Believe me, it's not a healthy alternative. The ones without anything on them, including salt, are the only ones that are considered to be healthy. Within reason, of course. Boring, I call it.

Tried the local Chinese takeaway on Saturday night - I'm a pushover:

Flatmate: I was going to try some Chinese tonight. Wanna try it too?
Ingaroo: Well, I have already defrosted some hot dogs, so...yes!

It was actually good! I was a bit afraid, since they tend to take a few shortcuts around here (I've decided not to ask them where the meat comes from), but it seems they actually do things from scratch and they don't just reheat things in the microwave oven. So we'll go there again, I think. I thought it was fascinating to hear the guy ask us: "Fly or wa?" My flatmate, who of course ordered the whole thing, just looked at me and her eyes told me she didn't understand a word he was saying. Since we were deciding on the rice at the time, I took a chance on saying "white, please", and the nod of recognition that followed made me breathe easily again. I was a bit afraid I would automatically say "flied lice, please" the moment I opened my mouth, but that didn't happen.

So, to recap our local eateries:

• Chicken wings shop (halal) - crappy ribs, ok chicken. Must ask for chips in a separate bag or else they'll be soggy by the time we get back home.


• Pizza place (halal) - have only tried one pizza, but I've tried it several times by now and really like it. And it's amazingly cheap. Nice people, even though the kitchen looks a bit crowded at times.


• Chinese takeaway (non-halal) - OK so far, fast and good service, very sparsely furnished waiting area (reminds me of dance school; girls sitting on the right of the huge floor, boys on the left). At least there is a telly.


• Local pub (probably not halal) - Good service and good food. Kind prices. Nice atmosphere. And you can stay afterwards.

There are other places a stone's throw away as well, including an African one and a Russian/Eastern European one and my pharmacy marathon on Saturday revealed quite a few others within a fifteen-minute walk. (I visited a couple of pharmacies to see who stocked my allergy medicine; I can only buy one at a time and I use it a lot.)

I'm sort of into Guild Wars again, although I keep getting kicked out through a network error which turns out to be bogus, but by then I'm already out and will have to start from the beginning of that particular area again. Rather annoying. I think I found a way around it earlier today (ok, so I just switched computers), and just as I was finally entering the next area, the bloody mouse stopped responding. (And no, it had nothing to do with a dodgy cable, low battery level or channel switch) I just couldn't believe it. So I'll have to go through that large area again. Must be the sixth or seventh time. Of course, now I know where all the monsters will appear.

Other than that, I have been to OKCupid!, NationStates and Neopets a lot lately. Yes, I am bored. At least we're doing something much funnier on Tuesday. I'll tell you all about it when we've been there.

Good news is that Parky is back and that Have I Got News for You will be back this week. On Saturday there was another Test the Nation, this time it was Know Your English and I'm ok with the fact that I got 80% since English isn't my first language. Rhyming slang and the origins of ye olde English expressions just aren't among my best subjects, so I didn't quite manage those, but oh well. At least Phillip Schofield was hosting, next to a rather well-behaved Anne Robinson. We've decided we can't stay sad/angry/annoyed for long when we see Phillip on the screen. His charisma is just too great and his smile too contagious. No wonder I watch This Morning every morning after the news update on BBC News 24!

Which reminds me...congrats to this year's Nobel laureates. I watched the live presentation (by accident...I had completely forgotten about it) on a previously mentioned channel and they'd brought in a Norwegian-sounding lady to translate. The poor thing was nervous as hell and said a few strange things, but it went ok. Of course, if they'd only waited for another minute, they would have heard the thing in English (and I use "English" very loosely in this sense, as the current chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee speaks English badly), but it's all about being first, getting the scoop, bringing us breaking news, isn't it? Whenever I see "Breaking News" as I turn on the telly, my heart skips a beat, until I realise it's not really worth the "sensational" label at all. Which is a good thing, usually, considering some of the dreadful "Breaking News" items that have popped up during the last few years.

It's getting late and if you've read all of this you must not have a life, just like me. Have a nice day and stop searching for pr0n!

Current track: Jem - Finally Woken

Labels: award shows, food, gaming, Norway, personal, TV