Dear all,
Please post entry 3 here. If the entry is too long, cut it in half and post the second half below the first half.
Thank you.
Mrs Gougeon
Please post entry 3 here. If the entry is too long, cut it in half and post the second half below the first half.
Thank you.
Mrs Gougeon
Entry 3 Day 2 [BY JIA SHEN]
ReplyDeleteAbout 10:00, Sunday
Relative’s home
I woke up, had breakfast, and did nothing until 10 AM.
At 10, we prepared to go out for most of the day, as my relatives had decided to cut costs by having lunch outside. So we went to a different restaurant (But still Chinese cuisine) in which I could not spell the name.
Ah, it was still the same as it was when I was younger. Same decor, same architecture, same smells. Ah, the lack of memories it brought back.
Regardless, we sat down on a familiar corner of the café and we ate in the cream light coming from the hanging lamps. After a moment of deciding (random poking), I chose sweet and sour prawn/fish.
When it was served, I spend a good deal of time observing it.
The rice they used was not so sticky as to leave a dry, cracky sensation after the meal, nor so dry that that it would grind against your teeth, but somewhere in between, so you could feel each grain’s fine texture in on your tongue but sticky enough so you could get a large pile on your spoon.
Their fish was well fried, cooked in a way so that it was puffy and captured all the flavor in an excellent golden casing. Alongside the tomato-based sauce, crunchy onions and colorful capsicums, it was truly something worth eating again.
After conquering the plates and contemplating apocalypse, we paid for our food and left at about 12 noon.
Stef and his parents wanted to go to a clothing store, so I told them I would be in a bookstore. They said that they would be back at 1:00 PM.
The bookstore had an amazing selection of books, ranging from educational to satirical books, in corridors that welcomed you and allowed 4 people to walk side-by-side. The store had beautiful cream lighting and wooden décor, much like varnished oak. They had maintained their books well, as I saw an old paperback copy of “The Last Juror” with its pages turning brown. I had read the book before, but it contains words that society says should not be part of everyday life. Despite that, I recommend it, as the plotline is very interesting to follow.
After reading partway through “The Last Juror”, I checked my watch and realized that 1:00 was soon.
I also realized that I was lost in a bookstore.
So I panicked and decided to wander about in hopes of finding an exit.
I found an employee and asked him for directions.
He was lost as well.
So we decided to hug the wall and found the entrance, where I purchased the book and put a recommendation for a map of the store.
We returned home uneventfully, and I proceeded to help Stef with his last-minute (day?) homework.
At night, we decided to eat out, as we found out that the gas pipe was being repaired due to a landslide somewhere else. After a few minute’s discussion, we headed off for a dinner of PANCAKES at PANCAKE PARLOUR.
Despite the fact that I was being served breakfast at 9:00, the experience was quite different from what I expected. Instead of maple syrup and butter, they also served pancake pizza with bacon. The pizza was much floppier, and the sweetness of the pancake plus the saltiness of the pizza opened my eyelids to a small degree of a new experience.
The pizza was well made, with a generous layer of golden cheese and strips of pink bacon topped with scarlet tomatoes with a distribution of diced pineapples. Eating it was much like a firework in the sense that it was wondrously delightful and in the fact that they added slices of chili in the midst of the tomatoes.
With our stomachs satisfied with pizza, we paid the bill, returned and passed out happily.
Ashley
ReplyDeleteDay 3, Entry 3
I was still disappointed about the bacon when i woke up the next day. I was expecting travel buddy to be there, however by the time I was dressed and about to leave I heard I knock, looked through the eye hole, furthermore I saw none other than travel buddy with none other than BACON!! I practically pulled him in and commanded him to cook while I went to the travel advisor. I rushed downstairs and confronted the travel advisor “hello” I said, clicking my fingers “are you deaf?”
“GO AWAY’ WE ARE CLOSED!” he replied sounding annoyed.
A local woman then asked him for a bus ticket; moreover he smiled and gave her one! I stormed to the desk and yelled “WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING CLOSED!?”
“We are only opened to locals not foreigners” he replied with a racist smile. I stormed upstairs grabbed my things, plus a container or bacon and we set off.
Afterwards we went on a bus (and boat) to the famous island, I passed out for the majority of the time, but all I remembered was waking up with bacon grease on my face, apparently I was woken up by getting a piece of bacon slapped on my face. The island was sooooo beautiful; it had arching trees piles of autumn leaves with small woodland creatures everywhere. There was also a time where the bunny from where I was 8 saw me again (you remember right?) “hi bunny, remember me?” I said as I leaned towards it, it started to growl and backed away, it’s eyes turned from small, calm buttons to dark, devil-like beetles. As I tried to back away, I could tell it could smell the bacon grese and revealed its needle-like teeth. Next thing I know, a bunny no bigger than my pencil-case, jumped 3 feet and started to maul my face off. I started screaming “ A BUNNY IS MAULING MY FACE OFF!”
Travel buddy then jumped out and pried the possessed bunny off my face.
I got bandaged and gave him a sour look and forced him to get the container of bacon out, we sat outside on a park bench. It was the first time I felt peace until….. “it” came back, with family, I stayed perfectly still as they slowly approached me, until Travel buddy was too much of a wimp to fight so he took MY bacon and threw it at them. We went back to the hotel however, for the entire time we were in the bus people were whispering “isn’t that the girl who got mauled by a small rabbit?”
I was so mad I didn’t even bother yelling at him.
Yee Xuan,
ReplyDeleteEntry 3
Next day, I was oh so joyful. T'was the day we go to Akihabara the tech area of this large Japanese city. We originally were to go to a fish market, genuinely we actually planned this day especially towards that place, a food day if we were to summarize that. But honestly, we had no clue where it was!
After us trying having no clue where to go, we just hopped on a train whisking us away to Akihabara. It was a real beautiful sight to behold, large buildings, abnormally large posters of TV shows. Kids and Teens patrolling across the street like cows on a trail. One of the stores in particular was an old arcade, in which I sat in wait because of the man ignoring me for I was a tourist who couldn't speak their language.
I sat their, thinking to myself. Look at him, sitting their passing coins out to his own kin, ignoring valuable masses of other customers he could have adjusted to. Those kids have it easy, they can speak that language, they can walk into that building with a sort of face-like wording and buy what they want, they aren't clueless tourists who have absolutely no clue of what they are doing.
