Forget the X-Factor versions, this is the one, the only truly haunting version.

Jeff Buckley sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

Aldi

Having been a fan of Lidl for a while and their European meat selection I thought Aldi had even better stuff available. Garlic sausage, salami, tapas and the lot.

My downfall came in the frozen foods section. Bloody marketing. Actually I was very satisfied with my box of langoustines, huge scallops, duck legs in orange source, duck legs in plum source, lamb shanks and beef ribs in red wine. All very gourmet it seems. Should make for a tasty Christmas. Anyway, I hate Christmas so some yummy food and nice wine will take the edge off!

£50 I spent. What credit crunch, more like credit munch!

Spooks Series 7 DVD

Still using the old series DVDs to help with passing the time away whilst ironing!

Tesco are doing Montes Alpha Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon at half price. £5 something for these beauties is something not to be missed.

Get there before it is all gone. I normally pay full price without quibble so finding them half price was so annoying and hence I had to buy a few up to stop anyone else taking advantage.

Baozi Inn

25 Newport Court, London WC2H 7JS. Tel: 020 7287 6877

Strange little place this restaurant. I sat down underneath a large photo of Chairman Mao. The seat was in the shape of what I assume is traditional wooden seats in rural china, like the ones bandied around during kung fu fight scenes in some ancient teahouse.

Anyway I digress.

The food was supposed to be provincial spicy Sichuan cuisine. I went for the spicy beef noodles along with a side dish of spinach and ginger juice. I was expecting just a small dish of spinach but it was a bit of a huge pile with nuts sprinkle on. I realy liked that.

The noddles I thought were a bit indifferent, not wildly spicy but then again I am probably thankful as I am sure that had it been the full Sichuan heat I might have been reeling.

What I should have done was to try one of the large steamed buns they had on the menu, as everybody else seemed to order them, especially those more efnic than I.

A review on Metro.

The duty free limit has been raised from £18 to about £105 for items bought from outside the EU.

BBC News page on Duty Free Allowance

This should make buy a bargain or two a bit less fraught with the disk of getting a hefty surprise to pay once it lands into the UK. Should also mean when you buy a few cheap CDs from Jersey or Hong Kong that they come together instead of as separate items that was done to beat the previous limits.

 Comes into effect Dec 1st, 2009, so don;t rush just yet.