Oh so expensive dollar!

My daily food allowance from the company for the first month of my stay in Sydney was about A$50. It took me no time to figure that Sydney was more expensive than to have good meals (for two) in that budget. For starters, coffee costs about $3.30 and ice-creams are nothing less than $6. The cheapest sub-way is probably $6, and with a cookie and drinks for two you get close to $20. One regular-pizza costs about $25 and sandwiches and salads at the most modest of places are for anywhere between $12 and $20. Meats and hams can get even steeper. Bottled water will cost you $4.5, but of course unlike in India you can drink out of the tap here.

The quality of food is great, of course very hygienic and except for a couple of places in the last 60 days I’ve not been disappointed with the taste either. If you were to buy greens and fruits at stores, you will be spoilt for choice. The variety is humongous. I had never come across so many types of fruits before. I have never liked French beans as much as I love them in salads here. The milk tastes great and talk about bakery… ah, delicious!

Back home, we always questioned where are veggies came from. Some friends advised against buying from near railway stations in Mumbai for they would have grown near the tracks in filthy, toilet waters. Not surprisingly, they even lacked any real taste. You had to put heaps of spices and tomatoes to dish out tasty stuff but I don’t work that hard in the kitchen here and the food has always turned out fine.

The Aussies take care of your food alright, but they think of public toilets as well! ;-)  This was my pet peeve in Europe where you had to shell out at least 1 Euro (mighty 75 rupees) just for a 1-min pee! Arrgghhh. Public peeing, if I can say so, is free in Australia, and unlike in India the toilets are almost always clean.

On our very first Sunday in Sydney we went to an Indian store so we could buy our one week’s provisions. In hindsight, that was a really good decision because I was getting tired of eating the same salads, sandwiches and subways outside. If you get home-made food, and lots of love from your husband chances of feeling homesick diminishes widely! We were enjoying our meals every time. I developed a penchant for cooking, soon I was returning home during lunch breaks to make food at home so we could both enjoy a good meal. Now, I am on an experimental binge dishing out everything from veg biryanis to English pancakes and I can say cooking has never been so enjoyable. Bon appetite!