When my maniacal thoughts had calmed down we decided to go to a bookstore, which had signs everywhere which clearly meant towards kids not being there. My oldest sister went to check it out, and just said to me to just go to the cafe and wait, she obviously did not want me to see, I guess for good reasoning.
For really the last event worth mentioning was really, this strange cafe we went to. It was one of those TV-show inspired cafes which was actually really funny looking, it had themed foods which included soup bowls shaped to the heads of the characters to actual rice meals shaped as the character's entirety. But being in a city of the future, there was one thing that was weird, the toilets. The second I go into the room, wham, the toilet cover just shoots up! It even flushed itself upon finishing, it got worse when my sister said it cleaned WHILST you were on it. That's terrifying.
Once again I woke uo early in the morning to go to the danish flea market. The flea market here in Denmark is so different from the street market here in Brunei- it is much more cleaner, neater and sells a wider variety of things. Although it is early in the morning, it is quite crowded.The flea market is so big, you can spend hours upon hours shopping here!
ReplyDeleteAs I arrived at the market which is not too far from my hotel, I could already smell the faint smell of fruits, sausage, paint and many more unrecognizable smells. The street was full of stalls and street performers. I had a conversation with one of the sellers who were selling fruits.
"Would you like to try some strawberries- they are very fresh and sweet."
"I've heard that one too many times to be true."
"Please lady I am not lying this is really sweet!"
She forced a strawberry into my hand and I ate it. She was right, The strawberry were actually sweet.
"A box of strawberries costs $5 but I give you $3 ok?"
So I bought the strawberries and ate it along the way.
Later on I went to the Tivoli Gardens which is just a few minutes walk from the flea market. There was a giant fountain, a recreation of a chinese house and a random proud white peacock walking around with pride around it. There were a lot of tourists taking pictures of the peacock as well as the other buildings and some local people were walking their dogs.
I was minding my own business walking around when suddenly I heard a high pitched yelp. Apparently, I had accidentally stepped on a lady's toy poodle's foot. She started swearing at me in Danish and gave me dirty looks while picking up her dog and walked away.
Later on I decided to go to the Ripley;s musuem. Ripley's had a lot of weird extraordinary displays. There was a love throne where you sit on it and it will shine up three words that describe you, a harp with invisible strings but still makes a sound, a room that will make your head spin from the bright rotating mind blowing illusions and so many other things.
After that I went back to the flea market and decided to buy more of the strawberries (they were seriously heaven on earth) and take a stroll around.the market. A lot of people tried to offer me hats and paintings and there was a group full of people dressed as native americans playing their tribal music. I watched as skilled artists drew portraits of people in under 10 minutes with great detail.
When the sun set I returned to my hotel and watched the beautiful sun set from my hotel balcony.
The third day of our trip to Thailand started off badly. Annie woke up groaning and moaning in pain, we found out later that this was because of the spicy curry we ate last night. We tried asking the hotel staff for directions to the nearest doctor but they said that she didn’t need any medicine, that tourists usually take time to get used to the spicy food and would often get stomach aches. Annie said she would be fine resting in the hotel for now while we went out.
ReplyDeleteClaire and I just roamed the streets around our hotel for the remainder of the afternoon. I saw a man sitting on a small stool in front of a table on the streets, neatly placed were small figurines made of wood. There was a variety of different types including a small Buddha, a baby elephant, an open door taxi called a tuk-tuk and many more. The detail in the small figures was amazing and they all looked so realistic. I picked up an elephant figurine.
“Do you speak English?” I asked the man.
“Yes, Yes. I speak a bit English”, he replied.
“Oh Okay. I like this elephant one, the carvings look so beautiful”, I commented, “how much?’
“Thank you, mam. I carve myself. It cost 100 baht for elephant,’ the man said smiling.
“Only 100 baht, Claire, that’s only like 4 Brunei Dollars.” I told Claire.
Claire replied,” That’s really cheap! I saw one a bit like this but plastic in the airport, and that cost 250 baht!”
“I’ll buy one elephant and… a lotus flower”, I requested.
Next we came across a food stall barbequing mysterious meats on sticks that looked similar to Satay. I smelled ginger, something smoky and different spices. Next to the stall was a group of people laughing together around a small, old table, enjoying their meat sticks and drinks. The group of people seemed to be joking with the cook. Everyone was laughing and talking like they’ve known each other for years.
We were curious to know what exactly they were cooking. A lady wearing a stained apron greeted us in Thai. Claire asked her what the things she was cooking were. She didn’t seem to understand English but she pointed to the things she was barbequing then asked a question. A man that was sitting around the table said he spoke a little English. He explained to us that that they were satay, one was spicy pork and the other was ginger chicken. After what happened to Annie we were afraid to eat anything too spicy, so instead we bought 6 ginger chicken skewers which we ate on the way back. The meat was coated in a sticky, sweet marinade that glistened. I took my first bite and the flavor of lemongrass, turmeric and ginger filled my mouth. The chicken was succulent and tender; the satay we get in Brunei is almost nothing compared to this satay. We finished them instantly then went back for more.
After an eventful few hours and a night in Athens, it was finally time to escape the chaos and go to Chios. What a stark contrast! Chios is just about the exact opposite of Athens; bright blue sky and no smog, birds chirping and no cars, and the water surrounding it is crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteThe ferry ride over wasn’t too bad either. There were maybe only three of four other people on board; the captain, an assistant and couple of other visitors. There is only one boat that goes to Chios, and as well as carrying the few tourists that do go, it also carries all of Chios’s needs and goods. This means that the boat smelt strongly of fermented apples and new books. Not so much a bad smell, but…a ‘powerful’ smell.
When we docked at the little, wooden, rickety jetty, I had no clue what to do. No one gave directions, there were no signs and not even roads. “Excuse me, miss, yes, hi. Um, do you know how to get to the uh…um…the monastery?” She replied in Greek, obviously. “Oh right, um, okay. Do you by any chance speak any English?” I slowed down my words so that just maybe she would understand. More Greek. “Okay so no you don’t speak English” I wasn’t really talking to her, more to myself. “I’ll just, uh, where is it now, uh” I got out my little Greek dictionary, which cost 18 euro (I probably paid too much for that, I know), and flicked through it for what felt like ages. “πως…um…είναι η…μάγος?” She looked to her right, as if there was someone else there, and then burst into a fit of laughter. “Ok thank you, bye”. I edged away from the giggling woman and started up the gravel path through the trees. Chios is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. The sky is baby blue, as with the water, the trees are big friendly giants that house thousands of tiny birds. You can smell the fresh air and taste the salty breeze jumping off the ocean.
