MEGA MALL...

Seriously people, I have said this before that the Russians don't do 'small'. Well this would also be the case in their malls that are situated on the outskirts of Moscow. There are three of them and we chose to go to Khimki. This one was at the end of our Metro line and then you get a free bus to the mall - well we managed to get the wrong bus and so it cost us 25 roubles but heh that's another story. Anyway anyway anyway - this mall was HUGE - holy cow i've never seen anything like it, well not in Britain. As Graeme and I walked through it we were greeted with signs like M&S, H&M, Bodyshop, Lush, ELC (early learning centre for those without children!) and the list goes on! You could literally be in a mall in America and there would be little difference. There was a massive ice skating rink in the middle as the Russians do love their ice skating! So, our main objective was to have a look in Ikea to see if it was going to be as horrendous as we imagined...mmmm...might well be. We managed to get distracted by a Burger King sign on the way to Ikea - had to stop off for a Vopper which is the bizarre equivalent to the whopper as if said by an English person trying to impersonate a German soldier - ' I vant a Vopper and I vant one now!'  - Indeed. There is an art to ordering fast food here as there are no 'meals' and you have to order everything separately - I obviously learnt this the hard way as I ordered a burger and drink but ended up with no chips so then had to queue again and order chips 'King Fry' as they are called in Burger king. I did manage to order some onion rings which might have been by mistake, I'm not sure but I wasn't complaining. You must think we are being very slack by running into a Burger King but actually it's because we're genuinely eating really well here and certainly not eating as much at home so when you see a fast food chain it does get the old blood racing - FAT FAT FAT must consume immediately. Plus we haven't been able to go out in the evenings to eat or at lunch times as i'm usually with Arthur and so until we get into our new flat and get a babysitter we are stuck eating on the run usually when we are out and about. I'll have plenty of stories soon of local Russian cuisine...well, as long as it doesn't include strange bits of animal as you know what I'm like with meat - if I see a bit of fat or a vein or anything to make it look like it came from an animal then you can forget it.

So after our consumption of as much fat as we could eat in 10 minutes we sauntered into Ikea. It is exactly the same as any Ikea in the world - a place of joy and happiness - errr no. The biggest problem that we are going to have is the fact that all the signs and delivery instructions - well, you know, EVERYTHING is in Cyrillic which let's face it - Graeme and I have had problems ordering stuff in the Ikea in England and so I'm feeling slightly nervous about this situation. We also have to arrange delivery which is all regulated by different zones in Moscow and then also different prices for how many floors they have to go up - we're on the 6th floor so I think we'll have to pay quite a lot especially if things can't fit in the tiny elevator in the building! We also have to order a couch which is L shaped but we have to make sure the L is on the right and not left plus we need to make sure everything is the right colour.....you see where i'm going with this...it's complicated. I've emailed our agent that has helped us find a flat to see if she will come with us but I haven't heard back yet...mmm wonder why.

The good news is that we did find everything that we wanted and I think the flat will look great once we've got all the stuff in...getting to that point may be quite traumatic but once it's done we'll be nearly there! The mall also had a massive Auchan - the French supermarket and so this will be good for getting all our basics every month. So yes, the mall was about 4 football pitches in size and has allayed any fears about not being able to find certain things.

On Sunday we went up to the new flat to measure the rooms to make sure all the furniture we're planning to buy will fit. Our crate from home with our other stuff is still in Britain and so I'm not sure when we'll be getting that. The Russians have also changed their import laws on animals and so the cats and dog will not be flown out until October 7th now as the paperwork has trebled and we now have to pay 4 euros per kilo of their weight too....honestly, they change the bloody rules here daily. We also have to come back to Britain for four days in November to collect Graeme's work visa from the Russian embassy in Britain as they have changed some rule on that as well....make up your mind people. I'm coming home with three empty suitcases and buying lots of stuff that I can't get here or that is mega expensive. It will be good for my air miles too but in the end i'd rather not fly a 3.5 hour flight with a crazy one year old if I don't have to.

Arthur is turning into a complete monkey - that's the nice way of putting it... ; )  He doesn't stop speaking now - or babbling with the odd word thrown in. Pointing and shouting out insane jibber jabber seems to be the way forward. How does he have so much to say having experienced so little of the world? Maybe he's talking about the shelving units in Ikea and I'm blissfully unaware of the conversation. He storms everywhere with his finger out pointing and usually shouting with a furrowed brow - a very intense brow indeed. Arthur doesn't walk he 'Storms'. When we were at the new flat on Sunday he just ran round in circles through his bedroom into the hall through the sitting room and then always ending up in the kitchen at the dishwasher as it has lots of buttons. If you say 'Arthur, come back please' he just turns around totally ignoring you and storms off in the opposite direction finger held aloft shouting 'no no no!' Excellent. We also play a good game where I get a box and sit of the sofa and then I tell him to go and get his blocks that he has thrown all over the floor and he gets one at a time and puts them in the box. This is quite good although after a few blocks I say 'get one more block' and he looks at me as if to say 'I know what you're up to here mother, I seem to be doing all the work and you as usual are sat on your fat behind' Yes dear, it's called 'I'm higher up the food chain, now go get me another block'.

The sun is bright in the sky today and feels quite hot - I think it is about 18 degrees and so we're off to a play park and hopefully find a sand pit. Towards the end of the week the temperature is dropping to 5 degrees and -2 at night so I better make the most of this sunshine!