Shopping In The Morning
I have just returned from a long and tiring day out, most of it spent at Canal’s. Well, it’s not really tiring in the popular sense of the word; fatigued would be a more accurate description of me at the current moment.
I awoke at 7:30—late by KK standards but early for my current schedule—for a quick breakfast before setting out for a local shopping street, whose name literally translates to Orange-Yellow Temple. (My father and my brother had left the house one hour earlier for an hour of extremely early tennis.) None of the four of us knew the way, but my father had insisted that the 911 or 926 buses would deposit us right at its front door, so we set out after obtaining a little money. (The brother who played tennis got tired and declined to come.) Well, he was very wrong. We had to ask directions several times before being directed to the number 26 bus. And even then we had to walk quite a distance before we arrived.
The Orange-Yellow Temple is a huge market, located in the older section of the Big S, packed with bargains and chock-full of mathoms. (It’s Tolkien’s term for an item that you never use and never throw away.) I and my siblings were the last of the shopping group to arrive; when we arrived there, Ice, Broccoli, and about 8 other children were on a large crooked bridge waiting for us. They were also being photographed by eager locals who exclaimed over their hair and complexion. I suppose that 12 gweilo children is a sight to behold, indeed.
We separated into two groups; Ice, Jess, Nat, and I formed one group and the rest formed the other. My group went a-walking and eventually ended up at a few shops. Some bargaining later, a highly carved 12-inch dagger was bought. Still later, I bargained with a seller and got two sets of Western chess with brass-and-steel men for the price of one. I should, of course, have gotten them cheaper. A better haggler could’ve reduced them to about one-tenth their original price and the seller to tears.
I myself got a couple of pig pencil holders for the Pig and Roger. I’m not quite sure about how to get them to their destinations, though. Kelvin, on the other hand, wants Chinese coins—one of each denomination. That’s much easier for me to get and give, since he’s not too far out of reach.
I spent much of today online in Canal’s house. My classmates will no doubt have noticed. It was pleasant, but I shan’t be able to do it for much longer as they’re leaving for the US of A the day after tomorrow, and I’m sure my mother will have no qualms about banning me from spending hours online chatting, especially when we’ve got several hundred square feet of flat to clean. Also I think I should change my socks, as people’s expressions change noticeably when my feet are nearby.
I won’t be seeing Canal and family again, I think, until January 1st, since tomorrow is their ‘packing day’, and after that they leave. It’s a pity, but then there’re plans afoot to visit the northern areas for a week or so. It’s a mercy I’m recovered (mostly).
I awoke at 7:30—late by KK standards but early for my current schedule—for a quick breakfast before setting out for a local shopping street, whose name literally translates to Orange-Yellow Temple. (My father and my brother had left the house one hour earlier for an hour of extremely early tennis.) None of the four of us knew the way, but my father had insisted that the 911 or 926 buses would deposit us right at its front door, so we set out after obtaining a little money. (The brother who played tennis got tired and declined to come.) Well, he was very wrong. We had to ask directions several times before being directed to the number 26 bus. And even then we had to walk quite a distance before we arrived.
The Orange-Yellow Temple is a huge market, located in the older section of the Big S, packed with bargains and chock-full of mathoms. (It’s Tolkien’s term for an item that you never use and never throw away.) I and my siblings were the last of the shopping group to arrive; when we arrived there, Ice, Broccoli, and about 8 other children were on a large crooked bridge waiting for us. They were also being photographed by eager locals who exclaimed over their hair and complexion. I suppose that 12 gweilo children is a sight to behold, indeed.
We separated into two groups; Ice, Jess, Nat, and I formed one group and the rest formed the other. My group went a-walking and eventually ended up at a few shops. Some bargaining later, a highly carved 12-inch dagger was bought. Still later, I bargained with a seller and got two sets of Western chess with brass-and-steel men for the price of one. I should, of course, have gotten them cheaper. A better haggler could’ve reduced them to about one-tenth their original price and the seller to tears.
I myself got a couple of pig pencil holders for the Pig and Roger. I’m not quite sure about how to get them to their destinations, though. Kelvin, on the other hand, wants Chinese coins—one of each denomination. That’s much easier for me to get and give, since he’s not too far out of reach.
I spent much of today online in Canal’s house. My classmates will no doubt have noticed. It was pleasant, but I shan’t be able to do it for much longer as they’re leaving for the US of A the day after tomorrow, and I’m sure my mother will have no qualms about banning me from spending hours online chatting, especially when we’ve got several hundred square feet of flat to clean. Also I think I should change my socks, as people’s expressions change noticeably when my feet are nearby.
I won’t be seeing Canal and family again, I think, until January 1st, since tomorrow is their ‘packing day’, and after that they leave. It’s a pity, but then there’re plans afoot to visit the northern areas for a week or so. It’s a mercy I’m recovered (mostly).
Comments