“Would you like a Mao Bookmark, Helen?”
I was sorting through my remaining yuan, Chinese banknotes that I call Mao money. His face appears on all the big notes, so I have a tendency to think in green Mao, blue Mao, and so on, where the humble and rare Jiao notes feature attractive ethnic minorities and are only good for a token toilet fee.
“Oh what a lovely idea. I would love a Mao bookmark”. Helen responded, looking up from her e-reader. “But I don’t really need one now that I have one thousand books stored on my e-Reader and Kindle.” Helen doesn’t do things by halves when it comes to relaxing travel toys!
I wandered back to my room, still pondering how to laminate my Mao money, my left over Thai Baht and other paper ephemera loitering at the base of my new fake Chanel overnight bag.
ALMOST ITALIAN 