Embarrassed? Me?

Well Playmates, yes I am embarrassed to come on here and expect that any one of you might still click onto my Blog any more. It's been ages since I've written anything worth reading, I know; and this isn't going to be scintillating either! Nevertheless, now that I'm here I do have a couple of little snippets which might give you a smile or be of some other interest, who knows?

I came across a face with which I've been familiar for years, yesterday. He used to hang around (like a bad smell!) at the junction of the two markets, the Tourist and the Egyptian, near enough to the Chez Omar Restaurant on Youseff Hassan Street, belonging to our long-time friends, Hassan and Hussain, the identical (loveable rogues) twins. But he was in the wrong place! Bold as brass, he approached us outside the Winter Palace, "Ah Mr Edward, Madame, here, take my business card." Intrigued that he was now a businessman of some sort (and with business cards!!!) I proffered my hand to receive this newfound introductory device. Here it is for your delectation Dear Reader: 

  And the inevitable reverse: 

On the back of a fag packet! Novel, for a businessman trying to make an impression, don't you think? Or maybe not; it certainly made me take notice!

Now then, you know that Madame Farida and I are from Geordieland where we speak..... "queeah like"? Probably the most famous of all Geordie phrases is "Howay the Lads", which roughly translates as "Come on, play up you chaps", and is an exhortation given with great gusto at the 'futbaall' when the 'Toon' (Newcastle United) are playing. Well, there just has to be an expat Geordie businessman (I wonder where he gets his cards from?) in China with a canny (Colloquialism: meaning, 'good') sense of humour. I found the following on display outside the plumbing and tool shop of our good friend Mr Hany Awad, also on Youseff Hassan Street:

Just in case you don't recognise it, it's a petrol driven water pump, for the farmers to use to irrigate their fields etc. 

Now, here's something which definitely caught my eye! Something that I haven't seen in the shops in NE England for quite some time:

I'd bet that you weren't expecting to see that old familiar name? Well, familiar and beloved in the North anyway. I cannot fathom why or how it should have become popular here, but there you are.

Next up is a bit of a sad sight, at least for those regular visitors and many expats who frequented the place for quite a few years to buy typically English goods:

This is what remains of the famous "Arkwright's Open All Hours" store which is on St Joseph St. They used to stock things like Weetabix and leg of New Zealand lamb, and maybe even Marmite, but no more! I suppose that some visitors will still have their old Arkwright's T shirts, emblazoned with the name and a picture of the shop bike, which used to stand outside?

Whilst we were away last summer, Adam (of coffeeshop fame) across the alley, started building another floor on top of his building. This is for his eldest son, Haggag, who is to be married in the foreseeable future, insh'Allah. Well, it's coming on bit by bit, and some of the interior is being started as well. There are some fancy panelled doors, for instance. But, even though they are quite fancy and no doubt expensive, the joiners still aren't able to sand off their pencil marks before varnishing them:

Why do they do this? It just spoils everything they do, permanently. There are still pencil marks on some of our most exotic pieces of furniture, after 16 years!

The Muslim's "Holy Month of Ramadan", is almost upon us. This is when they're not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sex between sunrise and sunset. (I'm sure that there is more to it than those ''verboten" pastimes, but they will remain a mystery to us outsiders!) Anyway, even though our Muslim friends are forbidden such delights, research assures us that they manage to get through a lot more of everything during those 30 days!

Here's a queue for something on 'Ramadan special' at the Government shop up our street. Times are exceptionally hard here and queues like this appear quite often. It reminds me of the old films of Soviet era shopping in Russia, where the people queue and the shop is virtually empty, anyway. You'll notice that the women are queueing to the left and the men to the right?

I've some more pictures to post, and I hope to get back to do another Blog in a day or two.

See ya!