It’s Thursday and science is on our schedule for today. I am helping Téa and Joe is helping Maylin, and together we try our very best to get through today’s workload, and still be friends at the end. Because Mom has a plan for lunch…
We finally emerge from our building, just about 11.30pm, and we have a 15 minute walk ahead of us. We knew it was overcast, but we get outside and it looks dark, very, very dark. It starts spitting, and we contemplate taking a taxi. We agree to brave the walk, and set out to find lunch.
On a side street off the beach, I lead my family left, and then across the street. Joe is getting impatient and hungry, but just when that happens, we’re here! Ca Phe Bar Sky Garden has a beautiful entrance. Again, no walls, just flowers and stones and a wooden structure.
Ok, so it’s a beautiful café, with seating on multiple levels, a bird cage, a waterfall, but it’s all dark. Nothing is turned on, no lights, no fans. There is a bar/cashier/door to the kitchen in the one corner, and they have lights, but none of the customer seating areas are lit at all.
We find a spot right nex to the “mountain”/waterfall/koi pond area, and settle in. Suddenly there is a waitress with a couple of menus behind us, and we ask how to at least turn the fan on, as there are fans attached to the ceiling in all directions, probably to act as open air air conditioning, as well as to chase any mosquitoes. She shows us the switch and we get the fan going, but still no lights.
We look through the menu, pick our sandwiches or noodle bowls, and try to order. “Sorry, food is only for breakfast”, and apparently 12pm is no longer breakfast time. Why they don’t serve food for lunch, I will never know, I didn’t ask. Just as I say “we’ll have to leave, we came here for lunch”, I have a better idea. I ask our server if they have snacks, and yes of course they serve snacks! The snack menu includes pizza, French fries, fried fish balls and another couple of smaller snacky type items. We order two pizzas and four drinks, and settle into our seats.
I think the rain started not long after we arrived, and it’s kind of cozy sitting in this dark wooden structure, looking out at the steady rain. Then it gets louder, and louder, and louder, and Maylin complains that she’s getting wet. It’s actually just a little mist off the heavy rain hitting the surrounding obstacles, no leaks or anything like that. But it is loud, and we are very grateful not to be walking right now!
The pizzas come, and Téa says (out loud) “oh, they’re so small”, but she still wasn’t able to finish her half of the pizza she was sharing with her sister. No photos were taken, because by now we were just extremely hungry, and they were so underwhelming, nobody thought to pause and remember these pizzas forever.
I go to settle the bill, while Joe gets a car to come pick us up. It’s a quick ride home, but it’s also raining, so we’re grateful for the ride. Back home, we settle in for our norm on a less than sunny beautiful beach day, there’s work and blogging and Norwexing and games played and stuffies who have school. I get antsy. I need to get out. I decide to go for a walk before dinner, and set out just before sunset.
There are seriously no rules on the road here, or so it seems for the visitors. Most intersections have no lights, no stop signs, no pedestrian crossings, and driving against the grain is normal. Motorbikes are welcome everywhere, and I guess cars are too, as long as they fit. Most motorbikes have passengers, whether it is an adult behind the driver, a kid in front, a kid between two adults, or cargo that seems to be about to slip off at any moment.
I walk along a street I’ve walked before, then take a new turn. I see probably a hundred million thousand motorbikes, most of which are parked straight across the sidewalk I’m trying to walk on. Then I take another left, and am back on another road previously walked. There are no sidewalks here, there’s barely pavement. The exhaust from the BBQs battle with the exhaust from the motorbikes and scooters. Some vendors catch my eye and I must look cartoonish trying to keep walking but still looking at what they’re cooking or selling. I wish I had brought my wallet!
I take another left, and suddenly I’m on the last stretch back to the AirBnb. But now I don’t recognize the road I’m walking on, and I have to stop and look around. Sure enough, same street, just it’s puddled and muddy today, we haven’t really seen a heavy rain here before, so I’m used to it being sandy and dusty.
Joe asks me to get some water on my way back up, so I stop at the grocery store. Thank goodness for my credit card on my phone, that allows me to grab some necessities, even without my wallet! I grab some eggs and a little extra for dinner. Joe is making noodle soup with what’s left in the fridge, and worries that it won’t be enough. These summer rolls, this time with roast pork instead of shrimp, go down a treat with the whole family!
Quiet night for the Cheng family tonight, work and blogging for the big kids and games on the Switch for the little kids. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?