Author: admin

Yorkshire pudding: bowl-shaped pancakes, good.
Crumpets: fluffy pancakes, good.
Red Leicester cheese: orange cheddar, good.
Cheshire cheese: british feta, good.
Lancashire cheese: saltier british feta, good.
Trifle: jello with custard and whipped cream, mmokay.

One thing I'll always remember from this trip is that British food ingredient labelling, while sometimes painfully cynical (ingredient list on a block of cheese: cheese), are actually more precise on the stuff that actually matters for my allergies.

I've been able to have curry for the first time in 4 years, which basically made me come in my pants, and I also ate commercial sausage for the first time in too long a time. Hmmmm, sausage. And profiteroles, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! And coriander and chili pasta sauce, something I must look into again. And victoria sponge cake with cinnamon and nutmeg and other sweet spices.

And booze, jeebus, the booze!

Oh, and they have the WEIRDEST chip flavours for the holidays. Like honey-glazed ham and mustard, roast chicken with rosemary, lamb with thyme or curry. I mean, WTF?

Oooh, and bisto… The British have an unhealty obsession with their gravy, but I have to admit that it is damn good.

Katy's uncle Stuart and her gran just left, so we're off to bed. Later all. Hope you all had a good day. I did :)

*yawn!*

Just woke up. Last night was fun. Went to see Phantom of the Opera with Katy and Rita then headed back to the house for food and drink. Note to self: coriander and green chilies in a pasta sauce kicks ass! Must investigate the possible uses of that nice green herb.

Then came drunken Trivial Pursuit (which was WEIRD as hell, cause we were playing with the brit edition – so imagine what that means in terms of geography, politics and history), then fireworks, then other kind of fireworks.

Today will be another day of food and drink and family. It also happens to be our 3 month anniversary. Time flies…

Went on a walkabout of Leicester today. The only museum that was supposed in fact wasn't, but we did see New Walk Lane, which was really nice, then Victoria Park, Ayleston Road Cemetary, the Leicester Tigers rugby pitch, Leicester University campus, and Castle Gardens. Katy describes Leicester as a generally minging (i.e. crappy) place with a few hidden jewels here and there. I agree.

Had coffee with Rita and her friend Matthew and then went on a bit of a shopping run in the market, the Shires and the Arcades. I bought some books at Whaterstones for a good price (until you factor in the exchange rate), and bought myself a Pink Floyd vinyl at a retro shop. I have decorating plans for that thing :)

Got home just before my feet really started to hurt – perfect timing – where Katy's mom had a real authentic Indian curry dinner waiting for us. Can you say NUMMY? That was toe-curling good!.

Had a good talk with Katy's parents about our upcoming trip to London and now Katy is inflicting some sort of brit comic on me. Must go watch…

Went to see House of Flying Daggers at the cinema. The movie is nice eye candy, but at the same time, it is just baaaaaaaad! The characters are insipid and the story doesn't go anywhere.

Best review quote: “that girl should have stayed dead the first time”.

Tesco is a Leicester institution. From what I managed to gather, it started out of a little jewish guy selling teabags on a street corner and is now a huuuuuuuuuuge superstore chain. Imagine a weird cross between Zellers, Canadian Tire, Future Shop and Loblaws and you get Tesco. It's a place where you can do your groceries, shop for clothes, get your tires aligned, buy oil for a lube job and buy a big screen TV all under one roof.

Food shopping, while different from my usual jaunts with Sara, was still nonetheless fun. I'd brought my camera with me and delighted in teasing Katy by taking pictures of everything and generally embarassing her :) My favourite quote of hers was oh dear lord, he's taking pictures of the cheese followed by a shake of her head. Heeheehee!

It still unnerves me that their grocery stores have a better scotch selection than the neighborhood SAQ. They also have tesco brand EVERYTHING! Tesco vodka, Tesco VSOP cognac, even Tesco Champagne!!!

I have photographic evidence of these outrageous claims, but it'll have to wait a bit until I can upload them. In the meantime, look for yourself here: http://www.tesco.com/

Went shopping today with Katy and her parents. It's weird. Different brands than what I'm used to seeing, different chains. Went to an electronics store, the equivalent of future shop, because my digicam had rekindled the gadget lust of Katy's father. He bought a cool camera with a photo printer, hehe. I'm a bad influence, according to Katy :D

Shopping is an interesting adveture. I'm constantly going, oooooh, cheap until I realize that the price is in quids and i have to multiply it by 2.4, durrrr. Still, I managed to find some interesting stuff, and I want to hit the tea shop and a bookstore while I'm here.

Oh, and just so you know, while I'm writing this, Jeff is scampering across the keyboard and sniffing madly at my shirt. Just wanted to share that.

I watched a movie with Katy last night called Shooting Fish. At one point, one of the guys is dancing with Kate Beckinsale and utters the cheesiest line in movie history. It made me giggle:

I want to pleasure you with my tongue…

It rained last night. Finally. All this blue sky was getting me worried.

Went out and about yesterday. I got my first “I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto” moment. It wasn't people driving on the wrong side of the road, or the architecture, or the crosswalks. It was seeing friggin' razor wire EVERYWHERE! People put the stuff on top of fences around parking lots. It's nuts…

We went to the Space Center, the millenium project of Leicester. It was a fun visit. Got a good case of vertigo while taking a picture of a Thor booster rocket. After that, we walked along Abbey Park to the city center for a bit of shopping for dinner. It is profoundly bizarre to go food shopping here. Brands are different, formats and containers as well for the brands that I do know. Another jolting moment is to see that you can buy scotch and vodka and other types of booze in a corne store. Another weird moment came when we went to Marks & Spencer for food. That used to be a clothing chain in Canada before they closed their doors. Here, it sells just about anything you want.

One place I want to go back to is Whittards. They have the coolest selection of coffees and teas I've seen in a long time. I'm going to bring back some for myself. Anybody want anything?

I'm your ally, but I can't do much to help you… Katy's dad.

You're way too soft on her… Katy's mom.

Yesterday was food and booze. Today will be food and booze. I foresee a theme here.