The beautiful and the ugly

So I went to Huaihai Rd to buy some stuff today, and also the Science and Technology Museum markets. I WALKED all the way to Huaihai Rd. I swear it took me at least an hour and a half. I love walking in Shanghai though, even if my feet are so sore now and my thighs hurt because my skin's really dry (because of the cold). Not only that, I walked from 700 and something Huaihai Rd to 93 Huaihai Rd. That's like, insane walking, people. But it's pretty impossible to get lost in Shanghai. There's subway station entrances with English subway maps everywhere, all you have to do is find one and interchange as many times as you want until you get to a station that has the one that takes you home. My destination was Chaterhouse Booktraders which is in Times Square mall, amongst a mega-sized Apple store, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci and other stores. Unfortunately, after all that walking I couldn't find the bookstore. I asked the concierge and found out that it was closed down. LAME, it was still open last year! So my uncle's taking me to another English bookstore after piano practice tomorrow because he's got a day off from work tomorrow.

Anyhow, I went to H&M (I've checked: the only clothing stores that aren't too overpriced but still sell normal clothing in China are H&M, American Eagle, Zara and Gap. I think I prefer H&M). There's nothing special about H&M, and I probably wouldn't be clothes-shopping in Shanghai of all places if it weren't for the fact that I am seriously in need of some absolute necessities. I got everything cheaper than normal because today a lot of stuff was on sale. First off, I needed a pair of jeans. I realised I had absolutely no pants to wear on the day of my flight because ALL of my jeans would be in the wash. My uncle turns the washing machine on once a week so yeah, you can see why. I brought over lets see...three pairs from Sydney plus I bought a pair from H&M about one week into my holiday. Anyhow, I needed another pair for the plane so I went to H&M yet again. The pair of jeans (which set me back 150 yuan, which is like 23 dollars so it's cheap but not exactly oh-wow cheap either) was something I really needed. I didn't want to go onto the plane in jeans I'd already worn for two days. Ick. So I'm not bringing any pants to America other than the new ones I will be wearing because there won't be  time for my clothes to dry. I'll be buying all the clothes I need in America. I plan on washing all my clothes after my shower on Saturday night and then waking up the day of the flight (Sunday) and hanging them up before I leave. I'm pretty much done packing and I have to say, even though I'm bringing two large suitcases (because of that damn huge sheepskin), they're both really light. I'm bringing my pyjamas, hoodie, 2 tops and that is pretty much it. The rest is souvenirs, outerwear clothing (I have A LOT of that, none of which I've worn because a lot of it isn't warm enough) and shoes (2 pairs). It's nothing compared to the suitcases I had from Sydney. As I was saying, the majority of my clothes will be in Shanghai drying while I'm in America. So I will have to buy A LOT of clothes there.

I also bought a disgusting knit long sleeved thing to wear over a long sleeved shirt. I bought it even though it was disgusting because it was cheaper than the other nicer-looking ones, surprise surprise. That cost me $15. Which I definitely wouldn't pay for something that ugly in Australia, but whatever. I needed one badly because I've worn my current one everyday for a month, I swear (I didn't expect it to be this cold and me having to wear it) It's not like anyone will see it, anyway. I'll be wearing it over a shirt but underneath my outerwear to keep warm. Item number three was a hoodie. Also exceedingly ugly (I'm not sure which was uglier) but again, it was $15 and no one will see me in it because I'll be wearing that over my pyjamas when I go to bed (it'll be cold at nighttime where I'm going). Again, I've been wearing my current hoodie to bed for a month because I only packed one. Wearing something for a month was gross enough to motivate me to buy the hideous thing. I also bought some nicer stuff though, don't worry. Not everything was that ugly. I bought a wallet because the fabric on my old one was starting to tear away (I've had it for at least two years). I went to the same markets I bought the Louis Vuitton bag from, and the lady from that stall recognised me! It was so freaky. Especially considering I don't look THAT distinguishable, right? Especially in China. But three weeks later, she still recognises me. I didn't buy the wallet from her though, I've refined my haggling skills now. I offered her $4 max, and she said no and allowed me to walk away, so I went to about five other stalls (all have the same wallet) and increased my offer each time by a dollar. This is how it usually goes (at almost all the stalls, the shopkeeper pretty much stalks you as you browse):

