Erin & An Arab

I took my best girl out today. I promised her I'd buy her something if she finished the writing book in 3 weeks. I'm glad she did. She probably had help from her mom. It was good nonetheless.

So we went out & we just walked around SM. She chatted up on what has been happening since the last time I saw her about her grandfather having a stroke & has difficult seeing which of course I'm really sorry to hear. She also talked about something about her mom & this co-worker that she has been seeing and her of course being together. I think what she was trying to say is that they went out or something. Being a 5 year old she left out the details. I'm glad she got to spend time with her mom. I've always felt that Erin was being neglected but I guess that is me feeling guilty not seeing her often.

I bought her a small billiard table that came with a overpriced tag price because it was branded off with HighSchool Musical, which seems to be very appealing to her. It seems to me that the whole world is akin to the show. All fruity songs about love and whatnots and whatcoulds.

Interestingly enough I caught up with my own parents at Starbucks. They talked a bit and since they were still waiting for my sister for dinner & they asked us to join them. Hey! It's a free dinner so why not. Since there was nothing much to do, I asked if she wanted to go ride the roller coaster. Being the kid and all you could see her eyes light up. I guess I forgot to mention that I am a bit strapped for cash but this is my best girl we are talking about so I went ahead with it. She always enjoyed that roller coaster maybe because she was in the mood for a little adrenalin. I didn't mind myself. I told her about this interesting tidbit I caught wind of in CSI. One of the leads rode the roller coaster when he got depressed or wanted to think. I myself would want to try something like that I guess but the ride at SM lacks the adrenalin I'd like to endure.

Anyway, we went back & had dinner at Tempura. She tried to use the chopsticks and started playing with it. The kind waiters saw her frustration and mine trying to learn and me trying to teach her how to use it, they proffered up a banded up pair used to train them for use. I told her to eat her vegetables and had some noodles too! I'm very proud of Erin when she knows when to behave. I don't mind her being a bit naughty sometimes, it's part of a kid's life I guess. It's both endearing and engaging to see her decide what's right and wrong then act on it.

After dinner, I asked her to join me so that we can walk around & I ended up with my usual after meal cigarette. I tried to test her on counting and this Arab nearby saw us and tried to teach her himself. It was kind of surprising and he was teaching my best girl to count in Farsi. There were only 2 numbers that I remember. Nen is 2 and Ashram is 10. I was looking at Erin and she suddenly became shy but you could also see he was curious as to who this stranger was.

I talked with the guy a bit and he says he was from the U.A.E. with family for vacation. I remember a friend working in Abu Dhabi that mentioned that it was summer there so I guess this warm weather isn't as bad. We are just probably not used to it.

We went back to Tempura and I just couldn't help smiling at Erin because I just knew she had an interesting day. I had one myself and I'm glad I spent it with my best girl!