Bargains and Karaoke
27 August 2005 — This morning I was abruptly woken up by very loud “firing” noises, it was continuous and didn’t stop for a long time. I was quite alarmed, but turning over to look at Tommy, he didn’t even bother to stir, like it was no big deal?!? When I pressed him, he muttered something about firecrackers and fell straight back to sleep. Turns out some shop further down the road was celebrating their opening, but Tommy says whenever he hears the firecrackers, the first thing he thinks is when the shop will be closing down. ‘Cos with the speed that the economy is booming, shops shoot up very fast but also go bust soon after. (and it’s true, in the last fews days, I’ve heard firecrackers going off at least once per day. Now it’s also no big deal to me.)
On a lighter note, haha, today’s the day. We’re going to Xiang Yang market, and you know what that means — imitation bargains galore! And our tour guide for the day is Norrita. Apparently she lives only 10 minutes away and comes here every weekend to shop! Unfortunately today I was so busy shopping that I forgot to take pictures, only got a few, so will do so another day ok?
Hey turns out bargaining is very tiring ok… and also demands a lot of acting skills! When you can’t get the price you want, you have to pretend to be outraged and walk away, but not so fast that they can’t stop you to give it to you. Another technique, which I noticed Norrita used most effectively is to deh them into giving you the price… she always goes “can lah… can lah…” with a very cham look on her face. Seems to also work, or at least for her.
But of course the best actors and actresses are the stallholders themselves, definitely Oscar/金马奖 calibre. They will fool you into thinking you have utterly defeated them with your bargaining prowess only to have you discover two shops down, someone else is selling the same thing for a fraction of the price you paid. Sigh… that’s the price you have to pay for mastering the skill. And buyers beware, not all imitation goods are created equal. You have to learn the system. The products are actually categorised into A, B or C groups, with A goods being the best quality, i.e. neater finishings, straighter sewing, softer leather etc. With the C quality goods, they’re so bad that you’re either too embarressed to be seen with them or if you can bring yourself to use them, be prepared not to return home with them that day. Basically treat them like disposable goods lah, cause they can potentially disintegrate right before your very eyes. So make sure you’re paying the “right” price for the respective category.
Unfortunately, the real queen, Lynn, wasn’t with us today. Her reputation for bargains far precedes her. Would really have liked to see her in action and learn a trick or two. Nonetheless, I would like to think I did quite well, or did I really?
For 500 RMB, I ended up with 3 bags, 2 belts, 2 keychains and a purse, with brands ranging from Coach to BCBG to Gucci! Haha, like real! And I think I was pretty controlled, Norrita, who may I remind you goes every weekend, ended up with 5 bags! And actually truth be told, we only stopped when both of us literally ran out of money. Waited for Tommy to deliver more, but the idiot, fell asleep while getting a massage and so didn’t answer our calls. Must come back another day of course!
For lunch we went to a Turkish place to have kebabs. Slightly messy but yummy!
Our program for the night: Karao-we-oke! Wah lao, I’ve never seen a more “ostentatious” setting for a karaoke, just look at it will you?!?
This place is called 迷城/The Lost City and indeed it’s huge! The rooms are located on 3 levels down long winding corridors, and if you make the wrong turn, you just might get lost, or is that just me? Really like an Egyptian labyrinth!
And loud as it might be, I actually quite like the place, like as though you’ve stepped through a portal into a different space. It’s all in the name of fun. The rooms were actually very new and clean too, and the sound system is rather amazing. Thank gawd the rooms are sound-proofed very well.
The only grievance is that the song selection is not that up to date, but that’s not going to stop us from belting out oldies at the top of our lungs!
The king in this case is undoubtably Tommy! (I’m surprised he had a voice the next day.)
Leanne and I tried, but no fight.
Tommy & Lynn’s rendition of “Unchained Melody”
The cost: 40 RMB per room per hour. That’s already the weekend rate. So cheap!!!