Quote from Freya Stark (1893-1993)
…you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it.
We had a restful day today. Yet another trip to the laundry. It made sense to get as much washed while we had the opportunity to tumble dry it. (Too many times we have packed wet washing into carrier bags to have to rehash them on another day because they are still wet and smelling). While we were waiting for the laundry, Paul went for a swim in the hotel pool which is set in some gardens on the 8th floor. Before I had plucked up the courage to get into the cool water it started to rain.
We returned to our room, sorted the dry laundry and changed ready to pop out as soon as the rain stopped.
Near to the hotel we had seen a Costa Coffee tucked into a small corner. It had a sheltered outside seating area and as it was still very hot that was what we needed. A quick dash with umberellas and we were there.
We met the manager of the store who was off duty but had popped in to meet his friend. He was full of beans and asked our names and tried to think of a song title with my name in it. Cheryl was not a name he had ever heard before so that idea failed.
We took our drinks outside and were sitting reading the Lonely Planet book looking for somewhere to go in the rain. The manager came out and sat with us and struck up a conversation. Yet again we talked about all sorts of things and passed a very pleasant hour or so.
A thunder storm started so we returned to the hotel. It was a very dramatic thunder storm with lightening breaking in large flashes across the sky and the thunder so loud is was obviously very close to us.
Later we walked to the shopping centre across the other side of the park. Paul was looking for a card for his camera so we visited a couple of camera shops and then went in search of some dinner.
In the upper floor of the shopping mall is an assortment of restaurants from Japanese, Indian, Chinese and others. We chose the Malaysian restuarant and enjoyed some local dishes washed down with water (no alcohol served!!)
As we walked back towards the hotel the dancing fountains started up again. They are so beautiful I could spend hours watching them as they change colour and heights. It was a very different atmosphere here tonight compared with New Years Eve.
Dancing fountains,