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!