Instead of trolling the Theocratic topic (and others that have been hi-jacked in the past) here's a topic where we can list and discuss what we miss when abroad... It can be just for the holidays, or if you're an ex-pat, or even the things you miss from foreign countries you have visited once you get back home. So here go mine : - British sausages - British bread (especially the real bakery-style stuff) - Cheddar and other british cheeses (Red Leicester especially) - Scones, baps, hot cross bunnies (buns, sorry) and all kinds of small british cakes and buns - Cadbury's Chocolate - Salty butter (you can get it here, but it's un-salted butter by default) - Real hotdogs (bread + sausage + cheddar ; see items 1, 2 and 3 )
Things I miss about London: Jaffa Cakes (Good lord those are good) Maltesers (Whoppers just aren't the same) Pizza Express Pizza Higgins Coffee Full English Breakfasts Sandwiches from Pret A Manger Small bottles of Coke (everything here is huge ) Eating Wagamama noodles And the non-food stuff: Sales tax being added on so you don't need to get out an extra buck like you do here. Riding the buses British accents Camden Market and everything about it Regents Park Rose Garden and the open air theater West End shows And things I miss about the US when I'm in London: Being able to drive The 2 dollar movie theater There's other stuff of course, but that's just off the top of my head
Things that I've missed about the US/philly area. Some I miss whenever I'm out of the area, some I miss only when I'm in certain areas Cheesesteaks Chocolate water ice first run movies American women public transit South Park Autumn in University City Penn's landing (a riverfront) Things that I miss about Japan Lawson's Station (a mini market) Kimchi potato chips Good karaoke places Aquarius (sports drink)
Things I miss about Holland Food: - Drop (Liquorice) If you didn't grow up with it you have no idea. - Stroopwafels, Two wafer cookies with syrup in between, really good. - Pindakaas, Dutch Peanutbutter. Not that creamy american crap. - Pindasaus (Peanut Sauce) Imported in the Netherlands when we had colonies in Indonesia. Best on French fries. - French Fries. Either with Peanut Sauce or just with mayonaise. - Poffertjes, Best described as mini pancakes (about 2 cm across), served with powdered sugar and butter. Things: - The "Grand Café" concept. Big space, expensive drinks, "stylish". I can come up with more but I'm on holidays and I'm paying by the hour.
I spent some time in Britain and while there I thought British food was disgusting. What I missed most was Polish "white cheese", something like the Greek Feta but not salty and not so fatty. Once I found a cheese shop in London bragging that they have got all world cheeses in stock, and if not, they will deliver it within 48 hours. Of course they did not have Polish white cheese, and when they quoted the price for 48-hour delivery I just ran. Now I really miss: Full English Breakfast scones apple crumble (I make that at home but it never tastes the same!) sherry trifle AND the fact that restaurant staff, cleaners and shop assistants are always university students from all over the world, bright, literate people. Here in Poland if you end up as a waitress it means that your school achievement was less than satisfactory and you're doomed in this job for life.
[quote:552bdd67be="Katcal"] - British sausages - British bread (especially the real bakery-style stuff) - Cheddar and other british cheeses (Red Leicester especially) - Scones, baps, hot cross bunnies (buns, sorry) and all kinds of small british cakes and buns - Cadbury's Chocolate [/quote:552bdd67be] Most definately agreed. Though we get the cheese...most of the time. My mum is always complaining about the chewing gum. It's illegal here...she smuggles it in every chance she gets. I miss being understood with my Scottish accent. I have a translator with me at all times. She repeats much of what I say for the benifit of anyone but the British. Peoploe listen to my accent and forget to listen to what I say. I also miss being able to walk into a supermarket and get stuff you picked up last week and not having to stockpile in case they run out. In Jakarta I miss the bizarre situations you find yourself in. The good food (depending on where you go...do not try a warung...you will be ill after) In Dubai I miss the newspaper. You have no idea how funny it is. Not that it's supposed to be. I miss being scared half to death (almost quite literally on a few occasions) speeding around one of the most dangerous highways in the world (the Sheik Zayed). I miss dune bashing. You haven't lived until you've been in a 4 wheel drive practically sideways, falling down a massive sand dune. Most of all, I miss snow.
