A Bit Of Humanity

We found ourselves at Peninsula Plaza this afternoon as we needed to get some documents stamped by a lawyer who has his office there. He resides on the top floor so whenever we go we get to view quite a few of the shops there. The majority on a couple of levels seem to have been taken over by folks from Myanmar and Thailand. I'm not too sure of their nationalities since I'm going off the shop signs which generally don't employ the English alphabet.

There's a particularly strong smell once you get to the third floor caused, I assume, by the substantial number of vegetables on display in any number of shops. It's by no means an unpleasant smell but distinctly 'foreign', to these nostrils, that is. I'm guessing that for a lot of people there it smells very much like home, if they consciously notice the odour at all, of course.

The shops at the lower levels seem to be aiming at a younger clientele. At one point we passed quite a number of shops selling guitars and other musical paraphernalia, and there were a couple of shops selling distinctly funky t-shirts. I was tempted to buy one featuring Arctic Monkeys, but decided I've got enough t-shirts already. I did buy a pair of shoes, however, my usual Clarks, which the Missus bargained for with typical ruthless efficiency, despite the fact they were already dirt cheap.

We also bumped into an old friend, Azman, whose tailoring business happily is still going strong there. He had a hand, as it were, in the trousers for my wedding, if you really want to know. The trousers are still good, by the way. I reckon he's seen a few changes to the shopping centre in the years he's been there. I suppose it might be seen as having gone more than a little down market - which I suppose is why I felt so at home there. The place felt human, for want of a better word.