Tooting

Sweet shop in tooting... wonderful selection and yummy too!

Wimbledon Car Boot Sale

Well, car boot sales are things we have heard about... and occasionally seen on TV. I don't know what the name of the programme is, but there is one where 2 teams go to a car boot sale to buy some stuff and then sell them off at an auction. The winner is the team that makes the most money. I thought going to a car boot sale looked like a fun thing to do, and probably should do before my time in London finishes.

So, I googled "car boot sale london" and found the time out feature on the top 10 car boot sales in London... There was one on saturday, which was the one in wimbledon stadium, and so off we went...

There were lots of random things, ranging from furniture, to clothes, to power tools, to foodstuff... It's a nice morning out, but I wouldn't say I managed to get a lot of useful stuff... I think I'll opt for the markets over car boot sales anytime.

Lewisham Market

Explored Lewisham Market today, which was better than expected to be honest. I had heard some people say it's just a few market stalls on a street and it's not really worth exploring.

Managed to get the following for a grand total of £9.80:
2lb clementines £0.80
9 gala apples £1
5 large mangoes £1.50
2 chinese leafs £1.50
1 huge bowl of seedless red grapes £1
1 huge bowl of cherry tomatoes £1
8 large orange peppers £1
4 sharon fruits £1
4 individual portions of tiramisu dessert £1
Amazing, right?

Also, M&S outlet has just opened in lewisham shopping centre, where I managed to get a work top for £4.99!

All in all, a most fruitful day shopping. And here's the view from the car park.

Ravel's Bistro

Went to Ravel's Bistro in Hampstead on Monday night for dinner... it's a nice little french restaurant in an unlikely location on fleet road. They have a really good-value early bird set dinner menu - £8.95 for 2 courses or £10.95 for 3 courses.

For starters, we had smoked salmon and mackeral roulade, duck liver and deep fried brie with fruit sauce. The deep fried brie was nice but I can't help thinking how many calories that single starter dish must have contained.

For mains, we had chicken escalope with mash potatoes, salmon and spinach crepe and steak with mediterranean vegetables. These were good quality too, with good sized portions.

For dessert, we had orange segments with mango sorbet, apple sauce crepe, and white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. One of us wanted vanilla ice-cream in espresso coffee, which the waitress was very bemused about as she couldn't think why anyone would want such a combination... we told her it's an italian idea but she wasn't quite convinced. She humoured us though, and gave us the ice cream in a cup with espresso.

Overall a lovely night out... the bill came up to £55 for 4 of us. Quite good value for very good quality food.

Surrey Street Market, Croydon

Had a day off today and went to Surrey Street Market in Croydon... it's a wonderful place to get cheap fruit and vegetables.

We bought the following for £8.46:
1 big canteloupe melon
1 bag of red seedless grapes
4 huge orange peppers
2lbs of sweet and crisp (that's what it said on the sign) gala apples
2lbs of sweet clementines
7 nectarines
10 william pears
1 bowl of tomatoes

I wonder how they make enough profit... I guess many of the stalls just have 3 or 4 items that they sell in bowls for "a pound a bowl"

Speaking of a pound, we went to poundland today as well, with much excitement and anticipation but was disappointed as we only came away with a roll of brown paper. There were numerous signs at the entrance saying "You will need a basket", so we took a basket but actually didn't need it after all.

Then we went out onto the high street, and there was this 99p store... there, we managed to get Jordan's tropical muesli (750g) for 99p! Couldn't resist it, and ended up buying 3 packs. The expiry date is not till July 2009... hmmm... maybe we should have bought more - 3 packs are not going to last us all the way till July 2009.

Just a few shops down was the largest Wesley Owen bookstore that we have seen in the country. They had a separate room for music CDs and DVDs, a section for gifts and cards, and of course lots of books in various categories. Most importantly, they had a bargain section upstairs - mostly remaindered books at half price or less. We ended up buying 6 books, 1 CD and 2 newspapers... all for £21.88!

We're such bargain hunters... :P

Borough Market

London Borough Market, at London Bridge...

Here are some pictures of it. It was an amazing experience the first time we went there - great atmosphere with friendly stallholders and lots of samples to try. Food is great but expensive though.

Trying out this blogging thing

So I am trying out this blogging thing, my husband says I should have a blog. I guess it's better use of my time than just surfing the net aimlessly and playing settlers of catan on my computer.

Hopefully we can share a little of our wonderful experience living in London. We moved here in October 2008, because I wanted to explore palliative medicine and I managed to get this job in the world-famous St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, London. So we rented a flat and moved here.

Here are the views from our flat on to Sydenham Road.