Day 7 (30 Jun) - Shanghai
Today is our free and easy day, and it's the best day of the trip! We slept until 8+am, despite being energetic Singapore youths. Past few days of waking up at 6.30am and back to hotel at 11+pm was taking a toll on us. Surprisingly, all the aunties and uncles woke up earlier than us!
At 10 am after breakfast, the family of 6 jio us to go 襄阳市场 with them. We tried to jio Xiaofeng also, but no matter how we knocked her door or called her on the phone, she didn't answer. We thought she went shopping with Uncle Lee and Uncle Chen. Only the next day then we know that she slept until 11am, and continued sleeping after she had her lunch until evening. Frankly speaking, there's only one in the animal kingdom that can describe her most aptly.
Anwz 襄阳市场 is like our pasar malam, famous for selling 'branded' goods. Ironically, there is a '打击盗版, 支持正版' banner right at the entrance. It's a good example of a perfect competition market. The vendors are price takers, you know how to bargain, since if they refuse to sell, a few stalls down the road there will be another who sell exactly the same things. Tip: Just quote 20-30% of the vendor's initial offered price. If they bargain with you, STAY FIRM. If they tell you to f*ck off, raise the quote by 5 rmb at the next stall. Simple.
One interesting thing about 襄阳市场 is that they have LOTS of people trying to pull you off to see their hidden goods, sometimes hidden really far away. After I expressed my interest to buy wallet, a vendor brought us out of the market (!), across a street, into a shophouse, up several flights of stairs, into his secret warehouse. Finally I found a wallet I like and ask the guy how much is it. He said,"500 rmb." I reluctantly but truthfully told him, "Sorry, I've only 50 rmb." He was speechless.
We f*cked off ourselves.
After we came out of the shophouse, we 打车 to 新天地 to meet Youjie's NUS classmate, who lived nearby. 新天地 is a nice place with lots of cafes and bars. But its street has no shade and it was HOT! Despite that it was 梅雨季节 at that time of the year, but on that day or the next day, Shanghai 没雨 . And the temperature at that time may be as high as 40 degree celsius. We quickly hid inside Starbucks and drink ice kopi while waiting for Youjie's friend.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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