What do you miss about the UK?

I have been surprised at how little I do miss.
  • Decent dark ale is one thing but we've got 2 imports from NZ that are Ok.
  • Decent TV.that's another matter entirely. I don't watch it much but Aussie TV is the pits. I'd happily pay the TV licence fee to be able to watch BBC even via the iplayer...We do get BBC Stuff eventually...
  • Decent driving distances, as in how far the car in front is when it pulls over... Aussies have the hang of keep left, just not the concept of actually getting passed you before the pull over... like wise for pulling around you. Even if there is not another vehicle in sight on the totally Straight dual carriageway, they will come that close to you that you want be able to see their rego plate before they decide that they are actually going to go around you and not through you... and the least said about pulling back in after they have passed you the better because most of the time they haven't actually passed you yet!
  • decent sunsets/sunrises. In the UK, they last half an hour or so...here 10 minutes and itis over... I really enjoyed the hours - long sunsets in northern Scandinavia (above the Arctic Circle)...
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I have been surprised at how little I do miss.
  • Decent dark ale is one thing but we've got 2 imports from NZ that are Ok.
  • Decent TV.that's another matter entirely. I don't watch it much but Aussie TV is the pits. I'd happily pay the TV licence fee to be able to watch BBC even via the iplayer...We do get BBC Stuff eventually...
  • Decent driving distances, as in how far the car in front is when it pulls over... Aussies have the hang of keep left, just not the concept of actually getting passed you before the pull over... like wise for pulling around you. Even if there is not another vehicle in sight on the totally Straight dual carriageway, they will come that close to you that you want be able to see their rego plate before they decide that they are actually going to go around you and not through you... and the least said about pulling back in after they have passed you the better because most of the time they haven't actually passed you yet!
  • decent sunsets/sunrises. In the UK, they last half an hour or so...here 10 minutes and itis over... I really enjoyed the hours - long sunsets in northern Scandinavia (above the Arctic Circle)...
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Sunrises and sets at Kuta are best I've seen.

Russ
 
One of the drawbacks (apart from the heat, obviously) of living near the equator is that every day is alike, at least in terms of daylight hours. Lights come on at six, lights go out at six. This is why people speak of "African time." I used to hear this expression a lot in Ethiopia, though oddly enough, not so much in Eritrea.

It can confuse you for a moment. Someone might talk of a meeting a four o'clock, leading you to think that it's going to happen in the afternoon, when what they really mean is that it's at ten in the morning (i.e. four hours after sunrise). It's always best to check whether they mean "African" or "normal" time.

Of course, living a good deal further north now, as I do, means that we get long hours of daylight in the summer months and short hours in the winter. The latter can be a bit dreary, but it's not a bad trade-off once you get to the long days of summer.
 
Duck59 said:
The latter can be a bit dreary, but it's not a bad trade-off once you get to the long days of summer.
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That's another thing I miss - the wonderfully long hours of dark in Winter.

I used to work in an office with no windows, and in Winter, I made a point to stay inside, if possible, either getting lunch delivered or bringing something from home, just so I could skip the sun. There were entire work-weeks I could go without seeing any daylight - I'd get to the office before sunrise, leave after sunset, and stay indoors during the day.
 
I don't miss the long and short days. Basically here it's light at 6 and then dark at 6.

However, SatNavSaysStraightOn mentions the very short time that the sun takes to set (and rise). It's over in minutes. I did spend time a few years ago running around trying to find suitable places to take pictures of sunsets without electricity and telephone wire obstructions but it wasn't easy given the short time available. I caught a few over a number of years but now I've lost the will.

Thailand Skies
 
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The Rudder Room in Oxnard, California is ground zero for Dive Bars IMHO. Mecca to me.
Lots of Brits here for the matches. Even a Brit bartender that married into the owners family and that brings in that UK character.

