Egypt (59) From airtime to jewelry

Egypt (1) The Idea to go
Egypt (2) Incheon Airport
Egypt (3) Turkish Airlines
Egypt (4) Breakfast is served and it's raining
Egypt (5) Istanbul: Hello Turkey!
Egypt (6) Istanbul: City Tour begins
Egypt (7) Istanbul: Turkish Islamic Art Museum
Egypt (8) Istanbul: Blue Mosque
Egypt (9) Istanbul: Blue Mosque Beanie Drama
Egypt (10) Istanbul: Lunch
Egypt (11) Istanbul: Hagia Sophia
Egypt (12) Istanbul: Grand Bazaar
Egypt (13) Istanbul: Snow Storm
Egypt (14) Istanbul: Goodbye Turkey!
Egypt (15) Arriving in Cairo
Egypt (16) Meeting mum, breakfast and Dana
Egypt (17) Pyramids and Sphinx
Egypt (18) Perfume Factory
Egypt (19) Jeweler
Egypt (20) Mit Rahina Museum
Egypt (21) Step Pyramid
Egypt (22) Bumpy Car Ride

Egypt (23) Lunch & Shopping
Egypt (24) Papyrus Institute
Egypt (25) Leaving for Aswan
Egypt (26) Arriving in Aswan
Egypt (27) Short, Sweet & Deep
Egypt (28) Lunch on the Boat
Egypt (29) Felucca Ride on the Nile
Egypt (30) Short, Sweet & Deep Part 2
Egypt (31) Dinner & Entertainment
Egypt (32) High Dam in Aswan
Egypt (33) Philae Temple
Egypt (34) Unfinished Obelisk
Egypt (35) Lunch & Set Sail
Egypt (36) Temple of Kom Ombo  

Egypt (37) Mohammad, Airtime & Security Guy
Egypt (38) Dinner & Galabya Party
Egypt (39) Love Story - Photoshopped
Egypt (40) Temple of Horus, Edfu
Egypt (41) Sail to Luxor & Sundeck Shananigans
Egypt (42) Hello, Mr Sailor!
Egypt (43) Luxor TempleEgypt
Egypt (44) My Sundeck Proposal
Egypt (45) West Bank of Luxor & Colossi of Memnon
Egypt (46) Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
Egypt (47) Alabaster Factory
Egypt (48) Valley of the Kings
Egypt (49) Avenue of Sphinx
Egypt (50) Falafel Lunch
Egypt (51) Karnak Temple
Egypt (52) Goodbye, Luxor!
Egypt (53) From Luxor to Cairo
Egypt (54) Mum's Last Night in Cairo
Egypt (55) Coptic Cairo
Eygpt (56) Khan el-Khalili Market
Egypt (57) Hotel Gift Shop
Egypt (58) QT with mum

Friday, January 29 2010

Our plan for the evening: Get airtime from the hotel gift shop, have dinner and wait for Zee to pick my mum up to go to the airport.

I'm about to make a loud entrance into the gift shop, but Mohammad and Hussain are praying so I take a few steps back out of the store. Mum and I look at some of the jewelry on display and wait for about two minutes before they're done praying.

Mohammad shows us some pendants and mum and I are interested in buying a couple of things. He continues to look at me with steamy (yes, steamy) eyes and now, even my mum is telling him to "Stop it, and behave with my daughter".

I'm surprised to see that he has a South African flag in his store. He says to me, "I told you I love South Africa."

While my mum is still looking through jewelry, I go next door to Hussain. He doesn't sell airtime and it doesn't look like he's willing to help me out, either.

Going back to the jewelery store, mum and I settle on what we want to buy. Mohammad says he's giving us a discount, but then adds that my mum needs to give him a tip... and then asks us for something/anything from South Africa to give him. (I wonder if that's how he got the South African flag?!)

I have absolutely nothing South African to give him, and nothing typically Korean either. My mum gives him a pen and I think some SA currency.

Going back to the hotel, I take a chance by asking the man at reception if he'd help me with my airtime.

He says that "Of course" he'll help me.  He'll get one of his friends to buy a voucher for me and he'll give me the code.

We tell him that we're going upstairs to the restaurant for dinner and he says that he'll come and give it to me as soon as he gets it. I'm surprised, but appreciative of this gesture.

"Thank you so much," I say to him.
"I only did it for your eyes," he says back to me.

Daaaaaaayuuuuummmmm!

Egypt (60) Dinner with Mum