Throngs

Karahan spoke wistfully of the throngs of tourists that used to pack into his gift shops.

Cheese-lover Pujeh had registered as a judge so that he could enter two parts of the competition. In one, amateur and professional cooks fired up their grills to feed throngs of hungry judges. In the other, visitors received free cheese from corporate sponsors and small businesses while they enjoy performances on the festival's large stage.

In the cloudy, yet sunny, afternoon was my third walk of the day, here on Lulu Island. I was at Yummy Slice pizzeria to drink a grey-can Diet Coke. I exercised with my hand grip strengthener at my table. Sachet the Gujarati and Navjot the Punjabi were the vendors. There were throngs of parents with their Eurasian kids, eating or ordering pizza. I visited Kin's Farm Market. The radio was playing Xmas songs. Leo, the Cantonese vendor who speaks also Mandarin, exclaimed, "Viktor, bā bái!" The fragrance of baked Japanese sweet potato, "yaki-imo" in Japanese, "rostita batato" in Esperanto, was tempting. There was a metallic rectangular oven with heated stones inside. The colourful fruits enthralled me. The durian was still so dear! Today is the 9th of December of 2024.