Retail therapy

Hong Kong is really a beautiful place when the typhoon has shifted up north to China, and the grey clouds have all rolled away.

On a day like today, bored little girls who've spent too much time on Hong Kong island can't resist traversing the channel to the 'other side'. Kowloon has the coolest Chinese name I've ever come across - Nine Dragons.

Just like every other expatriate, I was in search of true Hong Kong bargain shopping, and there's no better place to start than at Lui Yan Kai (Ladies Market) in Mongkok. A long line of streets is littered with peddlers of all kinds of wares. From clothes to shoes to table runners to fake watches and imitation Prada bags, not to mention a disturbing amount of Hello Kitty accessories, you can find just about anything (and more) at Lui Yan Kai.

The process of bargaining is indeed an intricate art I've never quite mastered. My mother is the expert when it comes to cutting prices down by a half. Me? I'm too concerned with not having angry stall owners chasing me down the street throwing Cantonese obscenities over my shoulder. The technique of bargaining is a intriguing binary search beginning with the seller quoting a price and you saying you'll take it for nothing more than half of that. Most times (with successful bargain queens - i.e. not me) you'll settle for somewhere at the 75% notch. They like me because I'm pretty satisfied with just shaving a few dollars off.

I found several things. And at the end of the day, the cost of retail therapy came up to quite a heft price. But it was all worth it, I tell myself, until I realise that I've bought enough dresses to see me through a week's worth of cocktail parties. Nevermind that they are 'sui for' and as a result they've got a few threads loose and don't fit perfectly. Nothing a trip to mum's tailor back in KL can't fix.

In the theme of pampering myself and carving out my tai-tai-to-be lifestyle, I went for a foot massage last Sunday, and today I'm off for a facial. I'll tell you about it another day.