It took us half an hour to find Panama Hattys restaurant. I attempted to use my iPhone map, realised I was reading it wrong, only to find it decided we were 'there' when we were standing in the middle of the street. Lissa made sure I didn't get run over- we don't have trams where I live so I spent a lot of time staring at the tram lines. It was easier to communicate as she wore her CI this time, though I did wonder why she was pointing and saying 'Look, shinytown!'-- oh, CHINA town! We do have an accent barrier.
After 20 minutes of running around she said 'Why don't you just ask someone?'. Well, that's admitting defeat! I asked a couple for directions, but in a broad Liverpudlian accent they told me they 'weren't from round 'ere'. Then I found a man who gave us vague directions, but we still couldn't find it. In the end I phoned the restaurant and a loudly speaking lady gave me directions.
The heat was sweltering- I was wiping sweat off my forehead all day. After a while, we'd come to the street the woman mentioned. Lissa's pointing and says 'look!'..'What?'... 'There'...I squint...there's a tiny sign which says Panama Hattys sideways.
We ran in and I went straight for the loo (it was a hot day) and ordered 2 lemonades. The loud but polite woman who worked there led us to a table in dimly lit area with ambient music. I drank my lemonade in about a minute. I had potato skins, which were a little disappointing- too crunchy, and chicken goujons which were delicious. Lissa had bbq ribs, and we shared fries and garlic bread (and ketchup!). The garlic bread was absolutely delicious- a soft bubbly bread covered in garlic butter.
The waiter who kept asking us if we liked our meal could have done with some training...I should have said something but I was very hot and just wanted to enjoy my meal. We were sat there with our hair up, both visibly wearing CI/hearing aids. He was extremely quiet, and the background music got quite loud at times. He had to ask me 3 times if we were enjoying our meals- the first time I didn't even know he was standing there!- and the third time all I could get was 'enjoy your meal?'. He came back later to ask if we wanted the dessert menu and it was the same performance.
Dessert was good, but not as spectacular as I expected. We both had Ben and Jerrys icecream sundaes- phish food and chocolate fudge brownie. They came with a strawberry, sprig of mint and some warm chocolate sauce, which was not as nice as it sounds. The look on Lissa's face when she saw the mint sprig was priceless! After I'd had my third lemonade, we decided it was time to go shopping, so we got up to go to the main counter and pay. The same quiet waiter walks past us and says something about paying, while waving his hand and running off. We pay. I ask Lissa 'what did he say?', she says 'I dunno!'...I didn't know either, but it cracked me up.
Then we went shopping- Lissa got a Harry Potter game and a word game for her Nintendo DSi. I sweated half to death in H&M and Primark with feet that are too big for a size 4 and too small for a 5 :-( then I got a pair of jeans, a skirt and a diary.
That was the end of our day, and we went home tired and happy!
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