Biscuits

Too busy for tea? Never!

| mlatimerridley

Rain pounded against the patio window, streaking down the glass to pool on the mossy flagstones outside. Latimer made a face out at it.

With a sigh, she swung away to wander around the kitchen, idly flicking open the cookery books and poking at the potted plant in the sink. She paused when there was a series of loud bangs above her head and someone thundered down the stairs.

“Ridley?” She peered out through the white door into the hall. “You’re being a terrible hostess, you know! I had to make my own tea! Any biscuits?”

There was silence.

Latimer hopped out into hall and down to the living room; steam rose up from her cup obscuring her view. When it cleared, she raised an eyebrow at the mess strewn across the floor. She perched on the edge of an armchair and watched Ridley rush around. The other girl was packing a massive bindle with endless pieces of clothing, creased maps, sunglasses, teabags and thick guide books.

She shrugged into a Burberry-style coat, straightening it over her shoulders and making sure the stiff collar was flicked down. Pinning her M. Latimer-Ridley badge to her chest, she patted it and smiled over.

Latimer sipped her tea. “What’cha doing?”

Ridley slipped on a pair of purple ear muffs. She narrowed her eyes on her friend, her lips thinning.

“You’re not ready…why aren’t you ready?” She started flapping her arms. “We have to leave in the next few hours, there’s no time for tea breaks!”

Latimer scoffed. “There’s always time for tea, ole Bean.”

Glaring, the blonde girl tried to fold her arms, but the ballooning sleeves were too thick, instead she just held them in the air and started to tap her foot. Her fancy heeled boots made loud thumps against the wooden floor as little flecks of dirt dropped off them.

“So,” Latimer took another slow sip of her tea. “Where are we going again?”

Ridley’s mouth dropped open. Her ear muffs slipped down onto her forehead, obscuring her view. Momentarily blinded, she flailed in a panic, then shoved them back up.

“What do you mean where are we going?” She spluttered. “On the internet hike!”

“Oh yeah…that…”

“That…” Ridley muttered. She pointed at the table where a large poncho style jacket was folded. “I bought you a coat! I hear when the nights roll in, the internet can get quite cold! Something to do with iCloud cover.”

Latimer crossed her legs and sat back. “You do know it’s only the 25th of November? The first of December isn’t for another week, really. We have plenty of time.”

“Oh…” Ridley slumped down into a chair. Her coat puffed up with the movement, she flattened it down with her hands and leaned forward to glare at her mobile on the coffee table. “Stupid phone, with the wrong date. It’s been reprogrammed, how could this have happened!”

“How indeed…” Latimer hid her grin behind her tea cup.

Ridley shot her a suspicious look, she unzipped her coat and shed the extra layering. It fell like a shell to the floor.

“So…the blog tour isn’t for another few days then…” She pulled off her ear muffs, twisting them around in her hands with a sigh.

“Nope, but when it does happen it should be fun!”

“True…” Ridley pouted, she was quiet for a minute. “Did you make me tea?”

“Yeah,” Latimer said, standing up. “Come along, Ridders, you can show me where you’ve hidden the hobnobs.”

Tokyo Food Puzzles

| mlatimerridley

“What’s in it? What’s in it?”

“That’s the point of the thing, not to know!”

– Nightmare Before Christmas, Kidnap a Sandy Claws

We love trying out the different food while we’re here in Tokyo, especially if it’s something you can’t get anywhere else. So far our time here has been a real lucky mix of flavours. We’ve bought a few things where we haven’t the foggiest idea what flavour it is, or even what it is!

Giant Caplico: Not an ice cream, not really a sweet, this ice cream cone lookalike was hard, sugary and we’re still not certain what it was made from.

Ridley: “That was weird, I feel like I just ate twenty different chemicals. Giant Caplico? Giant chemical mess.”

Ketchup flavoured Pringles

Ridley:  (I love ketchup by the by-so these are not for the faint hearted. Latimer’s face of disgust was hilarious!) “After a while the kick of the ketchup is really sour…I like it, but I’d never give up my sweet and sour…no…what is it, sour onion?” Giant Caplico chemicals addle Ridley’s brain.

