Wednesday 2 March 2011

Bedding down



My mission on my first full day in the apartment on my own was to buy some bedding. We didn't realise until it was time to go to bed on that first night after our meal with dad that there wasn't any; no pillows, covers, sheets, nothing! It was a good job it is nice and warm here otherwise if we were in England we would have been sleeping with all of the clothes that we own on!
I didn't really know where to start looking. However, when I started exploring the local area, I came across a shop just down the road called Lifestyle. Lifestyle is a department store which reminds me of a Pearces or TJ Hughes back in the UK. It's a small store split on three floors that sells own brand items as well more well known brands such as Lee Cooper, United Colors of Benetton and Van Heuson - (There's even something here for you dad!) The homeware is on the top floor, but it all seemed a bit expensive, very comparable to the prices back in the Uk, so I decided to go exploring further; there must be somewhere cheaper.

When I reached the crossroads where the Mariplex is, I saw a sign for D Mart - just turn left at the lights. It was a short walk down the road, past a huge exclusive housing complex called Marigold (Tom had considered getting us an apartment there but it turned out to be too expensive). When I got to D Mart, I was relieved because it was a proper super market which sold loads of brands that I recognised. More importantly though, I could browse and pick things up myself. I felt a lot more comfortable and at ease as it was a more familiar way of shopping.

After buying all that I needed there, I was pretty laden down with bags, so I decided to have my first ever rickshaw ride home. There are so many rickshaws driving around here and you don't have to wait long before one is pulling up alongside you beeping its funny buzzer horn to see if you want a lift. The drivers like bargaining with price, and are very reluctant to use their inbuilt meters. Tom had said to me to be firm and say 'meter' when I got in and then direct them to where I wanted to go. So that's what I did.

The rickshaw felt very rickety,old and noisy, but it was surprisingly nippy. It was a bit scary when it got to the traffic light junction because it just seemed to just go and pull out into all the traffic, beeping its horn as it went! The trip cost me 12 rupees but I gave the guy 20 (about 30p), he didn't seem pleased or displeased about the tip, which was weird, it made me wonder whether I had got the amount wrong, but I think it was ok.







2 comments:

Rob said...

I stayed for two weeks at the Royal Orchard Golden Suites, which is across for Marigold, but I never noticed the D-Mart. I went to one of those small non-self service places and didn't really got what I wanted.

One place I really liked around there was sitting outside the coffee shop (Cafe Coffee Day, I think) at the Mariplex. Perfect spot to see the world go by.

MISS DAY said...

That's gutting, it is only about a two minute walk from that Hotel.

Just wait until I catch up on my posts and tell you all about Dorabjee's though. I went there yesterday. It is amazing! The supermarket from Heaven!!!!! Everything you could possibly want!