Chicken for dinner

I decided that I was going to make chicken fajitas for dinner as I was desperate for a change from the old routine. That was at 12:45pm. I walked down one of the dirtiest streets in Nanjing (Guangzhou Rd) to the bus stop. I got the number 1 and then the number 27 and 40 minutes later I got off.


I then walked for 10 minutes to Metro Cash and Carry where I was hoping I would be able to get most of the things I needed. They have an aisle called “imported objects” which has things like tinned olives, Nutella, Lee & Perrins, pasta sauces etc. All I could find for my fajita dinner was sour cream and refried beans (which I’m not sure I need anyway!). I decided to save money by buying 6 flat pitta bread type things instead of tortilla wraps (which are only available in Times Grocery Store on the other side of the city).

So, I still needed chicken, peppers, lemon, tomatos, onion, herbs (for salsa) and some packet spices. Then I walked the 10 minutes along a busy road which was being dug up – back to the bus stop. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long for a 27 and after an age I got off and changed to a number 65.

60 minutes after leaving Metro Cash and Carry I was at the street market on Hankou Rd near my house. Here I picked up some chicken breasts, three different coloured peppers and some onions. No herbs to be seen and the market doesn’t have fruit. So along the road I go and upstairs into a Suguo “supermarket” where I get a couple of lemons. Still no herbs.

Now I am almost there, only a few more ingredients to go and the only place I can get them is the tiny Times Grocery Store on Yunnan Road. So off I go with my increasingly heavy Metro bag slung over my shoulder, walking up Shanghai Rd (it’s now raining) across Beijing East Rd and along Yunnan Rd and eventually to my destination. Here I found two packets of El Paso mix and bought them. Still no herbs.

I wait for the number 65 to take me back and by the time I get home I check the time and it’s 5:15pm. That’s 4.5 hours to get what I need for chicken fajitas. I miss Sainsbury’s!