food and stuff

london 11.24am 16.9C sunny wednesday 2017

2.35pm cloudy;

i got chinese chives today. because they were reduced from £1.60 for 150mg to 50p each. i so happen to be lucky to get there (it was a chinese supermarket in chinatown. ) when they reduced it. there were plenty of these packs.  and this is because the chives are beginning to go past their best. still very good actually, but you can see some of the leaves are decaying. i bought 6 packs total £3. i love chinese chives they go so well with stir fry noodles and impart that distinctive flavour to it and they can keep for a long time if frozen. they are all in the freezer now, so no pictures to show you as i forgot to take a picture of them. haha. well they are just chives really and most of us know what they look like. they dont look like much, like grass actually. 

i decided to go to chinatown this morning, just at the spur of the moment, after i finished reading the papers  at the pimlico library…

earlier on, i went to the tesco store near the library, and saw they have lots of strawberries that will expire today… so i shall go back there later today and see if the reductions are big enough for me to buy them. i saw a newspaper report saying tesco is selling 1kg strawberries for £3, but this is false, because they never did sell them at that price. these ones are 400mg for £2. no wonder they did not sell and there are lots of them still. i am looking at 40/50p each for any reductions they are going to make later today… then i might buy them.) 

added. 8.08am 30.6.17 friday sunny 18.2C. when i went back later, there were few of them left, but those that remain still are not showing any reductions. makes me suspect they throw them away… to replace with new ones that are poorer in value, 300mg instead of 400mg and for the same price £2. i think these small branches ,they are very similar to  convenience stores, dont really reduce much. i wonder if there are anyone still raiding the waste bins near these stores. i am sure they will find lots of nice stuff in there. 

 the bus 24 runs by the library and it goes right near chinatown ; i thought i shall go there to buy some more of the instant noodles. i am rather addicted to it.

on the bus there was a indonesian malay tourist, with his wife and daughter. he came to the front to take pictures, that is how i got to talking to him. whilst his wife and daughter sat further back. they are here on a short visit. i thought it rather strange to come all this way, like 20hr flight just to stay a week or two. he is an IT consultant. so must be quite rich. though he said he was staying near victoria and when i ask him how much his room ,  for about £40 a night bed and breakfast, which i thought was reasonable… considering i have been looking at the hostels, and they charge that much for staying in a 12bed dorm having to share with so many others. though if u have 4 people u can get a room and share it just amongst yourselves for £55 a room. the rates seem to penalise the single traveller, which is a different proposition long ago, when these hostel type places catered to a single traveller and charged a low rate for having to share with strangers. now it is the reverse.

he said they got tickets to go inside westminster cathedral, hence the reason why they are on this 24 bus. he ask me where i am going, and i said to chinatown to buy the instant mee, and i ask him how much are they in indonesia, he said they cost about 5000 rupiahs(30p) and considered cheap by the locals.  he said it is 17000 rupiahs to a £, and so my 10p price is even cheaper than what he can buy in his own country. i wonder how much are they in malaysia, maybe Rm1.50. each. i googled it, and it seems it is from about 60cents. which is about 15p or so.

actually when i went to that supermarket, it is new loon moon, i see they got 20p sardines 120mg. that is quite a good price so i bought 3. but sometimes after a period, they can reduce it even further, like they did the coconut milk. i bought some at 20p each, and then found it being sold for 10p when i went back a few days later. but the coconut milk is not very concentrated so i did not buy anymore. 

i have eaten one of the tinned sardines , and it is quite nice. a bit salty though. i think sardines are much nicer cooked like this in tins. simon bought some fresh in the past, and they are not so nice to eat. they have a lot of bones. the cookng process to make them into tinned sardines make the bones very soft and edible.  i think sardines are one fish that benefit from being canned. haha. they taste better than fresh ones.

added. i have been thinking, all these bargain foods are quite fun to play with. i wonder if london or uk, are the only places in the world where we can play this. i dont remember malaysia or singapore ever have these reducing of prices when they come to their sell by date. in fact, i dont even know if products in those countries have these sell by dates.  what about europe and the usa, or canada, or australia, do they have these price reduction bargains due to the sell by date ? my suspicion is that the businesses would rather throw them away than reduce the price. when u think of it , it is logical to throw them away.  otherwise people will not buy at full price but wait till it reduces. 

