Second time unlucky

On Monday, I made another trip to Expo 2020, this time with Mira. It wasn't a smooth ride like last time - we had to wait 2 hours in the mid-day sun for the Expo Rider bus from Sharjah. the queue was so long that we could get into the 4th bus only. 

We were dead tired and near hungry by the time we reached, so my first expedition after the customary trip to the washroom was to hunt for an affordable eatery. Before that, I visited the pavilions of Belarus and China in Opportunity District where we got off the bus. The expo app told me that apart from Jailbird that I patronised last time, there was an IKEA cafe in Sustainability District. Since Mira, like most peevish teens insisted that she will only eat with her friend when she arrived, I went on the cafe hunt alone. It wasn't any less cheap - pennywise Indians carry food to the venue - but at least I could rest my weary legs and enjoy the little breeze. 

Mira was still waiting on an empty stomach - save for a croissant each we had during the journey - so I carried something for her and then went away on my pavilion visits. I visited only the small and queue-free ones, many of them small islands like Nauru and Tuvalu, and zealously collected the country seal in the Expo passport Ash had got for free on his school trip in early October. For others, the Expo passport comes at a small charge of Dh 20.

I concluded my visits with the Iran pavilion at 8 pm and went off to get a Nashville burger for Ash. By then, M was waiting for her meal at Domino's with her friend after an unsuccessful wait in the queue at the South Korea pavilion designed like the Squid Game sets. 

We had a return pass to board the 9 pm bus, but when we reached the queue was daunting yet manageable. Unlike in the afternoon, there were enough buses to take all those waiting with a pass, and we reached Sharjah terminus by 10.30 pm. V came to pick us up. M vowed she was not making another bus ride and would go with her dad next time. 

p.s. I managed to lose V's Tommy Hilfiger cap at the site, juggling as I did cap, mask and passport in the heat and heard no end of it from him. I have made a missing report on the Dubai police app; though caps are the least likely to find its way back to the owner, I have great faith in our police force who return wallets and real passports (not the expo one) to their rightful owners in the shortest possible time.