Me: How much is this wallet?
Owner (pulls out calculator): You know what, sometimes you see prices as high as *types $100 onto calculator* but I can see you're a student, so I'm offering you a discount. How about $30?
Me: No, sorry. I'm willing to pay $5
Owner: No. No one can sell it to you for that price. Come on, what's your last offer? Do a real offer. This is Juicy! It's good quality! It even has pockets. It's real leather.
Me: *thinks to self: yeah, sure* I'll pay at most $7 *walks away*
Owner: *calling after me* Okay, fine! How about $20? $10? NINE DOLLARS, come on!
Me: *still walking away*

When the owner lets me walk away, it means my offer's too low. And it continues like that at every stall, each time with me increasing my offer by a dollar and walking away until finally:

Me: I'll pay $8 for this wallet.
Owner: Impossible. No one around here's going to give it to you for that price. Look, how about $10?
Me: No, $8 *starts walking away*
Owner: Wait, $9?
Me: *shakes head and continues walking away*
Owner: Okay, okay! $8.50! Just increase it by 50cents!
Me: No *about to walk away again*
Owner: *throws hands up in defeat* okay, fine, fine! Come and choose your colour.

It's actually quite fun haggling in the fake designer markets! I would do it like everyday if I had the money :) Funnily enough, I actually speak in English at the markets (everyone speaks English to some extent because the majority of their customers are foreigners). I tried Shanghainese but not many shopowners could speak it, even though they understood it, because most of them weren't Shanghai natives. So I got my wallet. It's kind of a weird wallet but I like it. Probably wouldn't have gone over $8 for it though (which is like 50 yuan), so I just managed to get it for that price. I'm glad because I definitely didn't get ripped off this time, I tried 45 yuan about twice at two different stalls but no one would sell it to me so I upped it to 50 at another stall. Whereas the Louis Vuitton bag, I just tried one stall. I also got some cute warm fuzzy booties from H&M because as I said, it'll be cold and I want to wear them around the house. Those were about $10.

It was about 5 o'clock when I was done and I didn't want to walk home, so I caught the subway. The first one I caught to Jing'an temple was alright. It was crowded to the point where you couldn't stick your arm out without touching someone, but it was bearable. I had to interchange to another line at the temple though, and this one was SO crowded! To the point where no one needed to hold onto a railing because it was impossible to fall, you were cushioned from all sides by people. And the subway comes every 3 minutes, and each one can hold hundreds of people! It's insane. Usually it's not so crowded but I had bad timing, because it was when people were finished with work and school. Otherwise I'd be able to get a seat. But as I was saying, this particular subway (kill you line 7) was so bad. I couldn't answer my phone because it was so squashed I didn't have the room to take my phone out. At least there's less chance of pickpockets. I mean to pickpocket someone on that subway you'd have to poke at least three people in the process, and then probably get your hand stuck between people after you get the wallet and well no pickpocket's going to be stupid enough to do that. I was about 2 metres max away from the door and I could barely get out, I was so panicked because the subway doors stay open for about 30 seconds, if even that.

I've got tomorrow to go, and then I'm leaving on Christmas day! I went to the supermarket today and got Sugus (chewy candy) for the plane in case my ears pop. They have Sugus in Sydney, I'm pretty sure everyone's seen it at some oriental supermarket. I also picked up a packet of chips ('American classic flavour', which looked pretty plain and safe). Now I don't usually go for the original flavoured, but the alternatives were flavours like 'cool blueberry', 'lobster cheese' and 'numb and spicy hotpot', so I say better safe than sorry.

My plane's at 1pm :) next post will probably be on Christmas at the airport! I hope they have wi-fi at Pudong airport. I think I remember they do. Then when I get to California at 9:30 am it'll still be Christmas. Yay.

The beautiful...

...and the ugly