After about 10 minutes of walking up the path, the loose rocks crunching under my feet, I came across a moped rental shop. It was tiny, no bigger than the kitchen, but packed to the brim with brightly coloured mopeds. I chose a red one.
I still didn’t know where I was going but I just followed the path, I mean, you can’t get lost on an island this small! I drove and drove and drove, on my little red scooter, just sitting there and taking everything in. As entertaining as it all was, I was getting awfully bored. Was I even on the right Island? The famous monastery is on Chios, right?
An old man walked past. Oh finally. “Excuse me! Hello! Yes, um, do you know how to get to the monastery?”
“Ahh yes, follow” He signaled for me to follow after him and then, much to my surprise, started to run. This old, grey haired, short man started to run. Should I still follow him? Or…what?
“Follow, follow!” He turned around and smiled at me, while still running. Ok then. So I followed. He ran, I drove.
We finally came across a huge, red brick building.
“Monastery is here. We are at the monastery” What a sweet old man.
“Thank you very, very much!”
“Yes!” He grabbed my hand with both of his and squeezed “thank you”. He then turned around and ran back into the distance.
Frozen nose, frozen feet and frozen hands jolted me into a sudden awakening. I tried to pin point the source of where all the chill were coming from. At that point i had realised i left my window wide open. The small piece of plastic that was pulled of as a window, had caused all this commotion. How fascinating.
ReplyDeleteRunning through the daily routines of getting changed, I awaited for the journey that laid ahead. How i had been so eager to go see the Kerala mountains, or well known by the people who live there "God's Home".
But it had to wait, because at that moment i had smelled the spicy scent of masala tea. Breakfast was ready!
The warm smell had travelled through the flat wooden panelled house. Contrasting nicely to the cool, lushes green outside. This is what i loved about Kerala. Bam! greenery at every view you have, and not those man made plants and bushes. Pure natural scenery. Truly making Kerala deserve its name as "God's Home".
I headed down to the breakfast hall. The spicy curry had already entered my nose, sending a glorious sense down my body of curry delight. I could see women already grabbing rolls and rolls of roti,covering it in spicy chicken curry and gulping it down one after the other. So i joined them in the harmonious cycles of dip and gulp. One after the other, i could slowly feel my insides warming with the hot spicy curry. Saving me from the cold breezy atmosphere that surround me constantly.
No taxi, no bus, to make sure all is kept clean, and lush and not harmed by mans monsters i decided to go by foot around the mountain area. As i went ace out i could feel the ice slap my face, cutting through my skin and sending chill after chill around my body. It was cooling but painful.... very painful. But despite it all i dared to open my eyes to "God's home", and i let the beauty sink in. The mountain peeks were hiding nicely behind fog clouds, causing a mystery of the shape of the very top point. Beautiful shades of green, sugar coating the tea bushes, and little glistens on them from the moist air keeping them fresh. From those bushes emerged women in sari's. One after the other in single file, walking as in a rainbow, perfect because there sari's had colours of all sort.
They made there way to the tea fields.
As i got close, one of the ladies had passed me a basket. She was pointing at the bush and picking the leaves and putting them inside. The nodded at me, then pulled one the most sincere and beautiful smiles i had seen. I then plucked a leaf and looked at her, and in slow motion put it in the basket. With an approving smile she clapped and went back to her own work. I understood then she wanted me to help and experience it for myself. To be honest, it was one of the most relaxing things i had done.
Next day, we started by visiting “le Arc de Triomphe”. Literally meaning “The Gateway of Victory” (I think. My French isn’t great). Basically, it’s like standing cuboid with 4 gateways to let peoples and cars through. Only that cars don’t pass through it considering it is based in the middle of a roundabout (which in itself is special, though I’ll talk about that later). This (military) monument was made in 1836, as a tribute to Napoleon’s bravery.
ReplyDeleteThe Arc de Triomphe reminded me of India Gate as the similarity was shocking. The Arc de triomphe stood bold and wide just like Napoleon would have (despite his height). The white monument truly looked glorious with the white snow under it with the blue sky behind it. Almost like heaven. I realized that there was a little fire under it – the torch of the Unknown Soldier. I don’t know much about it, but I know that the flame burns all year round, as the Unknown Soldier’s tomb is under it. Kind of creeps me out.
Coming back, the roundabout in which it stands is actually quite special too. For 3 reasons. There’s obviously “le arc”. There’s the fact that it has something like 12 roads going out it plus it has a thickness of 8 roads. One of these roads is “le Champs Élysées”, which is the third reason.
Le Champs Élysées is the longest road in the city measuring about 2 kilometres. It’s lined with expensive showrooms and fancy restaurants etc… It’s like Singapore’s Orchard road but the fanciness (and price) multiplied a few times. At least that what I heard. So we decided to walk through the entire 2 kilometres.
At the start, there wasn’t much. It was just a few classical French buildings. Then came the showrooms. I headed into a Mercedes one. It was paradise. Cars. Epic cars everywhere! I ran to a concept model and admired it. Maybe the running had attracted some attention because the next thing I knew a tall stern-face man was looming over me.
“Oui, comment puis-je vous aider?”
“No really, I’m… I’m fine.”
“You are lost it seems” he replied in a thick French accent.
“I’m not. It’s OK.” I repeated
“Well, then why are you standing next to a million-euro Silver Lightning when it says clearly ‘children keep away’?” I was surprised at this.
“What damage could a kid do to a car?” I said my thoughts out loud “And by the way, I’m 14”
“Teenager?” he raised an eye brow “can you afford this? If not, the exit is there.” He said, briefly raising a finger to point the way out.
I really don’t like to argue so, keeping my dignity, I walked out. My face was going red. What sort of a person would make a showroom and stop kids from coming in. Honestly. There was actually a lot more going in my mind however, it would be best to not write it down.
We had pizza later that day at “Del Arte”. The restaurant was OK for the wallet as it was good on the quantity. So we ate and we ate. By the end I’d had something like two and a half medium-sized pizzas with 4 glasses of coke. I usually don’t eat much but anger on the Mercedes guy and weariness from the long walks was driving my appetite. The final shock of the day came in the form of the bill. I wasn’t paying (duh) but my dad was and he spilled some coke on his shirt. Originally, we’d eaten only 90 – 100 euros worth (which is a lot of food) but the bill was printed with a 170 euro total.
