Saturday was an ordinary day. We missed the breakfast as usual. Woke up at 11.00. We had been out for an Indian and went to bed at 2.00 so it was not surprising really. Lazy mornings in a hotel room is not easy. We are trying to adopt a tv channel to watch. It is either in Hindi or News Channels. There is a constant irrelevant sound in the room if the TV is on. No radio yet.
Went out to the nearest shop. Not an easy task. We do not have a city map, only instructions -go straight turn left- . There are no straight roads, we walk but there are man hole covers (mostly broken), sleeping dogs, dog poos, tree branches, rubbish and legs sticking out of sleeping tuktuks. One Stop Shop is the oasis. There are security checks at the entrance. Your bags and your body is checked by very polite security people. The arcade has everything. YSl, MAC, all the names you know and don't know are there. even Austin Reed. We are trying to find school shoes for Kitty. Black pumps. They are 1500 Rupees. You have to divide it by 70 to get the £ converstion. I don't know how to make a Rupee sign on the computer. It is a capital R but the vertical side of the letter is missing . As if it is broken into two pieces and added to the top of the curve of the R one beneath the other. Google it and see if my description is right.
On the way back , a little girl approaches us. She touches Kitty's bracelets. I really do not know how to avoid them, what to say, whether to give money or not. Our driver says it is a good Muslim thing to give alms to begging old people, transvestites, small children. I haven't decided what to do yet. There are a lot of them, and they are on every street corner.
Later we went to a big shopping arcade. There were three of them side by side. For two hours went through shanty towns, derelict buildings, small street markets, lots of people, lots of dogs, green areas, millions of tuktuks, crowded buses and arrived at this three big Shopping Arcades side by side. There is not anything to differentiate affluent areas and poor parts. Most of the buildings do not give any clue on wheter it is an upmarket area or not. We are on the North of Mumbai. There are signs about 'Greater Mumbai'. We have not been to the South of the city where most of the tourist attractions are.
The shops in the arcades do not represent any country at all. Mark and Spenser's, Benetton, Levi's ( no 501s) Accessorizes ... We could be anywhere. There is very loud Christmas music and decorations all around. I am expecting Nick to flip any minute. Post Christmas Christmas is worse than Christmas shopping for a man who dislikes crowds.
The second building is a big supermarket. Guess what the brand is! Waitrose. Are we saved? You can have anything you wish for
but not marmite. Nick is not happy.
Went out to the nearest shop. Not an easy task. We do not have a city map, only instructions -go straight turn left- . There are no straight roads, we walk but there are man hole covers (mostly broken), sleeping dogs, dog poos, tree branches, rubbish and legs sticking out of sleeping tuktuks. One Stop Shop is the oasis. There are security checks at the entrance. Your bags and your body is checked by very polite security people. The arcade has everything. YSl, MAC, all the names you know and don't know are there. even Austin Reed. We are trying to find school shoes for Kitty. Black pumps. They are 1500 Rupees. You have to divide it by 70 to get the £ converstion. I don't know how to make a Rupee sign on the computer. It is a capital R but the vertical side of the letter is missing . As if it is broken into two pieces and added to the top of the curve of the R one beneath the other. Google it and see if my description is right.
On the way back , a little girl approaches us. She touches Kitty's bracelets. I really do not know how to avoid them, what to say, whether to give money or not. Our driver says it is a good Muslim thing to give alms to begging old people, transvestites, small children. I haven't decided what to do yet. There are a lot of them, and they are on every street corner.
Later we went to a big shopping arcade. There were three of them side by side. For two hours went through shanty towns, derelict buildings, small street markets, lots of people, lots of dogs, green areas, millions of tuktuks, crowded buses and arrived at this three big Shopping Arcades side by side. There is not anything to differentiate affluent areas and poor parts. Most of the buildings do not give any clue on wheter it is an upmarket area or not. We are on the North of Mumbai. There are signs about 'Greater Mumbai'. We have not been to the South of the city where most of the tourist attractions are.
The shops in the arcades do not represent any country at all. Mark and Spenser's, Benetton, Levi's ( no 501s) Accessorizes ... We could be anywhere. There is very loud Christmas music and decorations all around. I am expecting Nick to flip any minute. Post Christmas Christmas is worse than Christmas shopping for a man who dislikes crowds.
The second building is a big supermarket. Guess what the brand is! Waitrose. Are we saved? You can have anything you wish for
but not marmite. Nick is not happy.
Photos, or it didn't happen!
ReplyDeleteAlso, happy new year:)
check Facebook for photos.
ReplyDeletepick one source, don't mess with our minds ;))
ReplyDelete