Another shopping trip...

Another Shopping Trip

Like a weekly routine, Min and I met up once again for a weekly dose of 'shopping'.

This time, it isnt the common stretch of Orchard road but the the place where you have to keep an eye for good deals--Bugis.

After strolling around in Bugis Junction and combing almost all the shops in the air-conditioned shopping mall and satisfying my crave for ice-cream, we decided it was time to comb Bugis village--the place to get good, and maybe cheap deals.

They revamped the place a little and added more room-sized shops to the already packed place. Once I step foot in there, I nearly thought i was in the famous Chatuchak Market, except they didnt sell animals there and things are not as cheap.

Although things might not be dirt cheap, you can still source for things that are sold at a higher suck-blood price at air-conditioned shopping malls where all they do is to re-package it and give a better feel when the product itself is exactly the same. You might want to talk about the quality, but, yes, dont expect too much from a cheap deal, sometimes quality just comes with price.

However if you dont mind, these things can still last you for a decent period of time.

I'm the kind who doesnt mind, cuz i dont use things for too long a period anyway. So there i was, scavaging for cheap and good stuff.

Heaven doesnt let down determined shoppers. I found the sequined sash I wanted to buy at a mere $6.90 where shops outside sold for at least $12, some sell up to $19.90! I looked up Yahoo Auctions, and the cheapest one was selling for $10, another $15.90. Haha... The sense of satisfaction is great!


Now that the place has added tons more shops, I'm a little lost. I cant really remember which alley had i walked or not walked. So the both of us swivelled in and out of each lane, trying hard to remember which we had walked and which we hadnt.

Not that I'm trying to condemn the place, but too many shops confuse me, and we end up not buying much cuz we had too many choices. The shops are all cluttered together. Yes, 'clutter' is the word. When there's a clutter, an average shopper usually is deprived of the ability to spot stuff, or at least, i'm deprived.

Thereafter, we felt it was time to be embraced cool fresh air again, and soon we dragged our hald-tired feets and sped to OG. Min bought a few tops and we remained fascinated by some things for some time before i realised it wasnt early anymore.

Having read articles on flea markets in Singapore, I decided to check one out, the one at Sungei Road. But i didnt know how to get there, so i called my Dad for directions.

Dad made me call back 5 minutes later while he checked the directory despite being terribly busy at work. I thought he might need more time, so i called back 15 minutes later instead.

"It's near Sim Lim Square and Tower" He said.

Fortunately Min knew how to get there and brought me out of OG. There it was, just a stone's throw away from OG. There, dumb me was rather surprised cuz i've never been there. Haha...

Together, we walked wrong routes and crossed countless traffic lights, ok, not that exaggerating. Luckily Min had sharp eyes to kill and spotted some umbrellas across the road and with some effort, we made it there.

For your information, it's called the Thieves Market simply because in the past, thieves came here to sell their stolen stuff, simply as that.

If you're the kind who cannot stand the smell of your 5 year-old pillow stained with your saliva, you can forget about going there. Oh, and i have to mention there's heavy smoke around cuz many of the 'uncles and aunties' were smoking.

Determined to find my Er Hu(a chinese instrument), we walked through all the lanes and endured the smell and crowd.

Most of the vendors were old ladies/men or middle-aged people who sold 2nd-hand things, the number of youngsters like us only managed to pull down the average age by only a year or two so we were a rather rare sight there.

Looking at the things they sell, i started to wonder 'would anyone ever wana buy those things?". Well, you never know...

In the end, sadly, i couldnt find the Er Hu, and didnt find anything that i really wanted to buy. I saw a few rather real-looking Louis Vuitton handbags though.

Here's some pictures of the Thieves Market, courtesy of http://www.getforme.com.






When we were at the cross-road, a Chinese-national cycled past and asked us(or rather just Min) "Where are you going?" with that i-wana-eat-u-up look. We stared back hard at him til he cycled away. Bas***d!

We were only too glad to walk back into the fully air-conditioned OG. And i bought a pair of sandals on offer which i've eyed for some time but never considered buying. Hmm...

A whole day of shopping, shopping, and nothing but shopping is tiring, but nothing can beat the kind of satisfaction that shopping offers. Soon it was dinner time and we settled for Katong Laksa just outside OG.

We chat and ate and the laksa was swallowed in no time. We were about to leave when Min bolted up with a surprised and excited look on her face. Initially, i thought she saw some scandalous couple in her lecture but it turned out that she shouted, "GuoHai!"

He happened to have just gotten off work from Sim Lim and was speeding home with his long legs. We got him to have a seat and the 3 of us sat there and chatted til the cows came home. We talked about the present, the past, about everyone we knew. All i can sayis, gossips and rumours are never classified as boring topics.

But time was a constraint, so it was time to make our way home.

The mrt took forever to arrive, and since it's been a year since we last met, i decided to take a photo of the 3 of us. Who knows when we'll meet again?


On the mrt, we continud talking, and for unknown reasons, our conversation was brought to the topic of 'ghosts'. Geez... Before GuoHai alighted, we made him promise to come for our 'excursion'to the pub and drag along some others next saturday.

Hopefully the 'excursion' next week would take shape. "'Bball Gang'!(what a name..haha..), you people hear me???"

Right...

Til Then Folks.. ChEeRs!~ ;)