December 5th

December 5, 2021

Cama for coffee

It's a bit frustrating having to teach on Sunday afternoons, especially when it's such a great day. The sun's shining and while the weather forecast is for cool temperatures, it looks really nice outside. My class starts at 2:00, which gives us time to head into town to get a bite to eat.

Our apartment isn't too hot in the summer months when it's sweltering outside, with the temperature difference being about 5°C, but in the winter it stays comparatively cooler because of all the concrete used in construction. So, we both put jackets over our shirts and vests before heading out.

By the time we reach the end of the road, the jackets are in my rear pannier. It's hot.

We ride over a junction and head towards the small river and I stop a couple of times to take snaps. The idea of taking photos of walls seems like a good one and it'll be my next theme. There are almost 12 months to go before I have a calendar to do.

We go past the Hi-Life on the corner where we make a right and I again wonder if they have IPA in stock.

It's getting on for 10 o'clock and the sun is casting stark shadows.

When we reach the ring road Debbie says we should make a left and ride along it to the bigger river, so that's what we do. The traffic is constant.

After cruising under the railway tracks, we soon get to the riverside path, which for some reason is really crowded and rather than deal with hoards of pedestrians, I veer onto an adjacent side street. At least there'll be more walls to snap.

Withing a minute I see a red front gate with a few wire coat hangers hanging from the mail slot and snap that, then we reach a busy road and try going down side streets to reach the river, but they're cul-de-sacs. It's on one of these that I spot a wooden stool in a pool of sunlight. Maybe someone comes out and sits there at times, or it could be to reserve a parking spot.

We find our way down another cul-de-sac and at the end is a parking area big enough for a dozen vehicles and it has a large wall of what is likely a house on its edge, one with windows dotted on it. There's a mark from where a single-floor structure once was and there's a paint marks here and there that have no obvious explanation. It's a good wall.

We return to the river path. There are very few people along this section. There are more on the town side, but not as many as earlier and we wonder what that was all about.

There are a few spots I have taken photos of before, but today they are in nice bright light so I stop and take a few more shots of a couple of windows that are close to some brickwork with an old bike tyre hanging up. The inner tube is still in it. You'd likely bet your house on it never being used again. It looks like a 26" one.

Debbie messages her friend who lives close by but there's no reply and she leaves a bag she has fr her in her parked scooter outside her house and we then explore a market area which is very busy. Sunday is like that here.

It's about 25°C.

The market stalls sell fruit and veg and the oranges seem too cheap to pass up, so Debbie buys a bag full for a pittance and they go in my pannier.

The streets are busy with scooters and vendors, plus the regular shops and we look around a couple of blocks as there's one shop I've seen in the past that always has loofahs for sale, hanging up in bunches. I've never taken a photo of it.

Debbie guides me to where it is and she thinks I want to buy one when we get there, but I just take a couple of photos from across the busy street - waiting for the light at a nearby junction to go green and the scooters to leave and give me a clear view. There are actually two shops with bunches of loofahs hanging up.

We ride further along the path and want to stop somewhere to eat an orange. Most of the benches are in the sun and wee want one in shade.

Across the river is some election event and a man is speaking to a small seated crowd beside a temple and he is using a microphone. He is trying to rouse the audience and the volume on the amp is probably at max as it's deafening. Sitting with earshot does not appeal so we keep cycling and eventually find a bench near a street and sit and peel a couple of oranges. Mine is not juicy at all and has hardly any taste.

We're at the end of the pat and I show Debbie the section dipping under the road and we wonder if it'll get opened to bikes in the near future. We ride back up on the opposite bank thinking about coffee.

My plaid shirt comes off as it's too warm for it.

We pass a Cama cafe, but there's very little seating - only a couple of stools outside - so we head into the centre of town and when we get there Debbie suggests having dumplings.

The place is not very busy as it's only 11:30 and we sit at one of the empty folding metal tables. I opt for my usual of eight steamed dumplings and a fried thing - like a burger but without any bead. I reckon they serve eight as it's a lucky number in Chinese culture.

My camera gets placed on a nearby table for a self-timed photo and when looking at the result I realize we both have numbers on our backs.

Last Sunday I went to the Sunday market with g. It's where lots of foreign workers congregate and I bought a jacket and Debbie says I could buy the other one I told her about, so we ride just a block to get there and the Nigerian guy still has it on a rack, so I buy it as a gift for Ralph, whose birthday is coming this month. The labels says it was made in Taiwan and the paper label has the C&A logo on it. It's been years since I saw that logo. It only costs about US$3 and I pick up a pair of shorts for the same money.

From here there are not too many coffee options on the way home but there is another Cama place just under the railway tracks and I lead Debbie there. It has two tables outside and it's nice to sit down in the sunshine with a decent cappuccino. Cama does a good one.

From my seat I can see a large building and the wall seems to have been covered in a stick-on cladding which is disintegrating - the original green tiling is visible in one spot - and once we've finished drinking we go a river to it and walk into a parking area and look up at the building. I take some snaps and know Photoshop can be used to edit it so that the perspective is perpendicular.

It's getting on for 1:00 and I teach at 2:00.

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 923 km (573 miles)

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