Chewing gum is illegal ? :shock: From England (and London especially) I miss being called Love or Darlin' or Sweetheart by people I've never seen before (cashiers, sales people, waiters/waitresses, etc.) and having a casual chat while buying things. The French have yet to discover casual. There are probably things I would miss about France (Friends and family excluded of course) if I was ever away from it for a long time. I'll have to think about that one. Or try going away for a long time From Martinique (French carribean) I miss... everything The comfortable heat, the place, the views, the sand, the smells, the food, the people, the food, the drink (rum and guava juice, **drools**), the wildlife and amazing plants, the terrible roads, the food, the delicious sweetness of the Carribean Sea, the food... I only spent 8 days there and I miss it like hell.
I miss a brand of honey yoghurt from when I was in Australia (I know you can make it by adding honey to natural yoghurt but it just doens't taste the same) :cry: I miss Pickled onion crisps if I go anywhere outside the UK.
[quote:aa6f7254df="Katcal"]Chewing gum is illegal ? :shock: From England (and London especially) I miss being called Love or Darlin' or Sweetheart by people I've never seen before (cashiers, sales people, waiters/waitresses, etc.) and having a casual chat while buying things. The French have yet to discover casual..[/quote:aa6f7254df] Singaporeans have yet to learn how to be friendly, never mind casual chit chat. I've had the most sour and abrupt cashiers serve me with little smilie badges saying 'we are happy to serve you' written on them. I also miss dirt, in a rather strange way. ANyone who has been here will know how clean it is. Disturbingly so.
[quote:5b163d1348="Katcal"] From England (and London especially) I miss being called Love or Darlin' or Sweetheart by people I've never seen before (cashiers, sales people, waiters/waitresses, etc.) [/quote:5b163d1348] :lol: I also miss that! :lol: You might be surprised but I though British people were very kind on every day basis (could also become extremely rude when you got to know them better). In Poland it works the other way round, which is a shame.
[quote:9f907aca29="fairyliquid"][quote:9f907aca29="Katcal"]Chewing gum is illegal ? :shock: From England (and London especially) I miss being called Love or Darlin' or Sweetheart by people I've never seen before (cashiers, sales people, waiters/waitresses, etc.) and having a casual chat while buying things. The French have yet to discover casual..[/quote:9f907aca29] Singaporeans have yet to learn how to be friendly, never mind casual chit chat. I've had the most sour and abrupt cashiers serve me with little smilie badges saying 'we are happy to serve you' written on them. I also miss dirt, in a rather strange way. ANyone who has been here will know how clean it is. Disturbingly so.[/quote:9f907aca29] I totally know what you mean about Singapore being super clean but it is a GOOD thing!!! I recall feeling like some sort of major criminal when I was there walking down the street chewing gum.
It's actually more like in America when alcohol was illegal, in 1920 or there abouts. You cannot import it, but there is no law against possesing it or consuming it and it is possible to buy chewing gum now for ridiculous prices once you have given over a passport number, residence visa number, and signed a sworn statement stating you will dispose of it correctly. You might need a note from the dentist as well. In case anyone is interested the reason for the ban was when the mrt opened and the doors kept being jammed by the stuff. Anyway, Singaporean clean scares me a little...a guy walks down our street and sweeps up all the leaves every morning. Takes him a good 3 hours each day... What I find funny, and perfectly understandable, is in the buses there are signs for no smoking, eating, drinking or durian fruit... durian is a supposidly nice tasting (personally never had the courage) fruit which smells of rotting flesh. They stick them at the front of the supermarkets in indonesia so that when you walk in you suddenly have no appetite...very clever.
I lived in Singapore for 2 months in the mid 80's and it was very creepy. My father got fined $500 for spitting on the street once. We used to go to the Burger King, they had one of those pool ball rooms, you know, big room, full of balls. My sisters and I would reach down to the very bottom and sweep our hands across the bottom. You could find all kinds of things. Money, jewelry and crap. It was fun. But yeah, we went there from India and the clean thing really freaked me out. I mean, perhaps compared to canada, it's not that drastic. But, comapred to Madras, or Bombay, the place is sterile.
Geneva is strangely clean too, but maybe not as bad as singapore sounds... Certainly compared to any city in France, it must seem absolutely barbaric when they come over here ! (But then you don't have to come from Singapore for that )
[quote:754727e292="Katcal"]Geneva is strangely clean too, but maybe not as bad as singapore sounds... Certainly compared to any city in France, it must seem absolutely barbaric when they come over here ! (But then you don't have to come from Singapore for that )[/quote:754727e292] I heard France is really dirty, is that true?