Through having a word with the manager, we discovered some things that were just outrageous. When we had ordered 3 margarita pizzas earlier, the waiter thought we’d ordered 3 large peperoni pizzas (I can’t imagine where that misunderstanding came from) that cost about 20 euros each – the double of what a margarita cost. And the stupid cashier added that to the bill.
What’s more is that it had said free Wi-Fi (in French) on a wall. Yet they charged us 20 euros for that. Cheats.
Apart from that, the day had gone great. We’d visited all sorts of showrooms, window-shopped more than shopped etc… Even my brother seemed to be enjoying himself.
Chapter 3
ReplyDelete1st half as it was too long.
The rest of the cold and windy afternoon consisted of me helping the poor boy with the quivering lip find his mother. Once we finally had, she thanked me and left me on my way towards the aquarium. Deciding to walk instead of taking the bus may have been the wrong decision, however I still enjoyed it. It was definitely not to the likeness of the last country I had been in on my travels. Brunei had been... hot, to say the least. I was stuck on this thought to the extent that I didn’t realize where I was until I heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat. The man that had pulled me back into reality smiled at me.
“What you smiling at there?” he asked me
“Just a thought.” I replied.
“Well I would ask for you to share, but I haven’t a penny.” He laughed. I decided I liked him. He reminded me a bit of the taxi driver.
“I assume it’s just the one ticket then, for the aquarium.” The man said, presumably talking to himself as he was looking down. I paid then thanked him, walking in.
Walking in. I speak of it as if it was just a normal, everyday thing. I suppose it is, just not this time. It was like stepping into a portal into a different dimension, if portals were half-pipes made of glass lain over top of a long, narrow walkway. Though, that’s beside the point. All around me were lights, of different colours, flashing all over the place. It was not in an aggressive-flashing-in-your-face kind of way, more a soft, subtle enhancement of the beauty. I suppose you could say it was mesmerizing. I felt the urge to squeal like a little kid and start running around all over the place.
Of course I didn’t though, as I would have most likely been written off as a crazy “frog”, as the pie-shop lady had called me. I was not sure if it was an insult or not, however I decided not to care. I carried on into the depths of the aquarium, carrying with me my imagination.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 3
ReplyDeleteSecond half
I was at the penguin enclosure (restraining myself from giggling at their adorable-ness as I was, a 27 year old man and it was not socially acceptable) when I heard someone nastily chuckle the words;
“’Sup old man”
I turned my head, guessing it was addressed to me as I was the only person over 15 standing there. I noticed two boys, around the age of 17 nudging each other and staring at me.
“Oh dude, I didn’t think you’d hear.” One spoke.
“I told you not to, Sammy.” Sammy. Now the kid had a name.
“Uh… sorry dude, it’s just strange and all seeing a grown man watchin’ penguins.”
“It’s okay, no need to apologise.” I laughed.
“’Oi Jo, you hear him?” Sammy said urgently. I sensed a change in conversation coming.
“Yeah I did, he’s a frog, eh? Now, what’s a frog like you doin’ down these parts?” He asked, words full of hate.
“Look, kid, I’d rather not do this around small children. Or at all.” I replied, walking off.
They shouted something about it not being over as I walked towards the manta rays.
I contently sighed as I left the gift shop with a bag containing an adorable penguin teddy. Smiling to myself, I started swinging the bag whilst walking.
“Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter, I will come back to you someday.” I spoke aloud.
“Oi frog!” I heard my new nickname being shouted.
“Frenchie!” The other one called, as if I was a dog. I kept walking, trying to ignore them. This tactic proved to not prevail, as they were soon running up behind me. I felt my arm being yanked back and twisted, which was not very pleasant. I then heard a voice hiss the dreaded nickname into my ear, pulling my arm tighter as he spoke. I wasn’t very strong, so I knew trying to break free would be a mistake.
I was shoved up against a silver car, so scared that I lost all senses. I took a few punches, and then heard shouting. It wasn’t the boys, though, no, this voice was much higher. Whose was it? Certainly not a man’s, though it didn’t sound like a woman's. A small child would have known better than to get involved! A sudden wave of realisation hit me. It was a dog, barking at the kids. They ran off immediately, screaming like I’d never heard anyone scream. I quickly turned to see who my saviour was, and was surprised to notice a small German-shepherd puppy.
He was staring at me with his gorgeous brown eyes, the colour of melted chocolate, and he had a grubby black and brown coat of fur, which seemed to serve as no form of protection to the harsh winter. I knelt down to his level, cautiously putting out my hand. He happily went up to it to lick it, the sat back down. He barked. I laughed. We were buddies.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 3
ReplyDeletewho in the world made the rule for queuing up?! I had been waiting in line for 2 hours and it felt the hadn't moved a bit. My third destination was Kumamoto, which is famous for their huge amusement park. However it seemed to take forever just to get in their because people kept on cutting in the line! Just then someone cut in the line ahead of me and that was it! "Excuse me. Just what do you think you are doing? Huh? I've been standing here for 2 hours now, in the cold without a jacket. Who do you think you are?" i ranted out to the person in front of me. Her face was just full confusion as she asked me(in japanese) "What are you saying? Have you gone crazy?" I was fuming with anger as i pushed her aside and took my rightful pace in the queue. we were arguing all the way to the ticket booth. Turned out to be that she was in a hurry to get in there cause her boyfriend was waiting. well, there are other people in a hurry to get into the park just get in line and don't cut in line!
Just when my mood was lifting it sank to bottom once again. I had gotten into the roller coaster on the same row with the girl I was fighting with earlier and her boyfriend.I had tried to get out but the safety bars were already down. and up went the roller coaster. That refreshing wind just came smacking into my face as the ship went up and down. I could feel the bile coming up as the ride ended. that day i had made a promise, not to ride a roller coaster ever again. After that amazing time at the amusement park, the last bus of the day almost left me. Almost. It was so packed there,it was impossible to move. I prayed for nothing bad to happen and just then someone had let out a very high-pitched scream,"Hentai!" It means pervert in japanese. That one scream caused an uproar in seconds. Everyone was trying to find the pervert and when he was found he was taken to the police. All of a sudden I didn't really feel that safe anymore so i decided to take a taxi. Wasting more money. Wishing the tiring day was over.
Yorleans
ReplyDeleteI woke with a jolt as the Ranger docked with its assigned space in the Yorleans' dock. As I came out onto deck I saw my uncle next to Edward, looking at the hundreds of thousands of airships flying through the early morning sky. There were sea based ships too, even this far away the telltale sign of the sea, a slight salty tinge, was able to be smelled. Though it wasn't as busy as Zion, it came close. I looked at the markets on the quayside, with crowds roaming between the stalls. I approached the two and as Edward turned to leave, they both saw me. He nodded at me, I nodded back. My Uncle patted me on the back and announced that we will go to eat breakfast at the seaside before going to the market for a small souvenir purchasing trip.
