Archive for August 20, 2008

Pe(s)ts

{ August 20, 2008 @ 4:11 pm } · { Misc, UK }
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When I was in school I had a variety of pets. It all started with two parakeets.. they were the most noisy pets ever. Then I had a hamster.. then came a couple of mice and a rat. And a dog as well. They were all very cute in their own right. Mainly so because I CHOSE them as pets. They didn’t just come walking in on their own!

Now I have a mouse again.. only not by choice. It rips my garbage bags and leaves droppings all over the kitchen. It comes into the room and makes noises on the shelf. Initially I thought it was a rat; a shadow ran around the kitchen, seen from the corner of my eye. And it looked like quite a big shadow. Maybe I was just paranoid. So when I went to the shops, looking for a cage style trap.. which lures the rat in and shuts behind it (without crushing its neck or skull or whatever in the process). My noble goal was to release it outside after catching it. Well no such luck! None of the shops sold live traps big enough to catch rats! So dejected I came back, with a regular trap. I was too paranoid to use poison, expecting the thing to die somewhere unaccessable.

After seeing it a little closer up the next week, I realized it was a mouse after all and right away bought a live mouse trap. Great idea isn’t it. Only I forgot to unset the rat trap…….. The same night it snapped shut.

Murphy’s law killed the little mouse.

Horrified but relieved that at least that was over, the traps were put away and life returned to normal. Only why would I be so naive to expect that we had only one mouse living in our flat… The war continues.

Golgappas!!

{ August 20, 2008 @ 3:45 pm } · { Food, UK }
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When I moved to India, it took me quite a while to get used to certain foods. (Some I just totally did not get used to at all but very few!)

One of the things that had to grow on me were Golgappas (Pani Puri). They are like little crispy balls made of flour which are completely hollow. You fill them with some boiled potato and spicy water and try to shove the whole thing in your mouth without spilling the water all over your clothes.

In India they are a very popular snack, sold on the streets. And amongst some of the least safe things to eat as a tourist.. For that matter they are not even that safe to eat for locals either; especially during Monsoon they can make you quite sick if the water is contaminated.

But I was never particularly careful, so used to gorge on these (once I got used to the flavour) no matter what season. In India you get two types of water; sweet water which is maroon in colour, and green water which is a bit more sour and hot. Although both types are very spicy and can set you on fire properly!

So the other day I was craving a snack and discovered that some shops around my flat in London actually sell boxes of them! You get a jar of spicy paste to mix in water, and a big box of ready made crispy flour balls. Not expecting too much, I took them home, boiled some potatoes and mixed the spice paste with water. It hardly took any time and soon we started stuffing our faces. My husband and I must have eaten at least 20 each (it was a big box!)..

I must say, although ironically you always want to eat exactly that which is not available, no matter where you are (or at least this is true for me!), London is not such a bad place… If you look hard enough, you can probably find just about anything in terms of food. And often right under your nose as well! The shop I found the golgappas in is just around the corner from my flat. And until maybe two weeks ago I did not see the inside of it. But one day I was bored and just wandered in, only to discover that it was pretty much like walking into an ordinary neighbourhood every day needs store in India!

After blowing a load of cash on spices and food that we didn’t really need, I got home, you should have seen the look on my husband’s face when presented with some Maggi Masala instant noodles. It’s strange, the things you miss when you move…

The flat.. room rather.

{ August 20, 2008 @ 3:45 pm } · { Misc, UK }
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When I saw the advert, stuck to a shop window for my flat, it read “Studio Apartment, separate kitchen & bathroom. Suitable for single person. £575 all bills included. “

Then I called up the number, the landlady kindly explained “Oh, you and your husband are looking for a flat? But this flat is really quite small, I think it would be too small for a couple.” But I went to see it anyway. And yes it was small, but we really did not have much money to spend so we took it. And in a way it’s not too bad. Other places that were advertised either did not suit us due to location, or had just literally one room. With a bed, and the kitchenette placed conveniently next to it so you could sit on the bed while cutting your vegetables for dinner. Or while doing the dishes. Not a tempting thought!

So our kitchen is separate. But there is no door, just a little narrow corridor. And our bed is basically a mattress on the floor. We were provided with a sofa cum bed which is like UK double bed size. Now if you have ever seen a standard double bed in the UK, you would probably know that it is nearly impossible for two people older than 8 to be comfortable on one of those. It just simply would not allow for any sort of movement. And in case of a sofa cum bed, with a very flexible base, upon trying, my husband and I ended up rolling into the middle of the bed, one person crushing whoever rolled first. So we put the mattress on the floor and now we have some space to stretch at least.

And that would be the only place two people can sort of stretch out, in the entire flat. Room. Whatever.

Whenever I go out shopping, I have to constrain myself not to buy too many things. Maybe some people watch me changing my mind about some clothing. Or perhaps crockery. Maybe they think “Oh she probably does not have the cash to buy it right now.” It’s not that, I just wouldn’t know where to keep it! The kitchen cabinets are so full, the doors won’t even close. And my fridge. Dear lord. I have to buy food almost every day to have enough to eat. It’s one of those tiny things that fit underneath the worktop… I don’t know why people invented fridges of this size! I would consider it too small for a single person. Nevermind a couple. But the saving grace is we live next to a huge ASDA..