Shopping day!
We woke bright & early in anticipation of our shopping spree. Judy was taking us to a local 'market' (a small building filled with tiny shops, 3 levels I think...) to get some 'branded' bags ;)
The place: SHANGHAI HONGQIAO DA TONG YANG MARKET along Jin Hui Road.
Upon arriving at the shop, our big group consisting of all the big name choreographers & little ol' me (plus hubby) were quickly hurried inside and to the back of the shop. Judy said our large group milling outside the shop was too conspicuous. Since the shop was selling fake goods, we had to be discreet in case we attracted the attention of the authorities. Whoooo....hooo....it was all so 'undercover' like :)
We were whisked into the first section, whereupon the owner opened a thick door and we went through that to a larger second section where more bags were neatly displayed. And then he opened another thick door & that led to the 3rd section where there were more bags. In the 2nd room, he opened a side door & brought out bags upon bags from his stockpile. We had SO many to choose from.....Coach, Louis Vuitton....you get the picture. Everything was heaped on the floor for us to choose.
Midways through our shopping, the owner suddenly started throwing the bags very very quickly back into his stockpile room. I was told they got wind that the authorities were making their rounds so they closed the shop & we waited inside. What an experience..haha....
After all the brouhaha, Allan ended up buying an LV wallet; I got myself an LV ladies' wallet & a Prada handbag. Total: RMB270.
Allan's wallet
My 'Prada'. It comes with a detachable sling
so I can interchange between short & long
My wallet
While browsing through the other shops, I got myself a small backpack (RMB50). Very handy, small but fits quite a lot of my stuff. It served me well throughout the remainder of my stay in Shanghai & Hangzhou.
By this time, we were running out of renminbi. Good thing to note here for when you travel to China: all the vendors we crossed path with did not accept credit card. We had to pay with cash. Luckily for us there was a bank down the road. We hailed a local 'toot toot' vehicle, paid him RMB10 to ferry us down to the bank, wait for us & then ferry us back.
View from the ride
Waiting for Allan at the bank
Lunch was across the street with Judy & the instructors. I was so busy shopping & eating I totally forgot to take photos of the shops, lunch & lunch mates. :(
Next stop after lunch was SHANGHAI HONG QIAO INTERNATIONAL PEARL CITY on Hong Mei Road, Chang Ning area.
The vendors here speak English quite fluently and it was a lot easier to bargain & purchase stuff.
I bought another bag! (roll eyes) I'd been looking for a bag like this since I saw it back home but couldn't find one. So when I saw it here, and the price was within what I intended to pay, I snapped it up. Bargained it down to slightly below a third of the opening price.
Beneath the network of weaves is a sequined layer.
So the 'bling' shines through & gives an interesting effect.
I told myself that I must get a custom-made qi pao (cheongsam) from Shanghai. I'd missed the first trip to Judy's tailor where the others had their measurements taken. This was before I arrived.
And later when I was introduced to the tailor again at the closing dance, she didn't have the cheongsam fabric with her and I didn't know when I would have time to visit her shop. So when I happened upon a whole floor of tailors offering their services I quickly made a beeline for one.
The shop assistant offered very friendly & efficient service.
Allan's suit (& pants under the coat)
My qipao
(lighting is not so good when photo was taken)
Allan made a full business suit for RMB500 & my qipao was RM380 (with silk lining). Our measurements were taken & recorded around mid afternoon. By 10pm the next day, we received our orders. That's what I call quick service. They delivered directly to our serviced apartment. The qipao fit perfectly! Allan's suit fit him perfectly too.
And the good news is, whenever we want any suit or dress done by them, we just have to email them with the photo of the dress/suit & they will tailor it to our recorded measurements. The finished product will be mailed to us. Should we gain weight or vice versa, we'll just email them our new measurements. :)
Our shopping completed, we headed back to the apartment for some rest & freshen up. Then it was dinner with the Kinsers at our favourite restaurant down the road.
After dinner we took a taxi to a nearby shopping mall called Metro City. It's totally like our shopping malls back home so it didn't hold much interest for us. The prices were higher than back home!
One more day of shopping tomorrow before we leave for Hangzhou on the 8th of September.
No comments:
Post a Comment