A hat and a lunch box.
How hard could that be?
I walked miles, up and and down Little India (where I figured tiffins might be an option).
Tiffins were an option but they too were rare and I couldn't find any carriers. Tiffins have fitting lids but don't 'click clack' seal so you have to carry them upright (or end up with your wallet swimming in the wet component of your lunch).
Finally in a remote corner, in a dark narrow shop with gaps of less than 18" between rows of shelving - the sort of place that sells stuff as eclectic and diverse as gaffer tape and notebooks, chocolate and flip flops, 12 kinds of fried snack food and an array of sugary drinks, umbrellas, phone covers and yard brooms.... right at the back an assotment of click- clack plastic lunch boxes.
Phew!
By then I had purchased golden raisins, dates and a long-sleeved T-shirt from various establishments. Still no hats.
Lots of baseball caps. They don't count as a sun hat - I need protection for the tops of my ears and the back of my neck along with 'keep the sun off my face' precautions I have to take.
Diversion to the fruit & veg shop I favour: pineapple, plantains, yoghurt, kabuli chana, beetroot... and (after some lessons and directions from a gentleman customer) ... mangosteen, chicoo*, and a variety of fresh dates.
It was only on the way home that it occured to me that in desperation I could attach a handkerchief to a baseball cap and fashion myself a Legionnaire's hat. By then I was back at Haji Lane (Arab Street) and recalled seeing a mannekin in a fashion shop window sporting a wide brimmed hat - a sort of Audrey Hepburn accessory and way too posh for my purposes, but I headed that way on the off chance.
So it was that I discovered, at the back of said fashion shop (run by an elderly couple) a stack of wide brimmed hats in an assortment of materials, colours and styles (but mostly Audrey Hepburn), and without dismantling the entire pile pointed to one near the bottom that appeared to have the widest brim, no frills, and a plain colour.
Thirty Singaporean dollars lighter and sporting my new hat, I strode home dragging the prizes of my hunting and gathering.
*Chicoo, it turns out, tastes a bit like Christmas - mildly cinnamon. See if you can spot them when Quiz Round 2 is posted next week.
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| Not quite a sombrero |
Love that hat! I have such a big head(!) that I generally have to wear men's hats.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteThat'll do!!! Chicoo... is that a slightly ovoid brown coloured thing? Quite tasty! YAM xx
Those the ones. Apparently the are from central America.
DeleteI have the opposite problem -- small head -- hats always fall down over my eyes. I like this one.
ReplyDeleteBetter hat bands might fix that.
Deleteme to on mens hats fitting better, but i do like your new hat..i think you were robbed. that is 21.86 and my big brim hat was 10 dollars. I thought merchandise would be cheaper there than here. its perfect are those click/clakc thingys...
ReplyDeleteMy Greek wide brimmed hat cost me 3 euros but I left it in UK thinking hats would be as plentiful and inexpensive here. This one came from a selection in a women's outfitters, not an isle at Jumbo. (Jumbo is a Greek "Warehouse' or what I imagine Wlmart is like).
DeleteWhat a lovely hat! I have one that I like that is lightweight and has vents in the crown. It’s a lifesaver when the sun is intense and you can feel the top of your head broiling, tee hee
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good hat hunter gatherer TM.
ReplyDeleteOh love the hat. I’m sure you’ll get many years of use from it.
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny how something that’s so easily obtained at home is so hard to find in a different country.
I wanted some cheap plastic coat hangers so I could hang my washing in the bathroom while I was in the uk. It took me ages to find some. Finally I did in a little hardware shop next door to the hotel Bloomsbury
They traveled all over the uk with me and got left in a hotel in Edinburg
I like those 'all things to all people' shops, full of stuff you never realised you wanted until you see it. I like your hat and the pretty design on it.
ReplyDelete