[quote:a8d7e9cbc9="OmKranti"][quote:a8d7e9cbc9="Katcal"]Geneva is strangely clean too, but maybe not as bad as singapore sounds... Certainly compared to any city in France, it must seem absolutely barbaric when they come over here ! (But then you don't have to come from Singapore for that )[/quote:a8d7e9cbc9] I heard France is really dirty, is that true?[/quote:a8d7e9cbc9] Unfortunately, compared to other contries I have visited (i.e. not that many ) it is rather... Scraping up your dog's doings or getting it to poo in the gutter or specific places is not yet something the average frog will do, it happens, but not often. Littering, gobbing gum, spitting, chucking away a smoking butt-end on the street are still commonplace things that people just don't notice much... This does vary from town to town, city to city, or even within one city, but it's still a general thing on average. I have seen places abroad that are worse, I must say, especially in Spain, but still, I may just have landed in a couple of exceptionally dirty places...
Speaking of dog poo. When in England I saw very neat sort of scoops made of cardboard available for free at the entrances to parks. In Poland nobody cares where dogs do it and the result is that people don't dare to cross lawns after dark (you can be sure your shoe with splat inbto something smelly). Where I live, the authorities decided to deal with this situation and put up "no dogs" signs on all lawns. As a dog owner myself I have started a crusade to introduce such funny scoops here, too. How is the problem dealt with where you live, everybody?
Most places in France ignore the fact that many handy solutions exist. Some towns, like in Geneva, have bag distributors for dog poo, unfortunately, in France, they tend to end up empty and never be filled again. The cardboard scoops are a lot neater, I must say, not having to feel the poo must make it a lot nicer to do... There are dog-poo-sandpits in some places too, but the last time I saw one there was a kid playing in it, so obviously people don't get what they're for... :?
[quote:e8f95ec113="Katcal"]Most places in France ignore the fact that many handy solutions exist. Some towns, like in Geneva, have bag distributors for dog poo, unfortunately, in France, they tend to end up empty and never be filled again. The cardboard scoops are a lot neater, I must say, not having to feel the poo must make it a lot nicer to do... There are dog-poo-sandpits in some places too, but the last time I saw one there was a kid playing in it, so obviously people don't get what they're for... :?[/quote:e8f95ec113] And this is why I don't have dogs. Or children.
It made me laugh like hell too I did look around to see if I could see its parents somewhere around, but I couldn't identify any so I just walked off laughing like hell. Poor kid... although, with any luck, everyone else would have made the same mistake
We had a sandpit when I was a kid. We had to cover it with chicken wire because the neighbourhood cats thought it was a litterbox.
A lot of people here carry little plastic bags that they use as gloves to pick up the dog poo. They then turn the bag inside out and tie it off. I'm pretty sure that they make special bags, but a lot of people just use plastic shopping bags.
in this part of the hastings/st leonards area, there is a disgustingly high amount of dog poo on the sidewalk/pavement. i recently filled in a transport survey for the county highways department, and under a section on walking to work, there was a question along the lines of 'what would encourage you to walk to or from work more often'. i wrote 'less dog fouling.' anyway, as for things i miss from america: cheap electronics and computer components gallon and half gallon containers of orange juice decent orange juice (eg, florida orange juice. not that valencia bullshit from spain) large containers of V8 juice. hell, the ready availability of V8 juice. pretty much large containers of juice. and at affordable prices. the national understanding that raspberries are 'tart', not 'sweet', and the fact that no one in america would ever consider a currant to be a fruit. we have real fruits in america. things that are sweet and sugary. also watermellons are cheap and plentiful and not nearly so floury as the ones i've had here. mexican restaraunts. taco bell (not a mexican restaraunt, but one of the two worst food sources on the planet, and i miss it dearly.) the waffle house (not a restaraunt, but one of the two worst food sources on the planet, and i miss it dearly.) being able to find more than one type of sausage in a butchers or super market. and no, 'premium' is not a different bloody type. it's just got more actual pork in it. dental care.
Currants are fruit in much the same way that tomatoes are fruit. They technically are, and one might point it out as a bit of interesting trivia, but no one would ever treat them as such.
