Day 2 – Thursday February 28

Wow, what an incredible day. We met Stellar for breakfast at the hotel – which was a fusion of Western/Asian foods – omelets to order, cereal, yogurt, bacon, eggs, potatoes, congee, Chinese pastries, noodles, sushi, pasta, about 50 items or more.

After breakfast Stellar and Maggie took us to a market mall which had three levels of hundreds of small vendors selling everything from underwear and socks to “Hello Kitty” stationary to handbags to kitchen items to clothing, boots and almost anything that you could think of.

We saw several stalls selling knitted items and yarns and stopped at one booth that had suitable yarns for me. They had some silk, but only in one colour that I didn’t like. They did, however, have some very fine wool, about 2/18 weight. Stellar helped me negotiate and I purchased 13 – 50 gm. balls for 180 RNB, which is equivalent to about $30 Canadian. The vendor also threw in some sets of steel double pointed knitting needles for free. This yarn should make some lovely scarves.

yarn purchased in the market

Ron bought two pairs of pants, a swim suit, and a very nice dress coat.

Barb with Stellar and Maggie

After a fun shopping afternoon we returned to the hotel for a brief rest and then the driver picked us up to take us to dinner. There were 12 of us for a fabulous dinner where many, many different dishes and great flavours were set down on the table. The food and rice wine kept coming, along with many toasts and “bottoms up” required with each toast.

Our hosts here are extremely generous and gracious, and our two interpreter/companions here are working hard to ensure we have a great time. I am enjoying myself immensely.