Reading Roars!

Somewhat amusingly, a new shop has opened at 89-91 London St called “The Knob Shop”.  Yes, it’s true.  Seeing the banner on the shopfront for the first time, I was left wondering if the business owners had a hard time conceiving that name and whether they get a lot of stick for it.

The Knob Shop is the company’s second showroom to open after their Sandhurst outlet and offers door furniture, cabinet knobs and security products (latches, bolts and locks), according to their website.

Other services that The Knob Shop provides include specialist recoating, polishing and (stop sniggering at the back) finishing knobs.

And finally, if you think The Knob Shop is risque, a locksmiths store in Homebush, Australia, has gone one step further, naming themselves Knobs & Knockers.  Tut tut.

The Allied Arms is one of the best pubs in Reading.  The St Mary’s Butts is a proper pub, has the very drinkable London Pride (why hasn’t someone produced a Reading Pride? ) and a decent beer garden.  And they have good live entertainment too (sometimes). 

So imagine my despair when I found the gates locked on Sunday evening.  I was supposed to be meeting someone (who didn’t turn up anyway) and I chose the Allied Arms specifically because I could have a conversation there without ripping a vocal cord or two. 

It was strange to see other Allied visitors standing forlornly outside the pub.  “This is the first time I’ve seen a queue to go into this pub” said one.   

Is the Allied Arms normally closed on Sunday?  And, similarly, why is the Global Cafe on London St closed today (Monday)?  These are two of the best watering holes in Reading. 

It’s a shocking statistic.  Reading households emit more carbon dioxide than anywhere else in the UK. 

According to the British Gas survey, Domestic Carbon Dioxide Emissions for Selected Cities, Reading dwellings produce an average of 6,189kg of CO2 per year, equal to flying 13,000 miles by 747.

The British Gas press release explains:

Gas consumption in Reading is 27 per cent above the UK average and the report suggests that the size of properties in the South East and the vibrant economy of Reading means that more properties are occupied by home-workers (or small businesses) elevating day time gas usage. Or it may simply be that the relative wealth of Reading’s residents means that they are less frugal with their energy.

As a Reading resident, I’m left thinking: how can I be more energy efficient?  The world is hotting up - there’s no doubt about that.  Recently there have been severe floods in central Europe and Thailand.  Icebergs are melting and glaciers are disappearing.  I think it’s a serious issue.  We are all responsible for this global mess. The fact that Reading is the biggest culprit in the UK is a concern.

A sushi bar has opened in town: Nigiri Sushi. Yay! On a rainy Saturday afternoon, I decided to check out the small outlet at the Harris Arcade’s Friar Street entrance.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that I have dipped into Japanese culture recently. I bought a wonderful animated movie called Spirited Away and read an excellent book detailing a Belgian girl’s experiences working at a Tokyo corporation, Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb.

Back to Nigiri Sushi, its interior was of a minimalistic Japanese style - lots of wood and little else. I liked this clutter-free environment.

I gave my order to a patient, and rather nice-looking, Japanese girl who invited me to try the wasabi green mame (GB£ 1.50), a plate of small green balls. Curious, I popped one in my mouth. It was crunchy and spicy. I now know that they are dried peas. As I continued to scan the menu, the girl kindly told me that my takeaway deep fried squid (GB£ 2.50) and salmon nigiri (GB£ 3.99) were enough for one person.

While waiting at an Ikea-style table, I was given a cup of green tea, free of charge. As I sipped the tea, watching the rain tumble down, I began contemplating my existence. That’s what green tea does to me. It has powerful properties. Coffee kicks my brain into action, black tea has an uplifting impact and green tea has a meditative effect. So now you know.

At home, I excitedly dug into the squid. Squid tends to taste rather bland. While normally I would squeeze a bit of lemon over it, on this occasion I whipped out the dark soy sauce from my cupboard and liberally splashed it on the tentacles. The salmon nigiri was great - soft and sweet - and as I watched the rain crash down, I began contemplating the bird excrement on my kitchen window. Time for a black tea, I thought.

I was looking at the monthly site stats for this blog and excitedly saw Guardian Unlimited listed among the top referrers. It has provided, to date, 4.3% of total May traffic to the site.

The referring page contained the article Reading alert by Matthew Weaver, published on 22 May 2006.

Writing on the high carbon dioxide emissions in Reading, Matthew comments:

Either way the findings are unlikely to do much for the reputation of Reading, which has something of an image problem, despite the cheerleading efforts of Reading Roars.

Heh heh, I’m a cheerleader! Now, I could write something wholly inappropriate here…

So, thank you very much Matthew, and I should add that I disagree with thamesvalleyroyal who rather unfairly adds the comment:

The place is a hole and smells of faeces.

What a load of crap.

Saturday afternoon and the sun is shining. I took a stroll up Southampton St on a quest to discover something new. And lo and behold, there it was: Pau Brasil. Eyes bulging, I eagerly ventured inside.

Pau Brasil is a very small outlet and, as the name suggests, stocks Brazilian products. There were shelves of pasta and different types of sauce, and a bar containing various snacks. I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, but I had to try something anyway.

I went for a pastry snack containing choriço, a spicy Portuguese sausage. I thanked the Brazilian girl serving me, slipped her my phone number (no, only kidding) and picked up a free collector’s edition of Jungle Drums, a magazine about Brazilian culture and written in English and Portuguese. Then I sambaed merrily down the street.