I spent the weekend productively — first, I was once again studying the assortment at chainreactioncycles.com. I’d love to get some warm cycling gear for the chilly days, but that's another hundred lats, and I don't have them right now. On the bright side, I realized that V-brake pads are compatible with each other in their mountings on almost all bikes, and installing them is easy, so I'll buy those too.
Then I met up with a fake punk and anarchist, and after that, with a fake bourgeois capitalist. The latter probably hasn't shown up in my notes yet, but I do have a buddy like that. He’s fake, just like the punk. Why? Because despite his neoconservative (in the American sense) views, he’s also into classic Russian literature and paints in oils, but he doesn't own any villas in the Caribbean. It's kind of hard to call a guy like that a true bourgeois capitalist, which is why he's a fake.
So, with him, we went to the Ali-Baba restaurant, the one opposite the movie theater, near the Tabaku nams store. For now, the movie theater is the only one in our city, so no clarification is needed, but judging by the news, they are planning to open a modern six-screen multiplex in the Ditton Nams shopping mall. Until it's here, going to eateries has to serve as entertainment. Last time I was at Ali-Baba, I was with the punk and had Dolma. This time, I had solyanka, and the second menu item, which turned out to be meat, so I got some vegetables as a side dish. The solyanka was pretty average, though reasonably priced. The meat was fine, and the veggies were a pleasant surprise — there were lots of different kinds, both fresh and pickled.
The service somehow didn't thrill us, because the waitress forgot the main principle of the "Madagascar" cartoon. Therefore, when I spotted the inscription on the menu: "Service 5%", I decided not to leave any extra tip, even though I have no idea what that inscription actually means. Usually, I strictly leave 10%. I also got myself, like a civilized human being, a separate teapot with proper tea, instead of tinted straw from a bag. The tea was brewed weakly, just the way I like it, because I drink it without sugar. With the tea, I had an excellent pastry, I don't know the name. I paid about 8 lats ($15) for everything. In principle, only the main course and the dessert were worth the money — tea and solyanka are tastier and easier to make at home. Which is exactly what I did on Sunday evening — turned out great. Only instead of solyanka, I have a super-thick and rich chicken soup — during the week I just dilute it a little bit and eat it, which is exactly what I'm about to do now.