Mostly Manchester United fans that are incredibly passionate about the team. That passion makes the games 1000% more, but deadly serious fun.
A simple yellow card and the building shakes. Red card, hold onto your drink and duck if you aren't a MU fan.


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Sitting at the bar looking out the windows:

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The Late Night Gourmet said:
One item I miss from Scotland - and yet don't really want to experience again - is haggis. I loved the taste, but loved less the feeling I had later that night as it worked its way through my digestive system. This is one case where I could say, "No...this time, it wasn't that I drank too much on Rose Street". :laugh:

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I actually loved Haggis, but I ate it in a very fine restaurant. So maybe I haven't eaten proper haggis. I have some in my stash actually.
 
Speaking about my stash, I created one pre Brexit because I love British food. Having lived in Yorkshire for a year, I found out that British food has a bad reputation but it is among the best things I have eaten. So foremost what I will miss after Brexit is the until now, easily available British food in my country.

My stash contains, but is not limited to:
Custard powder (Birds)
Golden syrup ( Tate & Lyle)
Tiptree orange & whiskey marmelade
MCvities rich tea biscuits
HP brown sauce
HP barbecue sauce
Heinz salad cream
Carnation tinned cream
Walkers prawn cocktail crisps
Scottish shortbread
Nando's hot sauce
Tinned mince meat

I hope it will last me a while, and I would certainly miss these products if I was not able to pay the import tariffs anymore.
 
Windigo said:
Speaking about my stash, I created one pre Brexit because I love British food. Having lived in Yorkshire for a year, I found out that British food has a bad reputation but it is among the best things I have eaten. So foremost what I will miss after Brexit is the until now, easily available British food in my country.

My stash contains, but is not limited to:
Custard powder (Birds)
Golden syrup ( Tate & Lyle)
Tiptree orange & whiskey marmelade
MCvities rich tea biscuits
HP brown sauce
HP barbecue sauce
Heinz salad cream
Carnation tinned cream
Walkers prawn cocktail crisps
Scottish shortbread
Nando's hot sauce
Tinned mince meat

I hope it will last me a while, and I would certainly miss these products if I was not able to pay the import tariffs anymore.
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I couldn’t agree more about British food. I’ve always appreciated it too. They also have a fab cheese production which is a shame many people don’t know or just take it in so underrated consideration.
Your stash is 👍🏻
 
MypinchofItaly said:
I couldn’t agree more about British food. I’ve always appreciated it too. They also have a fab cheese production which is a shame many people don’t know or just take it in so underrated consideration.
Your stash is 👍🏻
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I love the cheese too and my stash would be better with fresh produce but that's been unattainable for a while since the corona lockdown began.
 
epicuric said:
British food has come on tremendously in the last twenty years.
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British cooking has also completely transformed. The top restaurants here some of the best in the world and the fare in gastro pubs is excellent. The best UK cuisine is eclectic and experimental and a million miles away from the limited drab war and post war diet. Anyone who has seen the latest series of Masterchef the Professionals will understand just how innovative cooking is in the UK these days. And some of these chefs are from small restaurants which are not necessarily well known.
 
Morning Glory said:
British cooking has also completely transformed. The top restaurants here some of the best in the world and the fare in gastro pubs is excellent. The best UK cuisine is eclectic and experimental and a million miles away from the limited drab war and post war diet. Anyone who has seen the latest series of Masterchef the Professionals will understand just how innovative cooking is in the UK these days. And some of these chefs are from small restaurants which are not necessarily well known.
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I have experimented that innovative British cuisine is some restaurants in London, top level of ingredients
 
Sadly, cliches are hard to fight, I really struggle to find a sense in this. Many people just lose the opportunity to know and appreciate something new and/or old that worth a try. Sometimes is better just say “no” rather than say “ why not?”
You can find out amazing things or also not at all, but sentence a Country cuisine by saying “never in my life” is a lack of respect and ignorance.
I think this may adapt to many other cliches anyway.
 
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