Amanda and I got ourselves matching goggles. Pink of course. With an Olympic sized heated pool (28 degrees Celsius) I figured there are no excuses possible, even if I have to wear a hat.
Sanlitun Lu was in 1997 the place to go to party. A small street with a few clothing stalls on the left and expat bars and restaurants on the right. No culinary highlights but good fun and an easy atmosphere. I bought Chinese bowls and cups from the old couple down the street and we browsed the galleries with Chinese peasant paintings and “original” posters frequently. We made sure the girl who framed our pictures stayed in business; we were there a lot.
Yesterday we decided to revisit our old hangout for a late lunch and maybe some shopping. Instead of tiny bars and cafes we found one fancy restaurant after another, the one and only real Apple store, at least two Starbucks and cupcakes that would put Sprinkles to shame. Gone were the chaotic traffic were taxis, bikes and intoxicated westerners had to share the road, instead we saw Lamborghinis and Ferraris. There was not a bike in sight.
Instead of street stalls selling Polo Ralph Laurens shirts there was a massive indoor market. 5 floors of shopping heaven; if you like the sport of haggling. I had told the kids that in China we would find EVERYTHING, and finally they understood what I meant. We were on the lookout for a new backpack for Marcus, preferably with Super Mario or some Lego motif so we headed down to the basement floor. I’ve been away for a while and forgot the tricks of the trade. The haggling I can handle but the constant call for attention by the vendors is a bit annoying. “Hello! Lady! You need bag? Vely cheapa! Vely gooda! Look Malk Lacobs! You like? Huh? HUH? I give you good plice!” I know remember that in order to avoid this you have to walk steadily forward with a purpose. No browsing, no looking, no meeting any ones eye and definitely no chit-chatting with the vendors.
Mario was hard to find though; we bought a Wii game for 10RMB that didn’t work, three pairs of goggles for about 100RMB that were perfect, a brand name windbreaker negotiated down from 1800RMB to 400RMB but no back pack. In fact no-one seemed to know who Mario was. How was this possible? This is Asia, the Mecca of gaming. Mario is as famous as Deng Xiaoping these days. So what to do? Well the only thing we could think of was to ask Marcus to draw a picture of Mario and then maybe they would get it. The crowd started gathering while Marcus drew away with purpose and concentration, not noticing the sales people coming closer to see what he was up to. Finally, the only boy in the group exclaimed: “Chaoyi Mali! In China say Chaoyi Mali!” Great!
Our girl didn’t have it but she ran off to find one somewhere else. And we waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally she comes back with three back packs: two Ben Ten and one Cars. “Vely cheapa! Vely gooda! But, no Malio – solly.”
No comments:
Post a Comment