TODAY WAS A QUIET DAY!

After I had done my Blip yesterday, we had a lovely encounter after our evening meal.  We were sitting near a table with quite a large family - as it turned out it was a Mother, Father and three sons, two with their wives and children and one with his girlfriend.

There was obviously a birthday and when the birthday cake was brought, as we would normally do if we are in a restaurant in the UK, we sang "Happy Birthday" with the rest of the family.

They turned and said thank you to us, so when we left, we went over to wish the Mother a happy birthday - at which point they asked us to join them - so it was a good job we hadn't had a dessert, as they wanted to share the birthday cake with us!  They told us that Mother was 70 but unfortunately the parents didn't speak English, so we had to tell one of the daughters-in-law and she told them what we said.  It transpired that she and her husband and son had lived in London and Manchester, and in fact, they had just come back with their son, Kayden, from watching his favourite football team, Manchester City.  Mr. HCB chatted to Kayden about football - I am clueless about it, so good job he didn't leave it to me!

Whilst speaking to one of the other daughters-in-law, she said that the evening was also a farewell party as they were going to Australia for 2 years, with their two young sons, as her husband was going to work there - so a bittersweet birthday for Grandma!  Lovely that we were able to share it with them though - and they insisted that we had our photograph taken with them - see the extra.  People here are so kind!

Today has definitely been a much quieter day - mainly because after breakfast, I felt really tired so we came back up to our room and I had another sleep before we went out just after midday.

I didn't feel like walking far because my right knee was sore, so we just ambled through one or two of the shopping malls, mainly because of the air conditioning, and stopped a couple of times for coffee.

Most of my photographs are people doing their jobs and some of the "bling" that can be purchased here in the various malls.  I do wonder as all these people rush around - and there are thousands of them - whether they are happy.  However, I guess for many of them, it's what they are used to and if they earn the money, then there is certainly plenty for them to spend it on.  

The umbrellas on the coach caught my eye, so I asked the driver if I could take a photograph, and he kindly agreed - and then I asked if I could take one of him - he wanted to know where we were from and when I told him the UK, he said he loved it.  He told me the umbrellas were for his passengers to protect themselves from the sun - not necessarily the rain - and then I saw a lady walking towards us using one.

We got lost in the malls several times as they are so huge, and you can see the many escalators in the top middle photograph of the collage, but we have enjoyed our day.  

We went to the same coffee shop as yesterday, and saw the same Japanese family with three children, who appeared to be using the large table as their studying place.  Both parents were on laptops and the three children were writing.  The youngest little boy, who we discovered was 6 years old, read very well to his father in English and when he didn't understand a word, picked up an Oxford Dictionary to find out what it meant!  I wonder how many 6 year olds in the UK would even know what a dictionary is!  

The malls are scrupulously clean and there are always people sweeping or wiping surfaces - see the lady at the bottom right of the collage, so it is actually a pleasure to walk around them.

We haven't been using the Ferrari - we prefer to walk - but it was parked outside our hotel, and I couldn't resist taking a photograph!

We are now looking forward to going out this evening for a fish meal with our friends, Jenny and Alfred and their daughter, Hannah and her boyfriend.  We have a lot of catching up to do!

Thank you for your continuing comments, stars and hearts - I'm glad you are all enjoying our journey with us.  M xx