we decided to take the train to shen zhen, china this morning. we had planned to go earlier but you know how things go. had breakfast at friends again. yes, we loved it there. they had the BEST french toast. 2 slices of white bread with a thin layer of peanut butter between. the whole thing is sandwiched together, battered with egg, deep fried just slightly then served with a splash of condensed milk. YUM! it is SO good. and for only a dollar thirty with a cup of tea. mmmmMMMmmmm...
by the time we got off the train to china, it was about noon. by the time we got our one day visas and crossed the checks and border, it was about 1:30pm.
i saw a lady running from her restaurant toward us yelling, "come eat eat!"
the shoe shine guy called out, "one dollar, one dollar!"
i smiled and said no to the lady, and parkin kept yelling no to the shoe shiner, over and over again, yet he still persisted. he asked me if i wanted to leave, but i didn't care. i sort of wanted to go deeper into the city, a bit scared but curious.
"oh my god, get him away from me!" parkin yelled at me.
"one dollar, one dollar!" i heard the man yell out.
"NO!" then i saw parkin put his hand in his pocket. i thought that he had changed his mind, but he was protecting his wallet. i laughed because it felt like a maze trying to get away from these guys.
"SHIT!" i heard parkin say and i looked at him.
"he put some lotion crap on my shoe! LET'S GO! i can't stand this!"
we only walked a few feet on this newly encountered land, but i was too, ready to go back to lo wu. that was crazy. they were like birds flocking to bread. i felt horrible that they were so desperate for so little, but unfortunately, it is how life is there. and you might think why not just give him the dollar, but if parkin did, we would have been bombarded even worse.
we walked by some dim sum restuarants and decided to have a snack. we needed to rest from that crowd. as soon as we sit down, the tea guy convinced parkin to get some special tea. he would not leave until he said ok. it was not to my liking, so i refused. we feasted on har gows, shu mais, beef balls, and chicken feet.
we went into lo wu and checked out the little stands. it was pretty interesting. i looked into the tailor shops and asked about chuerng sahms, chinese dresses. the first shop quoted me about $700HKD and it woulda taken about 10 days. next. i found another shop and she only quoted me $350 and it would be done in a day. i looked at the books she had and the fabric swatches. i found a style i liked and fabric as well. parkin also got a chinese jacket made to wear when i wear my dress during the wedding and we were able to bargain with her: the dress and jacket for $420HKD... $54USD! i was also thinking about getting some pants made, but decided against it. instead, i got a long wool coat made for less than 60 bucks! i think that parkin could have talked it down lower for me, but i thought about how much i was willing to pay for a nice long winter coat, i'd just pay it. no use haggling for 7 bucks or so. but i think sixty bucks is a steal for a coat made to fit.
walked around and got some fake dvd's. i also picked up season 8 of friends but tried it when i got home and it didnt' work. *darn* i was also in search of a cute fake purse, but had no luck. instead i picked up a couple pairs of shoes, a couple of purses, and we got manicures, pedicures, and one hour foot/leg massages for ten US bucks. i was quite impressed by my bargaining skills. for one handbag, the girl started the price at 280HKD. i was able to talk it down to 60. another one i kind of liked, but not really started around 200HKD and i got it for 40. and for my shoes, i was able to get two pairs for 210HKD when one of them already cost 250.
*muahahahhahahaaa*
it was like a game and i was having a helluva time.
it was getting late and we didn't want to be there when it got dark. stories of gangsters and unjust fights scared us, so we head back to the train station... of course having to go thru immigration first. we got back to hong kong in enough time to hit the glasses store to pick up our new specs. after we dropped off our goodies back to the hotel, we had a quick bite at the nearby mc donald's then head to mong kok's ladies market, another popular street market.
pretty full day! finally, with my cold starting to fade, i enjoyed everything with a bit more gusto.
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