Clara's Day 2 (Life in the Heartland)

As Danielle had to attend school at 1230 (noon) today, I decided to bring Clara around the neighbourhood to let her experience a bit of 'heartland living' as I saw it.

We started the morning with a bus trip (the G1) to Northcote Road, the much-loved shopping district for people living in the Wandsworth, Balham and Clapham vicinity. Had a looksy at the quaint shops along Northcote then headed to ASDA (The UK version of Walmart), where we popped in for some groceries. Clara insisted on cooking for us tonight so we bought some beef for the stew she wanted to prepare. On the way home, Clara caught her first glimpse of Danielle in her 'Monster Hyde' persona. Her crankiness began unexpectedly on the bus and in short... well, at least a friend's now seen Danielle at one of her 'worst'. :P

We walked Danielle to school together and Clara got to witness 'first-hand' Danielle's weepiness when left in school. Think she found it rather incredulous how the little one could 'switch' between emotions so quickly. Anywayz, Clara took 'incriminating' photos of Danielle to document the moment so if anyone's interested, ask her to show them to you when she's back in Singapore! :P After dropping Danielle off, we took a bus to Tooting Bec. We bought some Asian groceries for the Thai meal (not again??!) I'm preparing tomorrow, and visited Primark where she picked up a fantastic wolly jacket. Extremely value for money! We also bought fresh figs for a steal at 20 for 2 pounds! Clara's never tried fresh figs so I told her she HAD to try them! She fell in love with them at first 'bite'! Now she wants to bring a whole crate home!

Also brought her to Sainsbury's, TESCO, M&S, Woolworths, and some of the thrift shops I frequent here. I'd say she's seen almost all the places I visit on a weekly basis, sans the library. Didn't think it warranted a visit. She absolutely LOVES the supermarkets & has started to fill her luggage with all sorts of junk food!

Dinner was late as Mr Chan was a little caught up at work. But it was well worth the wait coz her beef stew was fab! Chunks of succulent beef in rich gravy made with red wine, Worchestershire sauce and a sprinkle of dried herbs; then stewed together with big onions, potatoes and carrots. Perfect comfort food for an extremely cold night! Speaking of which, we've started using gloves when going out. The winds are getting so chilly our hands are numb from the bitter cold! Brrrrr....