Music by gnash - imagine if ft. ruth b.
Markets. What a wonderful time. A time where you either become friends with the sellers or become enemies. We went back to the Ladies Market in Mong Kok on Saturday to get high end brands, at a bargaining low price. After our scope two weeks ago, we had in mind what we wanted to buy. Georgia, Frankie and I had a goal to grab a Fjällräven Kånken bag for as cheap we possibly could. Kånken bags are about $780HKD in store, however, at the market they sell them for $180HKD claiming they are good quality, and the real deal (fake news). The trick is to walk through the market and check out the different stalls that sold what you wanted, ask for the price and check the quality. Some stores may sell it for cheaper and others may have a different quality. Even just asking and walking away without bargaining, the sellers will automatically go lower. They are desperate. They just want the business. After a couple of stores, we found some kånken's with the colours we wanted. I was able to bargain down to $90HKD ($16NZD) because I looked like a local and I ended up becoming friends with the seller, who was really nice and spoke to me in Cantonese the whole time. I was able to pick up what she was saying however, talking back was a mission. We were there for about a solid half an hour chatting to her. She had been working at the Ladies Market for over 18 years. She wishes she had a desk job indoors, but because of her education, she was stuck outside selling goods in the heat. After going to her back store to find the colour I wanted, we finally said our goodbyes and went off to buy other things. I ended up buying some keychains the same price as I bought my bag for. I paid way too much for them, but I just couldn't be bothered bartering with this lady. Even though I wanted to grab items at the market as cheap as I could, I kept in mind that these are people's jobs. This is how they earn money to live. I found some glasses that I liked, and the stall was owned by an old grandpa. I didn't have the guts to bargain with him too much as the price of the sunglasses were already really cheap. I have found that a lot of grandpas and grandmas work here in Hong Kong. It's quite sad. Even at such an old age, they have to, it's how they get by.
On Sunday, it was a do nothing day. I felt very sick and tired. I ended up just staying in bed and having a rest. At about 4pm, I finally had the strength to get up and go out for a walk. I was planning to buy a basketball while I was here, so I could keep my fitness level up and play at the many basketball courts around but they were expensive that it wasn't worth buying if I was only going to use it for 2 months and leave it here. I went to check out some Cha Chaan Teng's, for future bites. Had dinner at Little Bao, honestly so yum, a bit expensive, but it was worth it. I then came back home and got ready for Week 4.