Day 31

Affectionately known by our children as
the Wonky Shopping Centre

Fantastic day with the family. Must have been off to an excellent start for not being inundated throughout the night from children visitations. Ventured forth on a packed bus, but thankfully only for a few miles south from Riverside. Whilst people tried to make room for the children to sit down, we have taken to trying to politely refuse. Mainly because you need to start preparing to exit the bus just before your intended stop otherwise you’ll never get off in time. When I was in Mumbai 14 years ago, we had to do this on the train but had to start towards the exit at least 2 stops before the one you want.

We’ve been here a month, so we headed towards Khan Shatyr, which we had briefly visited on our first day. This time we explored a bit more and found a scary ride that Rebekah was trying to convince us that she would not be scared on. We erred on the side of caution and persuaded her to help find a milkshake. They found ice cream and some new friends. Khan Shatyr is an award winning shopping centre, designed by the British architect Norman Foster, and it is bedecked with many top end shops. Ali was rather excited to find a Next store! We need to head back there soon. There’s a monorail, dinosaur land and an indoor beach resort. There’s a lot of shops there, but not so many shoppers, which for a Saturday is curious. Either most Kazakhstanis work on Saturdays or it is too expensive for many. In turn it made me curious whether the government gives support for these businesses in order to survive. I saw the same thing in Japan, where there are so many shops and yet most look to have a very small clientele. Somehow they survive the years. Anyway, we purchased a DVD player today, which was great because it had a plug not requiring an adapter. Also, forgot that it would be region specific. We currently only have two region 5 DVDs. I am sure there is a solution.

Found some new friends

Just to get into the spirit of Kazakhstani culture, we’re headed to an Indian restaurant tonight with a couple of friends from work. Wonder if they have horse tikka massala?

Ray

 

 

Enjoyed a up of tea in bed for a small lie in this morning, always a bonus. Thanks to my darling husband. Fantastic day with family, finishing off with evening meal at local Indian restaurant. Children impressed us, with Kyria downing loads of rice and naan bread, Matthias scoffing a lot of chicken sausage (too spiced, but gently flavoured) and Rebekah eating most of my Chicken Tikka Masala. Now completely stuffed and children finally in bed. Praying for another undisturbed night of sleep.

Ali