will target them.

i guess the same can be said for canary wharf… anyone working there must be earning above average wages . in fact, i am surprised now i think of it that burgerking is only now opening a branch in canary wharf… maybe they thought that the workers there are too rich to want to eat at burgerking, so did not think they will have many customers, but now maybe they are thinking they dont feel so rich now… haha. or prices at burgerking has gone up so much , they begin to be comparable to the expensive designer burgers that are sold at upmarket places. i can remember at one time,when it first came out,  £12 burgers sounds exorbitant, now they are actually thought of as normal. 

ever wondered why the spanish people living in the balearic and canary islands are so against the tourists coming to their islands? tonights news on tv asked one of them to say what has changed where before the tourists are considered a beneficial force, to now make them a liability. she said it is the effect on housing for the locals. they are being priced out of it, because of the internet , like air bnb making it so easy for people to do short term lets…the tourists will keep coming, because the allure of sunshine and the sea, is just irresistible. but no one knows what the solution is to this problem. islands are the most vulnerable . perhaps the only solution is to keep raising the price of everything to the tourists… it will be a case of trial and error whilst avoiding killing the golden goose altogether. it will take time, and be very messy.

london 8pm 9.9C cloudy friday 2024

freebies, and dubai flooded

london 2.43pm 11.3C cloudy wednesday 2024

i have been out , went to this  new eating place opening in vauxhall market hall called yorkshire burrito, and they were giving away 100 of their free meat (beef or chicken) burrito and a free pint of lager. its an interesting variant on the burrito using tortilla wrap , this one seems to be  using a large yorkshire pudding as the casing ,and the meat, potatoes,greens arranged inside it, and then it is  rolled up to look like a burrito wrap. i wonder if it will catch on. this is their 4th branch in london, so it must have caught on, though it is the first time i heard of them.

when i got back i went into the dailymail website and saw the heading about this huge storm flooding dubai now and asking if it was due to their cloud seeding .they were showing pictures of the floods and quite dramatic ones too.

but x shows that the storm began in central asia and had affected afghanistan and pakistan allready and it is only now that it has arrived in dubai(united arab emirates).  so if u had just confined your news to the dailymail, you would have been told it is due to cloud seeding, but get a bigger picture at x.com, and you would see it is different. the strange thing is why the weather guys in dubai did not see that this storm is approaching, so no need to do any seeding…but i guess in the past, those rains never came so far south as dubai, having petered out long before they reach dubai. 

 

i remember seeing this which says saudi arabia deserts near mecca and medina have been turning green due to unusual heavy rains . so it looks like it is general, a lot of rains in places which dont normally get them.

i wonder if they will blame it on el nino, or la nina, whichever is ascendant now. haha.

well, it seems uk got a lot of rain too… so much that the farmers are saying it is too rainy for them to plant veg now and to warn there will be  a shortage of locally grown veg later in the year and that means more veg need to be imported and that means more expensive veg. they were especially talking about potatoes. 

Potatoes are mainly planted in spring, over several weeks, according to the type of variety: First earlies – plant around late March. Second earlies – plant in early to mid-April. Maincrops – plant in mid- to late April.