The food was different, to say the least. All of the meals on offer in some way always involved fish, fried, baked, steam, grilled, barbecued, even raw. Since we were staying here for two days I hoped this wouldn't have been the only food on offer. I just chose a grilled Harlow Skipper, a medium sized fish with few bones but much flesh. It was good, a soft texture, salty taste. My uncle had some unspeakable mash of what looked like roe with a steamed Salmon.
"I need to go meet an associate of mine, so you go to the market and buy what you want, or if you wish go back to the Ranger for awhile until I come to fetch you." He said as he passed me five 20 Reale notes. I nodded, said my thanks and headed to the markets.
The smell hit me first, sweat, blood, the sweet smell of burning incense and fish, ever so prevalent was the smell of fish. I wondered between the stalls, through the crowds. They sold all sorts of things, small charms made of whale bone, huge tusks of Ivory from the outer colonies, clothes of cotton, wool and silk, the odd antique sword or gun, fish and a hundred other manner of different things. Being a major port it wasn't surprising to see that much on sale. As I wandered past an old, abandoned looking stall a hand shot out, grabbed my wrist then spun me around. The man I saw was shorter than me, old, hunched over with a wrinkled, weathered face.
"I give you good deal, 2 fish and bone charm twenty Reale!"
His breath stank of rotten fish and as I tried not to gag I attempted to shake of his hand, unfortunately his grip was too firm.
"Uh, no thank you."
"No, please 2 fish, charm fifteen Reale!"
The longer he grabbed on to my, the more uncomfortable I felt.
"No, I don't want fish, so please let go of me."
"Okay, you no want fish? Charm for thirteen Reale"
"You don't understand, I don't want to buy anything from you."
His eyes narrowed, then he roared.
"YOU BUY FROM ME OR I KILL YOU!"
He raised his hand then formed a fist, but before he could bring it down another hand grabbed it. A familiar voice filled the air.
"Let go of the boy, or I'll give you something to kill about." The loud crunch of grinding bone cut through the air. He instantly let go of my arm and flopped to the ground before Edward let go. We both walked away from the stall.
"Thanks Edward. How did you find me?"
"I followed you after you had breakfast. Your Uncle's orders."
"Oh. Okay."
"Do you want me to stay with you or shall I go back to following you at a distance?"
"I'll be fine I guess. No more wandering past decrepit old stalls for me!"
That was the more exciting things from the day. I ended up buying a small trinket for 5 Reale, a loaf of bread for 7 Reale and not much else. I went to bed early to see if a pre-dawn Yorleans was any less busy before the main crowds awoke.
Entry 3
ReplyDeleteI called a cab from the hotel to get to the station. I waited in the cold, shivering and just standing in wait. Until a jet black car stopped in front of the hotel. I stood there ignoring it and was completely oblivious to the situation
As it was my first time there, I wasn’t aware that the taxis were coloured black. So I looked like an idiot standing there for 5 minute. Until a short 40-50 year old man comes out and ask if I called the cab. I looked at him with confusion and could only come up with a single work ‘yes’.
“alrighty, then young lad” he said with a friendly smile as he lifts my bag to the car
“could you take me to the train station please?” I asked softly as I was shivering from the cold.
“of course, that’s why im here right?” he said with a friendly smile.
I went in the car and was impressed with the quality, leather chairs that were well taken care of and it doesn’t smell as if a rat died in here. The taxis here were great compared to the taxis back home. The smell of lavender air refresheners and the leather chair was extraordinary. The streets were calm no honking, no shouting, just a calm street filled with peace
We stopped in front of the train station, steel pillars with concrete everywhere with chaos mixed in. The opposite of what I just experienced. Everything modernised and well looked after. The air inside so cold, colder than the outside. The station was antoher Heathrow experience bags, people, faces and voices everywhere.
IN the nest 2 days i visited Sag and Oita. Nothing special happened except for the fact that I had a new annoying and talkative travel buddy. We bumped into each other in the library, like literally. Or should i say he bumped into me? I was about to lend some books when he bumped into me making me drop all the books in hand. After that he treated me to dinner and asked if he could travel with me just cause he was 'bored'. I didn't really mind so i let him tag along with me which now I'm in the process of regretting. he is a type of person who would comment on anything and would never shut up! the idiot's name was Hitaki Kaouru.
ReplyDeleteWe were travelling to Fukuoka by a tour bus. Everyone on the bus were so tired from the 3 hour drove that most of them were asleep. i was about to fall asleep when trouble struck.
"Tanzia I'm bored~"
"Uh,oh. Kaouru play the games on your phone"
"But I've played them a thousand times! I'm bored~"
"Then how 'bout you go and sing quietly on the karaoke machine up in front?"
And he shot out of his seat to the front of the bus. Kaouru should never be bored in a public place then that just means trouble. the other time he was bored in a coffee shop, he started a coffee drinking contest. it was... lets just say it was horrible. Just when i thought i over came the crisis, Kaouru's voice thundered through out the tour bus and everyone woke up. I was about to go and stop him from singing but the some of the elderly people started to dance to the song he was singing.
Soon everyone had joined and it was amazing! Complete strangers were dancing and singing together. Well it was a sight to see. When we reached Fukuoka, it was night time. So we decided to go to a night market in a huge field. It looked like a festival, especially since it was night time. Lanterns were hung on each stall looking like little stars.
Suddenly i felt a tug on my pants, I looked down and saw a little girl with a basket of flowers.
"Do you want a flower?"
"Why thank you. Can i buy the whole basket?"
The little kid looked at me with shock as I handed her 15 yen. I watched her run away happily. I spotted a stall that sold there beautiful shawls.
"Excuse me, how much are these?"
The lady came up to me.
"How much are you willing to pay?"
"Huh?"
"I said how much are you willing to pay? Are you deaf?"
"Umm....I'm not sure.."
"Huh? Your not sure if your deaf or not?"
Flustered I didn't know what to say and started to walk out of the stall.
"Oi,oi, I was just joking! I'm sellin" it for 10 yen each. Stay if you're interested, keep going straight if your not."
