Life in London - 3 weeks on

This is gonna be about the little things in London that is part of my daily life. Which is also a comparison with life back home.

1. I'm enjoying the end of summer. Sometimes it seems like autumn is here already (like the first 2 days, and the past 2 days of chilly wind). But I'm enjoying the sun. Even welcome it. Wouldn't be doing this back home. I'd be hiding from it.

2. Bus rides. Taking the bus everyday. Coz it's the cheapest. And I could read on the bus. And it's pretty reliable. Of course not always (like yesterday, jam on a Sunday, can you believe that?). And, it's warmer than taking the tube. And I get to sightsee on the way. I even decided which bus panjang must take coz of the luxurious cars on display. Hehe

3. Lots of walking. 15 minutes walk? No problem.

4. I'm cooking everyday for every meal. Packing lunches to uni. Coz that'll save me lots of quid. Cooking mom's dishes. But I'm running out of ideas! Coz I can't get some of the ingredients. Who would've thought that cauliflower and cabbage will be difficult to find? Not in season? And I still can't get used to the limited selection of cuts of meat. Grr. I need them for soup. I love my soup.

5. Baking. Can't do much baking here coz there's limited tools at the flat and I am reluctant to get them coz I might not be bringing them with me to the other countries. Like, no hand mixer, rolling pin, mandolin, measuring cups etc. Well, I could improvise.. Hmm.. Let's see.

6. Water. Hard water here tastes..hard. And I'm concerned about limescale. Whatever I wash it leaves limescale marks. Annoying.

7. Small pipes. Well, what do you know, for a developed city like London they still use small pipes. Even the newer houses. So I have to throw the toilet tissues into a bin and not the WC. Not because they can't filter them but because of risk of blockage.

8. And oh they don't have bidet. It's so common back home and in Asia I took for granted they must have it here in London. Nope. Nada. Didn't understand the importance of a bidet until I get here. Hmm.. I wonder how the Muslims over here deal with it. But anyways I really do think they should start using it.

9. Shopping malls are scarce around here. Well, around where I stay anyway. Shops here are along a street, or area. So if you ask me, I prefer to do my shopping like we do back home. All in one big building. Yeah it's irritating with all the walking, but at least there's directory. Here you have to use map. Online map. And I don't have data plan yet. Maybe once I get used to it, it won't be so bad.

10. Drying clothes. You know we use the sun and outdoors back home? Here I use the dryer and the kitchen. And if I handwash something, I'll dry it in the bathroom first then move it to the kitchen. See why I miss the sun?

11. Sarong is super useful over here to keep me warm. I wear them all the time at home. So good.

12. Vacuum. I have no broom in the flat. So I vacuum. Well, considering I close the windows and doors almost all the time..

13. Tesco back home is big. With everything in one place. Here, there's lots of Tesco express (convenience stores) and the prices are different for different areas. The selection is different too. Same goes with their Sainsbury's. So I don't do my shopping at the nearest Tesco unless I have to. Hehe..money management skills at use here. I'm always thinking twice about buying stuff. Cheapskate.

14. Bed. I'm still getting used to the spring bed. I miss my coconut husk bed. Not like I could go and get a bed for myself just like that. Maybe when I'm home I'll hate my bed.

15. Coins. They have so many coins. 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2. And all you have to use. I know we used to have them back home but we don't really have to use them coz you know our currency is small. But here.. Before you know it you're holding so many coins in your purse and it takes time to dig through all of them. And then you feel pressured coz there's a line behind you. I'll be so happy when my debit card arrives.

16. Cashless payment is the way to pay over here. You just need a card and you can top up your Oyster card, buy stuff, get on a bus...

17. Self service check out at supermarket stores. Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury... All have this. You scan your items, you pack them, and you pay with the machine.

18. Expiry / best before dates. Back home it bothered me a lot. I think it still does, well Malaysia mah. But here, I can overlook it. As long as I don't get sick.

19. Free UK minutes and texts. depending on which plan and provider you get, well almost all, you will get free call minutes and texts to UK numbers. Doesn't matter to what provider. Of course at different limits. But isn't that great? No wonder people talk so much on the phone here.

20. Oh oh oh, eggs. Here they don't have AA, A, B, C, D eggs. They just have large, medium, free range, organic. That's it. And must of the time, they're medium. Which is small to me. Not even B size. So I'm always disappointed when I only have medium, free range, organic. In packs of 6. 6 mind you. Not even 10. And it's freaking expensive, IMHO. £1 sth for 6 eggs? You kidding me? And this is all in Tesco. So I'll usually wait until they have large, 15 per pack, at £1.50, to buy them. Else I'll wait till I get to Bagu's place. Well, they're just eggs anyway. I could do without it for a few days. Haha how ironic.

21. Fruits, in particular apples. You know I don't like to eat apples. I still don't really like it but I'm eating more apples than I did back home. Coz they're just so much better. And you know how I don't really eat a lot of fruits? Well over here I do. Heh. Coz I think they're quite cheap. £1 for 5 apples, or for 4 peaches, or 5 oranges. Bananas? Papayas? Expensive. Oh I think 2 pineapples are £1 too. It's just that I'm lazy to cut it on my own.

Ok.. I think that's it. I wanted to stop at 20 but...

No London accent, yet, coz a lot of people are foreigners. But I've been told I have good spoken English. My lecturer even thought that I have an American accent. Well.. It's not American entirely, it's just good pronunciation with chapalang accent and diction I got from watching TV. Coz actually I don't have a Malaysian accent either. Only the lahs and mahs and Ehs.

3 weeks in London and already some changes. Yay?