Wednesday, July 05, 2006

It's the small things

I've been compiling a list of small things that tend to remind me we're not in Sydney anymore. A few examples include:
  • Last night I notice an aisle at the Supermarket for traditional desserts. This covers things like milk puddings, sago, custard powder, tapioca, condensed milk, treacle and all sorts of things that only grandma probably knows how to prepare. I can't recall ever seeing an aisle for this sort of thing in Sydney.
  • The fruit and vegetable section looks very different. Unlike Australia, you rarely see anything stacked in piles of fresh produce. Instead, everything is extensively packaged. Bulk produce is presented in crates, with individual items displayed in storage trays which in turn are wrapped in cellophane. The waste packaging is quite astounding. As a result, the produce section look more like a storage warehouse than a traditional greengrocers.
  • Frozen vegetables also seem less popular. Our local Sainsbury supermarket has barely half an aisle of freezers, which seemed to be largely filled with all manner of frozen french fries. It doesn't even sell whole frozen beans. I guess that the English prefer their beans fresh, or not at all.
  • Finally, my wallet fills with coins more frequently than Australia as the UK still gives out one and two penny copper coins.

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