Just when i was about to turn around Kaouru grabbed my hand and led me away from the market. I was about to ask him where he was taking me when he pointed up. i looked up and was starstruck. The night sky was filled with stars with not even one could to block the awesome view. We then decided to camp out there in the open under the starry night sky.
There is nothing like a storm in Kampala. A black sky, threatening thunder and bullets of rain pounding down on the steel roofs of huts. These storms are spontaneous as well as powerful. One minute I was walking through the warm and bright streets of Bukoto market, and the next I was sprinting into “Stella’s Restaurant” for cover.
ReplyDeleteShe handed me a menu and before she could walk away I enquired,
“Excuse me, what is matoke?”
“Like stiff banana, but no sweet. Is that all?” She droned.
“Um, well, that’s all you have on this menu, but is there anything else you have? You see I’m not really in the mood for-“ I stammered.
“Water. We have water.” She interrupted.
“Water it is.” I muttered to her, as she walked back towards her imprinted leather seat and her Ugandan Soap Opera.
Embarking on my next chapter of Uganda was not at all easy. I arrived at the hotel reception beaming and excited, and left frustrated and tired. My driver, that I had planned 3 months in advance, didn’t arrive, and the hotel couldn’t book a private driver for me with such short notice, and I tried waving down a meter taxi but they all passed me by. So I took the last resort. A Matata. As I entered the humid bus I believe I saw a faded sticker that said “7 Passengers Maximum.” But the small bus contained at least 13 people, a screaming baby, and three goats. I found my place at the back (by a window thank goodness) next to a teenage girl named Catharine, who didn’t return my smile.
You could say that riding a matata would give me a better view of Uganda, and whist I was upset that my arrival in Mumburo would be delayed by 4 hours, I did manage to see things that weren’t in my guide book. Miniscule houses that accommodated several families, flamboyant barbers, and rural farms made up the picturesque scenery of the Ugandan suburbs.
Finally there were only two stops until my arrival at Lake Mumburo and there were only three of us left on the bus. I embarrassed myself by gasping every time I saw an Impala (a common Ugandan deer), and I was slightly offended by the dirty looks I got from an elder leather salesman.
“If you keep on gasping you’ll lose your breath.” He whispered, “And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Picture this; huge towering mountains, snow-capped peaks, brilliant blue skies, the sun beating down on me as I flew down the snowy slops. OK. I may have exaggerated slightly, epically on the last bit. Perhaps it would be more truthful to say I tripped down the slops like a drunken clown. However, I did master the snow plough!
ReplyDeleteSkiing was fantastic. Stubai, which is situated in Tirol, Austria, is one of the major ski resorts in Europe. It is actually a glacier that offers two hundred kilometres of trails. There are a huge range of facilities catering for beginners, intermediates and experts. Some of the facilities include cable cars, heated chair lifts (great for warming a very cold bum after a run) tee-bars and pommers. Shops and a range of restaurants (including 5 star) are another amazing feature.
On day one, just trying to ski to my lesson was a very tricky business, which resulted in me falling in an uncontrollable heap various times. Only a few minutes of being into my wondrous skiing experience, I fell over. Naturally, I tried to get up by pushing my skies into the snow and heaving my weight upwards, resulting in falling right back down. I finally managed to pick myself up, not realising it would matter that my skies were facing down the slope. The scene was similar to the Titanic, where the boat cannot control speed or direction. I was moving faster than I had ever before and heading towards what looked like a cliff, I tried to swerve and accomplished nothing. Luckily for me, it was not a cliff, just a very steep slop. This did not help my circumstances, for I was moving even faster so that everything went white and blurry, and I could not make out a thing. Thank goodness, a glorious moment came, when the slope slanted upwards and I steadily slowed to a stop and tumbled down into yet another heap of snow. Learning from my mistake I made sure my skies were not facing downwards, when I tried to get up. I was just about in tears when I realized I was not only late to my lesson but also had to somehow get up the slope I had just slid down. Pushing back the tears I tried to heave myself up. I gave up after the 1 millionth time and decided just to clip my skies out of my boots. Luckily, this was much faster and I managed to make my way up without falling over again.
Fortunately, this was the worst part of the day and from there it only got better. I had a two hour lesson with a friendly ski instructor and by the afternoon, I was cruising on the pommers! By the time, it started to get dark (3.30pm) and cold (like minus 100!), my body was aching and I was definitely ready to call it a day! Despite the bruises and bumps, however, I loved it!
Entry 3
ReplyDeleteWe were both tired and I could tell my brother was pretty seasick from the ferry ride because he couldn’t focus on a single thing he was doing that day. It was already dark by the time we got to the hotel so we sent straight to bed after checking in.
The next morning I woke up to seeing my brother on the couch with his palm on his face. He forgot to purchase the breakfast coupons for today. What an idiot. We walked around the hotel area, looking for a place to eat. We walked into this one restaurant that was packed with people.
“Welcome. What would you two like to have?”
“It’s our first time here. What do your customers usually order?”
“Ah, that would be our ‘Guling’. It’s our specialty.”
“Great, we’ll have two of those.”
Two plates of unrecognizable meat, plated with a bit of vegetables and one drink was brought to our table by one of the waiters there. A local couple gave us a weird look. I pretended I didn’t see them.
“Excuse me, but what exactly is this meat?”
“It’s pork, sir.”
“PORK?! BUT YOU HAVE A SIGN RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR RESTAURANT THAT SAYS ‘Muslims welcome’!!”
“Calm down, sir. We would never stop anyone from eating here. Everyone is welcome.”
“WELL AT LEAST GIVE US SOMETHING WE CAN ACTUALLY EAT!”
“All I did was answer your question, sir. You asked me what the customers here usually order.”
“Wow. Wait, so… what’s in this mug you put on my table?”
“Well, you look old enough to drink. Are you?”
We grabbed our stuff, mad, upset and really, really, really hungry. We ended up having breakfast at McDonald’s that morning. None of this would’ve happened if my brother hadn’t been dumb enough to forget the breakfast coupons.