[quote:c3612138a8="Garner"]being able to find more than one type of sausage in a butchers or super market. and no, 'premium' is not a different bloody type. it's just got more actual pork in it. [/quote:c3612138a8] The[b:c3612138a8] one true sausage[/b:c3612138a8] is the british sausage, no matter what meat and extras it contains. All other so-called sausages are imposters and should be shot. German sausages doubly so. French sausages are just evil.
[img:06d6f8f889]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/fairyliquid/garbage2.jpg[/img:06d6f8f889] [img:06d6f8f889]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/fairyliquid/grabage.jpg[/img:06d6f8f889] Sorry to move the topic back to this but it was the front page of the newspaper today. Anyway - now you know how paranoid things are here. They are worried because there is some rubbish behind housing estates and it costs them 110 million sing $ (£3.5million) a year to sweep up. They think this is a waste and we shouldn't throw it away in the first place. True but how many cities will pay many people to clean it up with a broom anyway. When I leave singapore I will miss the silly headlines. edit to pick out a few quotes: "Town councils say that while most SIngaporeans are socially resposible, the work of the recalcitrant minority does create an eyesore" "Our cleaners have not seen a lower amount of work in the last 3 years. SOmetimes, they have to sweep more than the the usual two times per day" "Fines of up to S$5,000 (£1,666) and corrective work of up to 12 hours of public clean up work for repeate offenders"
[quote:da48fa1966="OmKranti"]My father got fined $500 for spitting on the street once. [/quote:da48fa1966] It's a pity your dad got fined, but good that the Singaporeans have this law! Spitting is a disgusting habit, in my opinion. Brad, what is it particularly about American women that you miss, as opposed to other women? I have never lived anywhere else, so have not had much cause to miss things. I did miss clean public toilets when I was in America, though.
[quote:4bcbaa40c6="Buzzfloyd"][quote:4bcbaa40c6="OmKranti"]My father got fined $500 for spitting on the street once. [/quote:4bcbaa40c6] It's a pity your dad got fined, but good that the Singaporeans have this law! Spitting is a disgusting habit, in my opinion. [/quote:4bcbaa40c6] A could not agree more. In India they chew pan which is made with beetlenut and makes your teeth all red, they spit on the street and it leaves nasty red sploches everywhere. At least when cowboys chewd tobacco they had spitoons. Although I have seen kids nowdays chewing tobacco and spitting on the street. Even guys that don't chew spit regularly, what's with that? And yes, I miss clean public restrooms here too.
There was I thinking it was an uncouth French thing (yet another one) ! Loads of people have started spitting on the streets again, and they're not chewing anything at all ! :shock:
The public toilets are clean in Hastings? They aren't in any other areas of England that I've been to... with the exception of those run by large businesses, which are privately run, not properly public.
The portuguese are pretty bad also. I've gotten into a big argument with a guy that threw his empty cigarette pack out, almost on my feet. I picked it up, handed it back to him, saying, "I think you dropped this", and this big argument started. Worst thing was that there was actually a trashcan (A rare occasion) about 3 meters away. Spitting is unfortunately very common. I hate it. I've almost received a gob on my shoe once. Unfortunately my portuguese wasn't good enough at the time.... Trashcans here are rare. Especially in parks, where they are most needed. Pity.
Totally against spitting - absolutely disgusting. I can agree with a lot of the laws in SIngapore and that is one I am thoroughly thankful for. Sadly some people still manage to get away with it. On the restroom subject - I'm sure someone mentioned there being a top 100 toilets in SIngapore, based on cleanliness. I think. I thought that was quite funny. I swear my schools bathrooms must be the worst in the country! Some places can be very dodgy though. I found myself in some rather disgusting squats while hiking in Korea (granted I was rather far up a mountain away from civilization). Indonesia, I think, claims the prize for me. I found some crackers.
Where I live isn't really one way or the other but when anyone mentions dirty restrooms I always think of the scene in 'Trainspotting' - The worst Toilet in Scotland shown graphically in the movie :shock: lovely. Luckily in my experience this has not been the norm...
the public tolets in my local town are realy clean but the ones in the big shoping town are horid. when i go to the USA i never use the public tolets i just dont know why. the thing i miss most when im away from the scotish borders is the view from my dads study window its just amazing.
