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I have been living in New York City for a while now, and I think almost half of my meals were ordered from a fast-food chain. Working almost 10 hours a day and sometimes on Saturdays limited me from making myself a decent meal. I do know how to cook, but the problem is I don’t have time to do it. I usually spend around 30 minutes shopping for ingredients, then 15 minutes preparing it, and an hour to cook a meal. I am tired of eating sandwiches at Subway, hamburgers at McDonald’s, and fried chicken at Popeye’s. Thanks to my friend in Scotland, I was able to get away from those fast-food meals for two weeks when she invited me to visit her.

The United Kingdom is famous for its fish and chips, which is a traditional take-away food that can be bought in what they call a “chippie” (fish and chips) shop. I have eaten fish and chips in the U.S., but I have always been curious to find out what makes the fish and chips in the U.K. special. My friend was a big fan of bingo games, and prefers playing online at FoxyBingo. She introduced me to this game, and I must admit, I had fun playing bingo, too. My favorite game at FoxyBingo is the 90 Ball Bingo, where I get three chances to win the jackpot. So instead of spending the night drinking beer at the bar, we spent our weekends playing bingo.

Since our Saturday and Sunday evenings were already booked, we decided to grab some chippies at The Bay Fish and Chips, located at the beach promenade in Stonehaven. This shop has won many awards including the National Fish & Chips Awards, and I was really excited to taste their specialty. I ordered the jumbo breaded haddock with tartar sauce and perfectly fried chips. The fish was moist and the breading was crispy, unlike the soggy chippie I ordered back in the U.S. The lemon slice added zest to the flavor of the fish, and the chips were not greasy at all. I will surely miss this kind of meal. Too bad my vacation is over, and now I have to settle for burgers again while playing bingo online.

Editor's note: This Food Memory is sponsored content.