After writing the above, I actually had to go as Dylan wanted some breakfast and then I got side tracked doing other things and then we decided to go out. The driver picked us up at 10.45 and we dropped Penri at work and then went onto the shopping mall (again lol). I am not addicted to shopping (honestly), it's just I wanted to look one last time for a swimming cap before trying to get one from UK or Doha. I actually managed to find one! I was so happy because it means I can now take the children swimming on our compound. As I think I mentioned before, they are very strict about people with long hair wearing a swimming cap. Anyway, guess what we're doing this afternoon lol.
We had a good walk around the shops and I went back to 'Big Bazaar' – the basement shop I mentioned in one of my previous posts. I bought some stationery from there and a little book for Abigail. They were both getting hungry so I decided we would go up to the third floor food court to get McDonalds for lunch. We got into the lift in the basement and I asked for the 3rd floor. We started going up and the guy stopped the lift on the 4th floor. I probably should explain here that you will never be allowed to touch buttons in any lifts in any public places in India. There is always a guy dressed in a security uniform whose job is to press the buttons! Anyway, back to what I was saying. I reached the 4th floor and told him that I wanted the 3rd. He didn't understand me but luckily there were two other people in the lift and they translated for me that I had to go to the ground floor, then walk to the middle of the mall and get a different lift in order to get to the 3rd floor!
By now Abi was screaming because she was hot, hungry and she really needed a nappy change. I was getting restless because I couldn't help her until we got to the third floor and I could sit and feed her and also change her nappy. Anyway, I got out the lift on the ground floor and asked where the other lift was; the security woman pointed quite far away and said 'that way'. I couldn't even see the lift from where I was standing. I asked her where the toilets were and she said third floor. You have to understand, Abigail was going crazy at this point. She'd got a dirty nappy and she was not happy and she was letting me and everyone else know about it. I couldn't leave her screaming so I got out my stuff and sat in the middle of the floor of the entrance to the mall (where the lift had let us out) and I laid down my changing mat and started changing her nappy. The security woman came over to me very quickly and said 'Ma'am, ma'am, 3rd floor for toilets'. My response to which was – 'I cannot leave her screaming for another 15 minutes while I try to find a lift to get to the 3rd floor because the lift I was in doesn't go to the 3rd floor!' She didn't understand what I was saying and called over another security person who asked me to move. By this point, I had just finished changing her nappy and told them, 'I am done now', picking Abi up and putting her back in her pushchair. She immediately stopped crying as soon as her nappy was changed.
I then set about trying to find the other lift – the special one that is the only one allowed to go to the 3rd floor! It's like Platform 9 ½ (Harry Potter, for anyone who hasn't seen it and therefore doesn't know what I'm talking about).
We found the lift and went up to the restaurant/fun village (I think it's called). We went into McDonalds and waited in the queue. It was so funny that DJ knew exactly why we were there and he kept saying 'fish, chips, pop, fish, chips, pop' lol. I thought it was really cute, and funny! Just as we reached the front of the queue and I stepped forward to order, a Philippino lady stepped in front of me and asked for a vegetable burger with cheese and the guy at the till started taking her order! I was not having that at all. I looked at her and said 'Excuse me, I've been waiting in the queue and I was next'. She looked at me and stepped to one side and then I placed my order. No sooner had I told the guy what I wanted and started getting my money ready to pay, she stepped forward again and started trying to order her food! This time though, the guy asked her to wait.
We got our food and sat down and I fed Abi while DJ had my chips. Here's another thing … I ordered Dylan a Happy Meal, which to anyone in UK means a portion of nuggets or fish fingers with a small chips and a drink. Well, apparently in India, it is just the nuggets, a drink of coke or 7up (no fruit shoots or anything like that) and a toy. No chips!! DJ ended up sharing my chips which was fine. We had lunch and then we went into the fun area and Dylan had a go on a few of the rides. Here are a couple of pictures I took:
Leaving there we went into the sports shop where I was thrilled to find a swimming cap and then back to the entrance to meet the driver. Whilst waiting for the driver I got chatting to a lady who was also waiting for her driver. She had a little boy the same age as DJ with her and she was really lovely. Her little boy is just about to start nursery and she said Dylan can go from the age of 2. I asked her what it was like and she ended up giving me her phone number and told me to call her and she'll give me all the information. As I said, she was really nice!
We left the mall and came back to the compound, went in the supermarket shop to order some water and fizzy drinks, which were delivered to our door, and then back home for the babies to have a nap, which is where we are now. When they wake up, we're going swimming!! Can't wait! :) Signing off for now – back soon!
It's now late at night and we did go swimming at 7 p.m for 20 minutes; it was really lovely. When we got back to the apartment, DJ spent a while quite happily drawing with my pen (as I didn't bring any crayons in our suitcase), whilst Abi slept and I tidied and cleaned up.
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