Junior party (and we’ll cry if we want to) 2011-07-09
Last night’s Junior Party…
Was a bit of a disappointment, really. After last year’s party in Singapore, with well-organised buses and good food and entertainment and goody bags, we were hoping for a bit more from the party in Turkey than we got.
We took a taxi back to the hotel to leave the robots and computers there, then returned to the Expo Center to catch the shuttle bus to the party. This was held at Star City outlet centre – a shopping mall with a food court, and we didn’t much fancy lugging 2 laptops, a suitcase and a Gratnells box full of robots around with us. Buses were supposed to leave the Expo Center from outside Hall 11 from 5.30 onwards, with the last bus departing at 6.30, so we felt that aiming to be back at the Expo Center by 5.45 should mean we were in good time to get the bus.
There was a vast sea of people waiting outside the Expo Center to catch the bus to the part – several buses worth – and we had to wait for over an hour before we were transported to the party.
Once at the mall, we passed the amusement park at the gate, which looked to have some fairly savage rides in it, but we were directed up to the top floor, where the food court was. We could hear sounds in the distance (which sounded a lot like RoboCup Dance) but could not see anything due to the vast number of people there, so decided that our only option was to eat. So we had some of the Turkish equivalent of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The food was not supplied at the party – we had to buy our own.
As the boys were not interested in shopping at the mall, we decided to leave, and, if the shuttle bus was not yet operational for the return journey, to take a taxi back to the hotel. However, as we passed the amusement park at the mall entrance, we were waved at and told that the rides were all free tonight. Now, if we had known that BEFORE we had eaten, we might have been able to make rather more use of them than we did. Andrew and Eric had a couple of rides on the dodgems each but wisely avoided the rides that turned you upside down and spun you round fast.
For a bit of variety, after taking the shuttle bus back to the Expo Center, we took the Metro and the Metro-Bus back to the hotel. I topped up my Istanbulkart (the Istanbul equivalent of an Oyster Card) with 20 Turkish lira – at least, I attempted to; the first time I tried, I only succeeded in exchanging the 20 L note for a pocket full of 20 1-lira coins. Second time I was lucky and managed to put some money on to the card.