Suddenly I jumped out of bed with a spring in my step. As I went downstairs I found the table set out like a medieval feast, plates lining up the dining table and cups right in front. The glistening beam of lights, reflecting off the cutlery, almost blinded me. As I took a closer look it look like I was dining like a King for breakfast, so I sat down and dug in. After that lip-smacking breakfast I was off to the Iguaza Falls, I thought it would be a good idea not to take a taxi this time, so I walked to the train stations in the town square. As I made my way, the voices that filled overwhelmed me; it was like a herd of wilder beast making a charge towards, however in a friendly way. The resounding voices of deals being made rang like bells in my ears, however I continued on my way. I slowly and steadily approached the train station as I got there absolute strangers started coming up to me and talking about different organizations, but I had no time to talk; they kept on talking. I tried to hurry them up because I saw my train slowly leaving, I soon just abandoned them and ran to try and catch my train, Sadly I missed it. I looked around to find a man in uniform, and there he was. I rushed over to him. His eyes were shining like the morning sun as he turned towards me. “Excuse me, do you know when the next train is to the docking station?” I queried him. “11:52am” he answered in his gruff and graveling voice, I said thank you and walked off into the station. As I walked in, there were signs everywhere, I tried to follow the right one, but I got unbelievably confused in the end I quickly took a quick glance at my watch, the time red 11:51am. I could hear the train nearby I stepped back from the platform, then an old raggedy man sitting on the floor of the station caught my eye, I slowly approached him. I noticed he only one arm, stump for another arm, and no legs… just stumps. “What are you doing here sir?” I asked him, he replied in such a way that I never thought he would, “I am a piece of junk just lying around here on the planet, I am a waste of space and have nowhere else to go” he grumbled. I had no idea what to say back to him, I thought for a moment, “No you are not kind sir God put you here for a reason” I replied, suddenly I found my hand reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet uncontrollably; I reached in and pulled out 300 creased Pounds train pull up into the station; we bid our farewells, and I was on my way.
ReplyDeleteThe train jostled from side to side as it made its way on the tracks; the train was quiet, well except for a screaming baby. We arrived at the docking station and ran towards my boat. Soon I arrived at my destination; Iguaza Falls, the sight was absolutely beautiful it seem then and there that nature unstoppable, as well as incredibly beautiful, the driver took me close enough to actually feel the spray from the waterfall. Later we stopped off and I was able to walk through the jungles of Iguaza Island, it was phenomenal, and breath-taking. Right above me were spider monkeys swinging from tree to tree and a toucan calling out, to its mate. I later went white river rafting; there were many different levels set up; I was a beginner, however I was stupid enough to go for the highest level, which a friend once told me it was like suicide. Although, I came out in one piece and extremely hungry because I had thrown up into the river, so I went to get lunch at the Iguaza café. I entered the café and took a glance at the menu; I immediately knew that I was having Feijoada and for dessert; because I deserved it; Bien Me Sabe de Coco. I went to go order. As I made my order the woman behind cashier asked “So, where are you from?” I replied “Sao Paulo” “Ahhhh it’s a beautiful city I visit there every weekend” “Oh really?, wow, so where are you from” “I’m from Argentina, came here for schooling and to find a job” She then escorted me to my seat like I was the sultan, “Oh I forgot to catch your name” “Mena, how about you?” “Lusana” “It was very nice meeting you Lusana” “you too Mena” then she walked away smiling, like I was the one person who had made all her dreams come true. I look at my watch, it was 3:50 pm, I rapidly finished my meal, rushed back to the boat and made my way home; on the way back I did a lot of thinking “This was a phenomenal experience. I should here more often, with all my amigos; to show them the beauty of Brasil.
ReplyDeleteI had prepared myself the previous night, I told myself what to expect because I knew it was going to be physically and mentally draining. It was an experience I was never going to forget, never.
ReplyDeleteAs I left the hotel that morning I met the same driver from the previous day and he offered to take me to where I was heading that day.
‘’Toul Sleng please’’ I told him
‘’oh mam, it’s very scary!’’ he tried warning me
‘’oh, haha I know. ‘’
‘’Mam I can take you somewhere else, a bit far away so $3?’’ he attempted to change my mind
‘’Please, just the Toul Sleng museum.’’ I was a bit fed up
He had the look on his face, he was not too happy however at least I was willing to pay him anything after all I could have always chosen someone else. After the pointless arguing he stopped and just took me too where I wanted to go. It wasn’t the best way to start off the day but it was something different.
Arriving at the museum and just looking at it you could just tell what kind of place it was. Walking in and the atmosphere drops. I wondered to myself how a school filled with happy children, a place of joy and learning be turned into a place of horror and torture!
‘’HELLO! Welcome to the genocide museum! Would you like a guided tour?’’ he was extremely happy, not the character I was expecting
‘’that’s alright I think I can do it by myself thank you.’’ I declined as nicely as possible, hopefully not too obvious.
‘’It’s not expensive $3!’’ his smile not seeming to leave at any time
‘’oh uhm.” I couldn’t say no but I really didn’t want to say yes.
He seemed too happy considering where he was. At that moment all I wanted to do was tell him to wipe that smile away because it didn’t suit where we were. It was all probably just a sales pitch.
‘‘How long have you worked here?’’ I questioned
‘’6 years’’ he had said this with great pride and you could see in his eyes how much this job had meant to him.
‘’Oh alright! Could I have a tour then?’’
‘’Of course!” he seemed delighted
We started the tour and his whole ‘happy’ act dropped. All of a sudden he was extremely serious and I didn’t really know what to expect at that point. This really did mean something to him and I could help but ask.
“Your family? Were any of them involved?”
“Yes, my great grandfather was kept here for several days. He was interrogated and tortured all because he was of the wrong being. Either way he probably would have been killed”
“oh, I’m extremely sorry I never should have asked it was terribly rude! My apologies” I felt super guilty. He didn’t look to sad about it but I think that was only because he was probably so used to telling that story.
We ended up in a room on the ground floor which was quite a spacious room, this room is where they kept people who were more important but were of the party that the Khmer rouge didn’t like. There was a single bed which would have had a mattress on it; a box for waste and that was it.
ReplyDelete“They only stayed her for a couple of days and then they were sent to the killing fields.”
“What are these black stains on the floor?” I asked
“blood, vomit and piss.” He said straight to the point.
We transitioned into another room which were connected to 2 others and all of them were filled with pictures off all (or at least almost all) the victims that were kept here. You could look at each individual and one thing they all had in common was that they were not at fault. Looking at each picture you could see the burses and the marks where they had been hit. They were haunting but you couldn’t look away. He was patient with me, he let me browse through the pictures for as long as I needed to, there was no sense of rush or pressure.
“how many people were actually killed here?”
“well no one was killed here, this was the place they were tortured but after they either ‘confessed’ or said nothing at all they would be sent to the killing fields which is where they would be killed and put into mass graves.”
So basically if you said nothing at all you would be sent to get killed however if you told them something they wanted to know then they would still send you to the killing fields, that way no matter what you said or didn’t say you would have gotten killed.
