When the six walking route surveyors, who left Ealing Broadway at 10:30, ventured into Southall after midday, they felt like it was a time to sit in a cosy place, ideally with a cup of chaii. Stomachs were rumbling, and hands were getting cold. The explorers strolled past shops with sumptuous Indian bridal fashion and three supermarkets with Madhan's name on the signs! 😮 We didn't know our humble mate is such a tycoon outside GoodGym!

The town in the southwest corner of our Borough is a known as centre of South Asian culture. Today's coffee social shifted into a gathering over chaii! We picked Chaiiwala as the tried venue. Despite it being lunchtime, a few of us opted for a Desi breakfast with a masala omelette and a selection of sides like chana, daal, roti and paratha. Others went for wraps or crispy aloo pakora snacks.

When the new joiner Chloe had to leave, Louise, a guest runner from York, joined us at Chaiiwala to charge her batteries for the running survey in the afternoon. It was a nice pit stop for all of us who fancied completing both Slow Ways surveys, and a perfect opportunity to socialise and learn more about GoodGym Ealing for the new starters.

After marshalling at Pitshanger I was slowly strolling towards Ealing Broadway. A guy with Hot chocolate in one hand and almond croissant in the other waved hi at me. The last time I saw him, he was shoveling steaming hot manure on top of a hill. It was Sean, who arrived earlier and went to Popeye's nearby to kill some time.

Then I noticed a red streak going past us and entering into a coffee shop. Two other familiar faces walked behind. I dragged Sean and followed them. It's the group who volunteered at the Acton Junior Park run this morning.

5 out of the 6 people who signed up for the slow ways task were at the coffee shop. We were expecting one more person to join us.

Little did we know that this person came all the way from Clapham for her first GoodGym task.

Chloe introduced herself to us. Sevan briefed us about the slow ways task and we were all set for a 6km walk from Ealing Broadway Station to Southall Town Hall.

Sevan upped the challenge for himself by leading the task along with being a backmarker. We took photos at regular intervals to notice if there were any accessibility issues while also remembering the various GoodGym tasks that we've done in the past along the way.

A few of us checked GPS once in a while to ensure we were on the right track. Golf courses, blocked routes, and fences didn't stop us from going forward.

After walking through the quiet streets, parks, and muddy areas, we emerged out to the main road somewhere around Iron Bridge. Then it was a straight walk alongside the main road.

When the clock read 13:14, we were in front of the Town Hall. Though we had a delayed start, we managed to reach the destination on time.

Hands were cold and our bladders were giving up. We then walked to Chaiiwala nearby and warmed and relaxed ourselves.