*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Reading

I haven’t had much to write about really, ‘cos I haven’t been doing anything much. Apart from work, I haven’t been up to much. Not much in terms of the eating front at all – I’m saving up to eat good meals in Paris, come next month! Nothing on the social front either – no money to go socialise.

OK, went for a pub quiz with my colleagues last Tuesday for a social nightout and another evening of drinking on Thursday night for a colleague’s last day in the company. I don’t understand how the English can drink on an empty stomach. These people don’t seem to need dinner before they start drinking. Worse – they drink throughout the night without food! I just can’t do it. I need to have food! So that also means I never end up staying into the wee hours of the night, which is a good thing really. Anyway, I always have to rush to get the last few trains, else I’ll have to end up taking a taxi home. That’s a total no-no as it’s so expensive!

There are no men in my social sphere either. I had promised some friends I’d date with abandon in London, but I guess I really am quite hopeless when it comes to that. Haha.

In any case, I spent the weekend paddling in Reading, a small city to the west of London and about 35min by the fast overland trains from Paddington station. My friend picked me up in an open canoe! How cool’s that? It’s the first time I’ve ever been picked up in a canoe! Then we paddled back to the canoe club. He said it was alright if I didn’t paddle, but the paddler in me just can’t bring myself to be a passenger and have someone carry my weight! So I took up the extra oar in the boat and started paddling as well.

Then at the boat house, I changed into my paddling gear and had a go at the kayak. This was a very lightweight, flat water kayak, and one would need to know how to balance in it to paddle in it. I used to paddle in such kayaks back in junior college, so that’s really quite a long time ago! But like cycling, one doesn’t really forget how to paddle. It took a couple of minutes to get used to the instability of the kayak, but I was off in a short while. On Sunday, I paddled again in this canoe and my friend took me farther down the Thames. It was so peaceful and tranquil as we paddled down the river lined with natural vegetation, with ducks, geese, swans, and grebes frolicking in the water. I was also lucky enough to see one kingfisher, which my friend says are now low in numbers.

We paddled through streams which ran through the back gardens of lovely houses that lined the banks. And it was just fantastic. I had a great time. Wouldn’t it be great if I could paddle my way around the world? I love paddling and being around water!

The canal runs through the back of the Oracle Shopping Centre, one of the main shopping centres along Broad Street.

I like the name of this gift shop.

One of the shopping streets in Reading

Getting a different perspective from the canoe

The canal opens into the Thames River. There were many yachts, canoes and kayaks going up and down the river.

Posted by DSD at August 14, 2007 9:21 AM