 

 

instant mee for breakfast

the london 7.13am 18.1C cloudy saturday 2017

 

 

 

 

Digital StillCamera

the chicken flavoured instant mee, it comes with a oil paste, which gives it its flavour. as usual, u can custom make it by adding stuff. in this case i put in some cox lettuces, cut up small so it can cook quicker. though veggies dont really need much cooking, as it can be eaten raw. and of course you can add meat too, or sea food. it is very versatile and that i think is why it is so popular.

added. 8.46am i read of a chap in his blog saying he has found a two night rental in a sheltered housing flat, when he start commuting from france. i have heard of these sheltered flats, meant for over 55s. i was thinking that is one place where they will want care workers … i think care as a career will always be available for anyone, and will constantly be a source of work. health and care are sure to be in need of workers in future.

and i was reminded of a chap i met in a gay website who works in this field. he works parttime, which sounds ideal. he even suggested that i do it. not for me, because i dont need the money, nor am i patient enough to deal with old people haha. but i figured it might suit others who need money and have not much skills to offer. you dont really need conventional skills except maybe a kind heart. 

but also i was thinking if old people living alone want food to eat, instant mee sounds like it is right up their street, something so easy to prepare they should be able to do it themselves easily. then i had another think, and realise that actually cooking, as in stir frying, and stewing is really very easy to do. i think even if i were a doddering old fool, i should be able to make these meals without too much help. unless of course my mind goes, but i think dementia is rather selective… in that u can forget to do some things but can remember to do others. maybe the biggest danger is that u can start things but dont finish them. thus u leave things on, and forget to shut it down.

(that is why i think the timer on my induction stove is so useful. i set it to stew and put the timer on for 15mins and then i go off and forget about it, and it will automatically switch itself off. i was thinking it will come in useful for someone who has mild dementia. i dont have dementia, at least as far as i know. haha. but it is good practise for when or if i do. )

 what u might need is someone around the place just to mop up after you , or switch things off after you. just generally to keep an eye out for you. that might mean just have a partner around, or failing that have a lodger who is kind enough to just watch a bit over you.

anyway, today is the start of pride celebrations, it goes on for 2wks culminating in the big pride parade on sat 8th july. and i read in a newsletter i get sent to me via email this morning that there is a free showing of a disney film, the jungle book.it is part of the pride festival ;

its a new remake by disney of the old jungle book cartoon film. you need to apply for tickets online, so i did and got one. it is tomorrow at 10.30am in picturehouse central. it means a break in my routine, normally i would go to the paddington library to read the newspapers. it takes some doing to make me change my routine… so i hope that film is worth it. 

i have not heard of this chain of cinemas, so it has served its purpose in that they have advertised their presence to me. i live here and still have not heard of them, just goes to show that they need to advertise. 

added. 10.10pm 19.4C rain earlier, dry now. i went to chinatown after the library to buy more of that instant noodles. 20 packs in fact. they are rather nice, because of the different flavours. they are quite distinctive. there was a bit of a jam going on in the centre of town, due to some demonstration or other. but i escaped the peak of it, and traffic or rather the buses were running their usual route by the time i finished and wanted to get back.

i noticed looking at the website of the picturehouse cinema chain that they charge quite high £16.50 for a ticket, but you can get reduced prices if u become a member, or go off peak. so it brings it down to the average pricing for cinemas in the centre of town. about £12.50 a show. i think it too much to pay for a film show, even if there are any now that i deem worth seeing, which there is not. added. the cinema in the haymarket is offering all films for £9.99. 

i am just glad i lived in an earlier age, where things are so much cheaper and thus better value for money. so that now i dont crave seeing or experienceing these things. films now are just action movies , with lots of action , very contrived and impossible but i suppose gets the adrenaline flowing from the audience. thrills and spills as they say. but dont have any substance, and the story line is lost and reduced in significance as a result on all this emphasis on action.