“Oh, right. The killing fields aha I knew that...” I felt like an idiot asking that.
“17,000 and probably more were killed...”
“At the killing fields!” I interrupted, trying to redeem myself.
We made our way upstairs and the classrooms were a lot bigger, more space you would have thought, but no there were probably 20 people all chained up on the floors (as shown by the pictures on the walls) and it was extremely tightly packed.
“The people who were kept here were the ‘normal’ people, like us. They would be chained up all together here and were not allowed to make a single sound or move at all. If they did however they would be tortured.” He explained
“Did they never go to the toilet?” I was curious
“They did their business where they were, that what pants are for right?” he said chuckling a bit
“aha” I smiled and gave out a fake laugh. I knew he was trying to lighten up the mood however I was brought up being told that laughing in an area which may have spirits is disrespectful, so I kept silent.
He led me up one more flight of stairs that’s when we came across the extremely small cells.
“50cm by 50cm” he pointed out.
There were about 5 cells in one old classroom and they were tightly packed. The doors of each cell were place in different places; this was to make sure that no one’s could converse. The condition of the cells was horrible, barely and space. They all would have been chained up making it a lot more obvious if they moved and they had one small waste box that would very rarely get emptied and cleaned.
“If the victims had spilled bits of their waste the guards would make them eat it up”
I didn’t know whether to believe it but it was the guide who said it so it had to be true. He seemed to be pretty sure that it was yet I still could not bring myself round to believe that it was true, yes they were cruel but that amount of cruelty was horrific.
“Oh wow” I was yet again speechless.
The atmosphere was dense, it got slightly harder to breathe and it was the feeling that the prisoners had. Tight spaces filled with horrible fumes, it was suffocating. You could just hear the silent scream of the extremely terrified victims.
It got to the end of the tour and the tour guide said thank you and left. I went again; this time by myself. Just to get a feel of it for the last time and there was quite a difference. It was a lot sadder alone and there was a cold breeze in a few of the rooms which you wouldn’t have felt if you were with someone else. I left that place knowing one thing, I was a lucky one.
ReplyDeleteFrom Alex:
ReplyDeleteThe alarm blared on the bedside table. Slowly, my eyes inched their way open to look at the stark white ceiling if the hotel. Suddenly realizing that the alarm was still going off, I quickly slammed my hand down on the alarm to frantically stop the blaring noise. Groaning, I slowly tried to roll off of the bed but failed (surprise!) and tumbled down on to the floor. I looked down on frustration too see what had caused my failure and discovered that my legs were still tangled in the crisp white sheets of the bed. Blearily, I registered the way that Tanzia was half hanging off of the bed, still asleep. A wide grin slowly crossed my face as a wicked idea crossed my mind. I opened my bag and drew out the black sharpie that I keep for emergencies like boredom and what I was about to do. I slowly tip toed across the purple carpet to get to Tanzia while trying not to wake her up. As I was trekking over the two suitcases strewn across the floor, I had a thought of “Why didn’t we tidy this horrific mess up?” for there was clothes, shampoo and other various items that are required for travelling in different positions across the floor. I did a little victory dance when I finally reached her bed and knelt down in front of her face. I uncapped the sharpie and drew a curly mustache, evil eyebrows and harry potter glasses on her face. My work done, I walked over to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
… I walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. Gazing around the room properly for the first time, I saw that the walls and ceiling were white washed, pristine even, the curtains and carpet consisting of a fuzzy purple material that I have not yet identified. The beds had crisp white sheets and purple comforters that were extremely soft. Taking a breath, I detected the faint smell of dust and fabric softener. Looking out of the window, I saw that the room had a magnificent view of the car park. I mean, look at the way those cars shine! I looked over to Tanzia to see that she was in the same position that I had left her except her mouth was hanging open slightly. I grinned once again and knelt down in front of her face for the second time that morning. I leant in right next to her ear and shouted, “GET UP!” Her eyes snapped open and she roller off of the bed in her shock. She glared at me through the mass of black curls that was her hair. “You are evil!” she exclaimed. I smirked and replied, “Sticks and stones Tanzia, stick and stones.” Tanzia rolled her eyes and strutted to the bathroom, her clothes in her hand. I counted down from three to one and… “ALEX! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FACE?” I dropped to the floor laughing hysterically. When I finally regained my breath, I sat up and looked around the trashed room trying to come up with a way to stuff the items back in the suit cases successfully.
… tanzia and I walked out into the crisp morning air. The ground was blanketed by a thin layer of ice which was in turn, enveloped by a small frosting of icing sugar like snow. The air smelt of gasoline and the cutting edge of ice. I took a deep breath and grinned at Tanzia once again, who despite her best efforts, still sported the faint lines of the sharpie on her face. She looked at me warily and said, “What? You’ve got that creepy look again…” A laughed and replied, “Hey, what creepy look? But, to answer your question, today we are going to experience a key part of British culture… Doctor Who!” She looked at me blankly and said in a monotonous voice, “Doctor what?” I looked at her in shock. “Tanzia, do you know what date it is?” She shook her head. “It is November 23rd! It is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who! You know, the one that David Tennant and Billie Piper are coming back in.” Tanzia shrugged. I stared. In a sudden burst of movement, I grabbed Tanzia’s elbow and led her across the street, empty except for a couple of busses for it was right next to the airport, to the cinema.
From Alex:
ReplyDelete… When we arrived at the gates of the cinema, We saw that the gates were blocked by a throng of people all holding their tickets, waiting in anticipation for the next showing of doctor who. I took a deep breath and shouted to the crowd, “MAKE WAY! THIS GIRL DOES NOT KNOW WHAT DOCTOR WHO IS!” the crowd gasped in horror as one and slowly moved back to create a type of pathway to the ticket booth. Tanzia and I walked slowly up the walkway and asked the lady at the ticket booth for two tickets to the latest showing of Doctor Who. She said that we were lucky because we got the last two seats that were together in the theater. We grinned at each other and said on perfect unison, like we had rehearsed this one line over and over, “TO THE SNACK BOOTH!”
... Tanzia and I walked out of the cinema and into the practically freezing air. I hissed and drew closer to Tanzia. After the wonderful warmth of the cinema, I was reluctant to go out outside where the cold bitterly snatched away my meager warmth. When we finally got back to the hotel, I collapsed onto the bed mumbling about Doctor Who while Tanzia turned the lights off. I slowly fell asleep, my dreams filled with the wonders of Doctor Who.