Thursday Miho (Japanese teacher) was kind enough to take Yoko and I to the wholesale market called Manhattan. I must assure you, the pronunciation of Manhattan is an entirely different thing and it was only when I saw it written down that I realized. Sounds more like "Mahaadeen." In any case, the only resemblance to the New York island is that it is packed full of way too many of everything.
The first floor is the most random floor where you can purchase anything from soap to huge decorative furniture. Second floor mostly household items from window blinds to bathroom fixtures and third floor holds media devices, cookware and things like leather massage chairs and wrinkle free steamers for clothes. Large furniture like couches, wicker chairs and dining sets make the fourth floor much quieter. A good place to go for a bit of rest before taking on the first floor!
Thank goodness for Miho! She easily maneuvered us around (she speaks Chinese very well) and helped us to purchase a rice cooker, dish drainers and bright coloured shower curtains to enliven that drab sticky space. The difficulty is in the bargaining. One never accepts the first price but must always bargain down a bit to get to something more sane. This is the hardest part for me. I have listened and listen to the Chinese numbers but for some reason they are not sticking in my brain. Furthermore, trying to think of many numbers in a very short time, calculate the difference in $US so I have a vague idea of what I might be spending, WHILE trying to discern what is a good price and what is too high when even a DVD player is maybe stated at Yuan 200 (US 22 or so) proves to be very mind boggling. Mostly this is what happens: I stroll up and sort of point and remark about a lovely red skillet and within seconds someone is by my side rapidly speaking about the amazing qualities of said skillet (or something). I say something random in English and shake my head and rummage in my bag for piece of paper and pen, which in turn clues her in to finding some type of calculator. She punches in a number for the price of the skillet, which of course is very high since I do not speak Chinese and thereby am certainly a foreigner who does not know diddly squat and will pay an exorbitant amount. I punch something else in, very low and she looks at me like I am crazy and then puts down the calculator. Thus, I walk away in order to quickly get called back to a slightly lower price which I decline…the price gets lower…by this time I really only wanted to know the price of the lovely red skillet and I really do not have 100 some Yuan to pay for it. And so the saga continues. I must admit I have bought a few things I really didn't want already because I am a softy and I can't bear to say no when I can't explain why. Not expensive things but for instance, the kitchen now supports a very bright pink trashcan to remind me of my gullibility. Ha.
Added note: The rice cooker that Yoko and I bought ended up not working. It was quite a disappointment after we bought rice and some veggies, chopped them all up and then discovered our rice cooker only kept things warm and refused to cook anything. We waited awhile until our rice and veggies were just slightly warm but then gave up. I was worried about exchanging the thing since I did not receive any kind of receipt but when I arrived at the spot the lady quickly understood my gestures, we tried it out, it still didn't work so she promptly pulled out a new one and handed it to me (we tested it first of course). So hurrah! I was happy the rest of the day! Yesterday, then was Yoko and I's first meal in our apt. Such an achievement!
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