Bee Gee Confusion
Today S went back to work, so we were on our own. Feeling remarkably adventurous (bear in mind that the Carrefour is a 20-minute taxi ride away, and none of the taxi drivers speak English, and I hardly know my way from the house to the Estate entrance), I decided that we should go to the Carrefour and do some shopping. The Ayi had communicated to me (by giving me an instruction booklet, showing me a Carrefour carrier bag and making some wild sweeping movements) that she needed a hoover. Not a very big one, as the entire house is polished mahogany floorboards, with just the odd Chinese rug here and there.
So, with my shopping list (nescafe, fruit bread and hoover), off we went. The Security Guard calls the taxi, I show the taxi driver my piece of paper with Carrefour written on it in Chinese, and we're away. It was considerably quieter than it was last time we went, I suppose because it was during the week and most of the Chinese people are at work.
In the fruit and vegetable section, they seemed to be giving something away for free - within seconds, a huge queue of about 40 people had formed, all waiting patiently. At the weighing section, there was no such decorum however - whoever managed to shove their bananas on the scales first, got served first.
We got the hoover without any problem, and found our way outside to the taxi rank. I showed my 'Home' flashcard to the taxi driver (who looked remarkably like Maurice Gibb) but he just shook his head and started shouting. In a scene resembling the banana weighing of earlier, he was soon surrounded by at least 8 other taxi drivers, all jostling and shouting. I finally called S and he told me three Chinese words - Shin Son Loo. As soon as I said them to the taxi driver, there was instant calm, all the other drivers melted away, and we got home without incident. The three magic words? They turned out to be the name of the main road we live near.
So, with my shopping list (nescafe, fruit bread and hoover), off we went. The Security Guard calls the taxi, I show the taxi driver my piece of paper with Carrefour written on it in Chinese, and we're away. It was considerably quieter than it was last time we went, I suppose because it was during the week and most of the Chinese people are at work.
In the fruit and vegetable section, they seemed to be giving something away for free - within seconds, a huge queue of about 40 people had formed, all waiting patiently. At the weighing section, there was no such decorum however - whoever managed to shove their bananas on the scales first, got served first.
We got the hoover without any problem, and found our way outside to the taxi rank. I showed my 'Home' flashcard to the taxi driver (who looked remarkably like Maurice Gibb) but he just shook his head and started shouting. In a scene resembling the banana weighing of earlier, he was soon surrounded by at least 8 other taxi drivers, all jostling and shouting. I finally called S and he told me three Chinese words - Shin Son Loo. As soon as I said them to the taxi driver, there was instant calm, all the other drivers melted away, and we got home without incident. The three magic words? They turned out to be the name of the main road we live near.
posted by Linda at 9:19 PM
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