Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 8:35 PM Author: clarinda
This morning, I went to the University Centre to help out at the Oxfam booth at the Shared People and Planet Conference. It was fun chatting with like-minded people and finding out more about their habits and practices. It is part of the Healthy Lifestyle Campaign by Oxfam. I feel that it is a well-deserved to be applauded initiative as it suggests ways to help people to save money in times of a global financial crisis. Ultimately, it is up to people to decide if they want to accept the ideas put forward to them. We are definitely not going to forced ideas on them. It is also interesting to hear new ideas from them on how to save money while being socially and ethically responsible.After that, I went to the city with Stephanie and met Sherry over there. Although I wanted to buy a pair of boots and a clutch bag, the ones that caught my eye were just to expensive for my budget. What an expensive taste I have..haha:)
Subsequently, we went to watch the Christmas Reindeer and Lantern Parade. I was SO EXCITED to see REAL REINDEERS. However, the reindeers did not fit into the impression that I have of them. I expected them to be big and huge, but they were instead not too big but cute. I wanted to take lots of pictures of them the moment I caught sight of them coming in my way, BUT, there were just too many obstacles. The so-called guards of the reindeer were obstructing my view, my camera was slow(probably because of the freezing cold weather) and on low battery(of all moments!!!) and it was raining so I was trying to protect my camera from the rain as well. Nonetheless, I decided to run further down to snap better pictures of them after failing to do so at my earlier spot. There was one reindeer which refuse to walk in the direction it is supposed to go and turned back instead..naughty one..but a good one as well as I was able to snap pictures of it:)
Soon after the parade, my friends and I went to the German Christmas Market. It was crowded and also, since it was raining at that time, we did not really get to explore the Market. Nonetheless, I would explore the place thoroughly when I go there next time round. The food at there is really expensive. A pretzel cost 2 pounds, a garlic bread with cheese cost 2.50 pounds(if I don't remember wrongly), a banana chocolate stewer cost 2/3pounds(can't really remember). How expensive is that!! I was hoping that they will be sold at a much cheaper price at the authentic German Christmas Market in Berlin. Praying hard. Oh ya..of course there were German beer and Bratwürste(sausages) as well. After all, this is a German Christmas Market right??? Oh..and there were gao3 lak4 on sale too. But they were EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE! A small bag costs 2 pounds. I am not going to pay that much for that, it is just not worth it.
After a brief walkthrough at the Market, we went to Macdonalds for dinner. I order an Extra Value Meal (Fillet O Fish, Fries and Hot Chocolate) It costs 3.59 pounds(changing the drink does not alter the price). I wanted my fries to be unsalted, so I told them beforehand. Nonetheless when it arrived, I asked whether is it unsalted, the person said: "Oh, you want it unsalted?" I was like, didn;t I said that more than once earlier on?? But guess what, when I ate the fries earlier on, it was still salted. The burger is so small, and the fries are not as long, fresh and crispy as those in Singapore. The hot chocolate was ok, not fantastic though as it was not really HOT. It was so freezing cold and I did not get a HOT CHOCOLATE. Personally, I do not feel that the meal is worth the money. I would prefer Subway over Macdonalds.
When I got back to my hostel, I checked the realfeel temperature and realised that it was -5 degree celsius. No wonder it was so cold.
What a cold, freezing and rainy day today. The trains on Sunday are really irregular and not punctual. I had to wait for about 30 minutes just for the next train to arrive. On a side note, today I just realised that Tesco no longer sell the Tesco Value Wholemeal Bread (800g) for 3op. Instead, now they sell the Tesco Medium Sliced Soft Wholemeal Bread(800g) for 65p. It is a more that 100% increase. Sigh..now I need to spend more money on bread..