Peach pieces in peach jelly

Latimer: Does exactly what it says on the tin! Yums. Fruit in jelly can’t go wrong.

Unknown flavour crisps…

Latimer: “I really wish I knew what flavour they are, I can’t taste anything. I really hope it’s not frog.” (Ridley: I wish it was.)

Green tea flavour

Latimer: “It tastes like soil! Why does it taste like soil???” I promptly placed this in the bin after approximately 3 glups (it didn’t get better with time). However, the next day the maid had removed it from the bin and placed it on the floor by the table (as you do!). She seemed to want me to drink it. (Ridley: Waste not, want not! Soil will help you grow!) I poured it down the sink and back to the bin it went. Thankfully, it was gone the next day.

?????

Ridley: Latimer took this lovely close up of tiny fish in a bowl.  It’s Korean food. This was after I’d eatten two lots and thought it was seaweed, I didn’t see the eyes. (Latimer: Even though they were staring right at you.) Ridley: *silence*….I’ve nothing…no comeback to that…damn you. The tiny eyes!! Eweeee….I was chomping on it as I was telling Latimer, “My brother says I eat with my eyes, if it doesn’t look good, I’ll avoid it.” I obviously was blind this time round….

Toppo-reverse pocky, the chocolate’s on the inside! (Latimer: Reverse pocky, evil pocky!)

Ridley: *crunch crunch* “Hmm…they look like bamboo sticks with black stuff in it…I like it!” 

Banana ‘Yogurt’

Latimer: This wasn’t exactly a yogurt… it was more like a solidified, banana milk jelly. Why is nothing as it seems!?

Peach and apple drink (or so you would think)

Latimer: I bought this thinking ‘yeah, peach and apple sounds good’…. but when I took my first gulp my mouth was flooded with fruit jelly-bits. It wasn’t a nice texture. One gulp from Ridley had her face collapsing in on itself; “I don’t…. I don’t, YUCK, I don’t like it! That’s nasty… nasty…”

Mushroom shaped biscuits

Latimer: Ridley hasn’t noticed this, but around Tokyo at the moment there are these cartoon whistling mushrooms (they’ve been on the telly and in the arcades on these really annoying games that whistle the same tune over and over and over again, adding to the din). Well, these are biscuits based on the whistling mushrooms (Ridley: you think! Latimer: quiet you!). They were tasty: biscuit stalk, chocolate cap. No whistling though (I’m disappointed). (Ridley: no you’re not) 

Kirby chewing gum

Ridley: There were three little brown balls (stop sniggering Latimer) in this box, it was chewing gum, a fruity type! I liked them. It seemed appropriate, considering Kirby was kind of like a giant blown up chewing gum bubble…(Latimer: I loved Kirby’s Dream World. Ridley: Me too!)  

We don’t know what this was, we thought chocolate of some sort

Latimer: I was going under the assumption buying this was a steal at 30 Yen. Actually no, that’s 30 cent (euro speak) and that’s not cheap considering what it was. A square of ‘chocolate’… I spent 30 cent on one square of ‘chocolate’? (Ridley: fool.. wait, so did I!). It was white faux-chocolate with a sliver of yellow jelly (custard like, or something). It was tasteless and not worth 30 cent (hindsight is a great thing) (Ridley: you are harping on about the 30 cent, people are going to think you’re tight. Latimer: I am… 30 cent! Do you know what I could have done with that! Ridley: you’re an idiot. Latimer: Damn you!)

 Pocari Sweat (a God amongst the dehydrated masses)

Ridley: Lemony. Latimer: you haven’t had any this holiday. I bought one bottle and couldn’t finish it. Still, I will say it is a GOD! Ridley: you weren’t dehydrated enough… does everything I say get typed? Latimer: yes. Ridley: Pocari Sweat, a lemony rehydration drink. 

More food mysteries coming soon! (if we haven’t succumbed to gastric malfunctioning in the meantime)

Nice is for biscuits

| mlatimerridley

Ridley: It’s good that Latimer has a Rickey and Karl and Steven outlet now (see her post below!). I have at times I’ll admit zoned out on that score and stopped listening. But to be fair, while I was never as big a fan of them as her, she is right they are quite funny, esp Karl. Though I am more of a Billy fan. Oh to meet Billy Connolly…. I think my sides would split! Stephen’s Day in our house is eating the last of the tin of Rose’s chocolates and watching the latest Billy DVD you’d gotten for Christmas!

