Big banana unpeeled and peeled. Photo from Wikipedia article on banana.
Worldwide, the cheapest filling food in most outlets is a banana.
At one time in the UK you could buy only the larger size of banana.
Now we have started importing bunches of tiny bananas, more suitable for a snack. the sample applies in Singapore. Two sizes of bananas are available.
In Singapore in many places you can get a pack of four, five or six for two to five dollars. I bought some for two dollars at a stall selling them off after 7 pm when I was on my way to a meeting. The bananas were over-ripe, the skins splitting. I ate one, wondering whether I was spoiling my dinner. But the bananas were just what was needed, because the food at my venue was all shellfish, and I am allergic to shellfish. So I ate a second banana.
At a conference such as the World Travel Market in London, UK, or the upcoming travel fair this weekend in Singapore, it is tempting to stop and pay a lot for a snack, and queue for a seat and lose time. What could I buy cheaply and quickly - maybe in advance, at 11 or 12 before the queues?
Great Price
One banana at a dollar seems great value to me.
You can divide it in half and share with a friend or family member.
Many cafeterias which are charging five or ten dollars for a meal also have single bananas on sale.
Starbucks
When your friends decide to have just a coffee in Starbucks and you can see a coffee for yourself or for two costing as much as a meal, consider a banana.
I was surprised to see that even Starbucks near Expo MRT station in Singapore was charging four dollars for a juice was charging only one dollar for a banana. Enough to keep you going.
It used to be said that you are never more than six feet from a rat. On a happier note, in most large shopping malls, you are never more than six feet from a sign to Starbucks.
I have seen bananas in shopping malls in Singapore.
Railway Stations
At railway kiosks on stations in London and all over the UK at stations from London to Scotland and Wales.
Alternative For Those With Allergies
If you have any kind of allergy and are worried about the contents of food, a banana is a safe bet. If somebody offers to buy you food, and you don't want to cost them a lot of money, it's a good option.
What if you take half the banana with you for later/ What do you do with the skin?
Disposal of Banana Skin
Look for a discarded bag or ask for one to hold the banana skin until you can find a rubbish bin. Most food courts have a rubbish bin.
Failing all else, the nearest toilet has rubbish disposal bins and they are checked regularly.
Compost - Back To Earth
At home you could consider using the banana skin as compost and putting it in an inconspicuous place hidden in your garden. In a flat or condo, you might fold it into mulch in a window box.
I am in two minds about using fruit as compost. I would keep it well away from your house and windows and glass sliding doors. bananas are part of the eco sysytem. fruit attracts fruit flies, flies and insects attract small creatures and small creatures attract larger creatures. You might get a hedgehog or you might get a snake. The earth you buy in compost bag may be sterile to feed your plants but not animals.
What To Do With Banana Skin?
I keep reading those online advertising features about the ten or twenty things you can do with this and that including banana skins. Often the series does not give the source of the information. However, you can check that separately if you want to be sure the information is correct.
Therefore, if you are keen to be at one with nature, you can save the banana skin in the hope that it will be useful to soothe insect bites, nourish your skin. Then, before it starts to smell, donate it back to nature to feed the ecosystem.
Just watch that you are not taking any fruit or fruit leftovers when travelling to New Zealand.
American Import Rules
America is also protective of anything which might contaminate their crops and land. I accidentally took a saved apple from the hotel breakfast all the way from Heathrow, London, England, to America. The sniffer dog found it.
French Failed Harvest
When I learned about how a teeny creature called phylloxera destroyed the vine roots in France and French wine industry, I started to appreciate that those strict rules in New Zealand and America anr there for a good reason.
I plan before I leave home. I keep a lidded contained which can hold anything which might smell on my travels.
Bag For Food And Drink
Another system is to always keep food and drink in a separate, washable bag outside your handbag or briefcase, so it never contaminates your papers and notebooks and books. If you attach the separate bag to your main bag you will not leave it behind on a bus or train or plane or overhead locker. One that folds down into a pouch it its own pocket is practical.
No bag? Never mind. The great advantage of a banana is that if it is fresh you can eat it fast and dispose of the skin, no smell, no debris.
Need a container or bag? Daeso charges only 2 dollars for everything, so a box or bag won't break your budget. Daeo is in the USA and Asia and other places. In Singapore, a branch of Daeso is by the MRT at Expo, one stop from Changi airport.
Notice Banana Trees
In Singapore, go outside the malls and you will see banana trees growing everywhere, in the parks and the gardens of condominium complexes.
I have even seen banana plants outside a temple at Toa Payoh South next to the polyclinic and toa Payoh South Community Centre where Toastmasters International has meetings of both Mandarin speaking and English speaking Toastmasters groups.
Banana Leaf Plates
In the Indian restaurants in Little India and all over Singapore you will often be offered your rice and curry on a banana leaf cut to form a n oblong, square or round plate. Apparently in India they also make cone shape containers. The banana leaf can be folded to present or carry rice, so it does not spill nor get contaminated.
The banana, so handy, especially when you are hungry, and so beautiful.
Banana leaf plates from Wikipedia article on banana leaf plates.
Useful Websites
Daseo
Starbucks
MRT map
Travel to Singapore
singaporeair.com
Travel to the USA from the UK
visittheusa.co.uk
Travel from THE UK TO France
Travel to the UK
visitbritain.com
visitlondon.com
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/12/banana-trees-both-sides-of-temple-door.html
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
_in_Spain.svg.webp)
.jpg)
.svg.png)
.svg.png)
