Today i ventured into central london. I've forgotten how much i love cities, especially london. I went to hyde park corner and walked the way to the embassy. Seeing my mom's cousin- and passing some raya stuff to him. He's been nice and all, feeding me the one or two times ive been to his house and he's been nice whenever i surprise visit him at the embassy (he works there...). I gave him the stuff my mom sent, sat around and chatted for awhile. I bailed outta there after a while and hiked it to marble arch. The plan was to go to edgware rd and get me some halal beef. The east end is a great place to get halal food, but there's only one little problem-beef is pretty scarce round here. Guess its outta respect for the indian community that dominates the area.
The walk was gorgeous. It was a sunny day, like only sunny days can be in london. The sun shone without radiating too much heat and i felt comfy in my skirt and leggings ensemble. Hyde park is huge, with loads of grassy bits with these clumps of old, beautiful trees (they have seeds that resemble small green rambutans). Sunlight streams through the trees, and there is this gorgeous, light,damp haze enshrouding the trees in the distance. With the sun on my back, glinting off the water in the fountain....You can almost ignore the cars and busses trudging past. I felt warm, happy, but alas very alone. I was glad and happy to be alive, but the whole thing was marred ever so slightly cos i know that no one's here to share my joy walking on a beautiful day. I find myself being more and more of a loner now than ever. It seems to me the more i try to reach out, the more insular i become. i tend to shop alone, eat alone, walk alone and spend my time by myself. This cant be healthy, can it?
That aside, my foray to edgware were successful. I now have a kilo and a half of good beef cubes sitting in my freezer. And there was a nice boy selling me hoummous at the store. Nice people make me happy. Making people happy makes me happy. Guess that's why im in the business im in.
Then i thought of my real purpose of buying beef. Raya in imminent (a week to go) and i was planning to make kuah kacang and rendang. So what does a girl need? It's ginger, galangal, lemongrass and the like. I decided to walk to chinatown (a good 40 minutes walk away) because i wanted to save money and not take a bus/tube. Got distracted-went into mothercare to see if they had small hot water bottles (for my grandma, not me. I have my trusty heater to keep me warm!) Mothercare scared me...So much stuff for little people....it's frightening in some deep way-it makes no sense, some of the stuff is cute, but i think it just my fear of little children....
Anyway-the hunt for miniature hot water bottle sent me to Marks and Spencer's where i lamented my lack of cash and my 'large' size as i tried on boots i cannot afford or fit over my gargantuan calves.
That aside, i made it to chinatown approximately 30 mins later than the predicted time.....And now begins my hunt for the elusive galangal and buah keras (aka candlenuts). Managed to find some of the world's saddest galangal, but i guess it will have to do. The kuah kacang may be a little different -apparently brazil nuts or macadamias work well as replacement. But i will try the local indian shops-god may still bless my foray into cooking, though i swear my talents lie elsewhere (like spending loads of money on i-dont-know-what).
Because i spent so much time and money shopping i took the bus home and buka puasa with a diet coke and crisps. I feel like a super-model already.....And no, i havent had any real food yet but the hoummous in the fridge seems real tempting now..............