The Ladies Market

A couple nights ago, Logan and I ventured to the Ladies Market. Which is not exactly what it sounds like at all. You don't shop for ladies, and the shops don't even necessarily cater to ladies. The market does, however, feature many Chinese women who will hit you on the arm if your offer for the stupid pair of sunglasses is too low.

The market's success is surely driven by the fact that it's very difficult for the average American to divide by the current exchange rate: 7.7. The market's failure is Wal Mart's success. These women seriously overestimate what I pay for cheap sunglasses anyway. But, seeins-how as Logan and I were just getting our feet wet in the whole negotiating thing, we paid about US$5 for the stupid sunglasses anyway. I don't even think I really wanted them. Oh well.

The next few stalls featured ties and belts. If I had been in the mood, I might have bargained my way into a sweet belt with a soaring eagle buckle the size of a grapefruit. I hadn't seen anything so disproportionately gaudy since Mercedes started making their medallions take up the entire hood of a car. The silk ties caught Logan's eye...well probably both of his eyes...and we bought a couple nice ones. I don't even know how it happened. We tried walking away from the stall several times, but they grabbed us back and said how much? how much?

The stall after that sold cheogasms and silk robes. I couldn't quite squeeze my breasts in to the first two skin-tight Chinese dresses I tried on, and did not care to try on a Chinese XXL. It's just bad for my self-image. But at that point we had already wasted several precious minutes of the hawkers time, and they weren't going to let us get out easy. The man in charge suavely blocked our exit with his alarmingly fat body and a handful of oversized handbags while the lady cried how much? how much? It did not seem to matter to her that we did not want the dress, and once again I found myself walking out of the stall with a silk robe that I only moderately desired.

Finally we found a no-bargaining stall with racks and racks of women's clothing for about $USD 1.50-3.00. Logan was kind enough to hold my purse as I dug though the racks like a maniac finding 3 or four diamonds amongst the rough.

We ended our market adventure at a Thai restaurant hidden behind all the stalls. We got yellow curry with chicken and this amazing ginger noodle dish (the noodles were skinny slices of ginger).