riga to st p

quote(s) of the day:

seriously guys, this is the last stop for cheap luxury man. -me
mm. yah. - k & a.

ok, so we've eaten our share of fried dough with various fillings, drank good coffee, had some latvian beer under an nice square orange umbrella that shaded us from the sun, and we're on the bus to st petersburg.

after a nice 11 or 12 hr sleep on a double decker bed (i'm trying not to mention bunk bed), we woke up to the playings of some songs by a busker using an instrument (brass perhaps?). a quick wash up, packing and emailing and we were off to get our bus tickets at the central bus station.

the central bus station is located conveniently next to the central bus station, where fruits, flowers, clothes and shoes (no animals, sorry. not chatuchak) are sold. meat (of the animal kind. please!!) are sold here too.

the meat displayed in those glass units are strangely dry. they don't look moist. and the cow heart is damn big! located at a corner of the meat area were some eateries. hehehe. just what I was looking for.

a meal of bangers, I mean, sausages, mash & preserved coleslaw without the mayo, made me a very happy person. a was grinning as he ordered the dish with egg, mash, a giant meatball and the preserved coleslaw. k and I started to laugh the minute the old lady took a plate of prearranged egg mash and veg and popped in a meatball into the micro. all 3 of us shared toast with anchovies and egg and another toast with melted cheese ham and ketchup. we proceeded next to another shop that sold fried dough (hum jing peng?). a and I each got a coffee and that fried dough thing. I prefer to order things by pointing and grinning like a fool. a got potato filling while I got sauteed onion filling. doesn't go well with coffee, but it doesn't really matter eh? and I didn't know coffee with sugar cost more. basket.

we visited a cafe we saw in a shopping centre yesterday. the cafe's decorated extravagantly like a boudoir (bordello? maybe not. it sounds like a wine varietal. i'm not thinking of bordeaux though. ANYWAY...) with deep rich wood, deep red plush cushions, petite tables and lovely red lamps. a sweet and rich chocolate cake (that looked like the chocolate trifle from c&f except there was a creme centre for this) paired with an espresso made me look forward to being immensely happy after the meal. actually, sitting down to this whole affair is not really what I envisioned. I didn't really need that cake. but the price and the rationalisatiom of sir andrew that we are on holiday makes me perform such purchases. the whole meal cost me 1.8 lats or 1.8 pounds. unfortunately, the chocolate cake was mostly sponge, and the white filling that came with nuts, was a hard and dry meringue. after the break, a saw another shop that looked even better.

a: wah lau! this shops looks damn good!

me: yah! crap! see a, we're not really practising asians. we're failing to look around for the best buy.

a: hahaha.

while walking back from the cafe to the hostel, as all of us needed to take a shite, a conversation between k, a and I went like this:

me: wah, if I die on this trip, I will die happy man.

a: why?

me: cos i've eaten a nice meal, had a nice sleep, seen a beautiful city, enjoyed the sights and have embarked on a trip i've wanted to do in my lifetime.

k: wah lau, don't be selfish lah.

me: why?

k: if you die along this trip, we'll be damn sad eh.

a: yah man.

a: at least die in thailand lah.

k: yah yah. die in thailand.

me: wah lau you guys ah.

k: you should have made me your benefactor for your insurance man.

me: what for? I don't want to marry you eh. wah lau.

-l