“Never trust a man, who when left alone with a tea cosey… Doesn’t try it on.”

And if you don’t know who he is, for shame!! Get thee to youtube and watch him now! Though my dad does tell a tall tale that he met him once in Boston (as in in America) when Billy was only starting out over there and doing small gigs (would have been big enough over here in Ireland/Scotland). Supposedly Billy told him and a work mate of dad’s to come along to his gig the next evening, but Dad wasn’t able to go in the end cause he had to look after us (my brother and I, little wee toddlers we would have been at the time!) I think even now in a way he’s still disappointed he couldn’t go, I feel kinda guilty for that you know! And it’s not like we’ll get to see a gig of his any time soon, when he last came to Ireland, his tickets sold out in minutes. Ah well.

I also think that Bill Bailey (Latimer and I are going to a gig of his soon, very excit-sming!!!) Tommy Tiernan (and we’ll add in Hector of course!) Dara Ó Briain and Dylan Moran are hilarious too (I’ll stop now, you probably don’t want a running list of names!)

Now as Latimer has already told you, I was in Galway this weekend. T’was good crack altogether. And a pity Lat couldn’t come but there will be a next time! The Galway Races were on, we were there for the tail end of it all. We had a nice night out on the town. They’d fenced off parts of Shop Street (the main street) so it was like being outside in massive beer courtyard/garden. Some of the pubs were selling to customers from their front windows cause they were so packed inside, no one could get in. That was the mentalness of the nighttime. Earlier in the day though it was extremely relaxing, we spent it in Spiddal!

It’s only about 25 minute drive from Galway itself. We ate fish and chips and had a ramble on the beaches out there, while trying to practice our Irish- Bhí sé go h-iontach ar fad! (It was great altogether.) Very peaceful setting. There was total silence, you could hear the sail flapping on one of the little boats and a gull crying overhead. There was one little stone pathway overgrown with plants and flowers that we weren’t allowed go down (a big gate with a big paddlock told us No!) It was just off the main walkway, it ran alongside a narrow river which dipped into small rapids further down and flowed out into the sea. I’ve since decided that if ever a little walkway lead to a fairie glade, it was that one! I wish I’d taken a picture, but I was too busy enjoying it. I think sometimes, if you’re stuck behind a camera lense, you miss too much of what you’ve come to see in the first place. Why take photos to enjoy it later, when you should just be in the moment and enjoy it then? Though I’m all for photo taking after the contemplating!

Skipping forward after our day rambling and after a mad night on the tiles, we had breakfast rolls the next morning at the Spanish Arch (at the Claddagh) and counted the swans, well I did, I stopped at 25 when it got dangerous. I’d decided to stop leaning forward too near the water for fear of me falling in on top of them and the ducks, but we did sit with our feet dangling percariously over the edge!  Just call me Danger Mouse!

I have to say standing on the beach at Spiddal (though I’ve since heard from a reliable and informative source there’s way better beaches in West Cork! A place I’ve yet to visit, sad that I’ve seen so little of my own country) but even though of course there were other people round on the lovely white sand, because it was so peaceful, I felt very Monty Hall-esque (anyone watch his shows? On BBC? I love them!! There’s Monty Hall’s Great Escape to Beechcomber cottage and there’s the Great Hebridean Escape, both with Reuben, his gorg black dog!)


Anywhosie, one of my friends got a ‘pensive’ photo of me gazing out across the sea at County Clare. I was teased for my brooding expression for quite sometime afterwards and they were right, I wasn’t pondering the problems of the world, I think I was wondering how long would it take to swim from the beach to Clare. And how cold, in terms of iceberg cold, the water was.

After much thinking, my answers were ‘a long time’ and ‘freezing with small ice cubes’ cold.

Also, my new saying that I picked up in funky Galway (read stole) is ‘Nice is for biscuits…’ and I add  ‘And you know what happens to them, they get eaten!’