Hong Kong day 3 of 3

Hong Kong day three. We walked to the Chinese Arts and Crafts store in the Star building. It was enormous. There were many different kinds of merchandise. Furniture, clothes of many types, carvings, paintings, statues and on and on.

Right away this large, fat, heavy, laughing guy caught my attention. Whoever just said I was looking at myself in a mirror is not funny. This guy was made of Aragonite. He is ivory yellow a little toward the tan side. The stone he is made from looks much like marble. He is a laughing Buddha weighing about 40 pounds. I asked a salesman the price. I did not like his answer and offered him half. He stuttered and shook his head a lot while saying these were fixed prices and there was no bargaining. I told him I did not like him and that he should go away from me until he learned to do business properly. While he was standing there with very red face I waved over a woman sales person. I started over with her. She knew how to do business properly. She asked if I was a tourist. I replied, no I am Chinese. Do you want to hear me speak Chinese? She said okay. I said Kow Kow. That’s the name of a restaurant in Lincolnwood. Then I said egg foo yung. She says that is not Chinese and there is a 10% discount for tourists this morning. I said, okay, I am a tourist. Next there was a special sale for just me. For every thousand dollars Hong Kong she would give me a coupon for one hundred fifty Hong Kong dollars off the price. After some more business done the proper way, my way, we made a deal. It turns out Mr red face is the manager and he had to carry it because the skinny sales woman could not lift it. He then made a box, lined it with Styrofoam, wrapped happy Buddha with bubble plastic and fashioned a carrying handle for the box. They keep these stores spotless. He had not yet finished and there was a guy with a vacuum sucking up the little pieces of Styrofoam he dropped.

After walking around for a while I gave up and found a couch where there were other guys sitting. Finally Bobbi was done but as we were about to leave she spotted Chinese Fortune Sticks. They are many wooden sticks with writing on them contained in a wooden tube. The tube and sticks are very pretty and they also include instructions on how to tell fortunes. Problem is the writing on the sticks and instructions is in Chinese. So Bobbi bought a bunch of those. It was now past lunch time and I found I was far too weak from hunger to carry that 40 pound laugher the six blocks or so back to the ship. They delivered all in a couple of hours.

After lunch on the ship we walked back to the end of the mall connected to the ship. At the far end was a department store with a Chanel Shop. Bobbi wanted make up. I’m trying to cut down myself. After shleping my poor sore legs and feet back they told us they didn’t have the color she wanted. On the way back a candy store sucked us in. Bobbi had to get rid of her Hong Kong dollars which she did on Sees Candy imported from California. W have a box of chocolate covered nuts and a few toffees. After browsing we walked back to our suite where we found the Buddha and Fortune Sticks waiting.

At lunch we met people Bobbi had sent to the purse place and another woman in the computer room. This purse guy owes Bobbi big time.

Art and Muriel did not make it to dinner. As we sat down a couple from Orlando asked to join us but I said no, go away. I did not. We had a good dinner.

Before sailing the captain announce we would miss another port, Phuket. That is the resort island that got hit so bad by the tsunami. The bull is the commies changed the only time we could go through some river there causing us to not have time to see Phuket.

Poor, Tired Broken Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)