Skating, Soy, and Soup

Wow, today was a busy day. I headed out to ExCel to train with Malcolm and company, my conscious clear, because it was raining, so no training with Brian’s group. Unfortunately the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was closed for engineering works, so I had to take a rail-replacement bus, making me about 30 minutes late. This ended up okay, because everyone else was late too, due to traffic. Had a good session on a 400-meter track, where I worked on my straightaway technique. Fell twice on the side of my legs, so I’m going to have some bruises tomorrow. I also got a real visual lesson about just how political skating in Europe is. The guys I’m training with probably won’t even register in England next year, but will register as French skaters, due to issues with the British National Team coach (who I meet next weekend in Clacton). These guys are good and England has lost them. *shakes head* I thought US skating politics was bad, no wonder they have no skaters here.

After practice wound down around 1ish I started to head home, but decided to go to Leicester Square instead. It was nearly as easy to get to, and I have been craving a few things. The most notable of these was a proper bottle of soy sauce. Tesco sells only Kikkoman (ick!) at a pound-something for a bitty little bottle. Rather than deny myself any longer I headed to Chinatown, as the only place I was sure to find what I desired.

After wandering through Chinatown, checking out various prices, I came away with my soy sauce (for 80p), rice noodles, some bok choy (for some reason called pak choy here), spring onions, and ginger. *bounce* I finally got home at around 4, and after grabbing a snack and doing some reading I made Lion’s Head Soup. Mom makes it for me at home, and some days you just want something that reminds you of home. Besides, on a practical note I had ground beef and veggies to use up. Not only is my soup nummy and loaded with veggies, but I have leftovers for days. I changed mom’s recipe a bit, mostly because I didn’t want to use ramen noodles as they are both too fattening and smack too much of college poverty. I may be dead broken, but I will not sink that low. Frankly I’m better at being poor than that.

Now I think I’ll betake myself to bed. It’s going to be a long week and I want to make it though in one piece.

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The Firefighter's strike this week has been called off. This is so that "the union and fire service employers could both make separate submissions to Acas, an independent body, over the next few days." We'll see where this goes.
Guardian Article