"Mayor of the Market"

One of the things that Tom and I keep reading in guidebooks is that haggling is part of the thrill of cheap shopping in Hong Kong. As our daily shopping routine includes scouting out the local wet market for fresh fruits and vegetables and char siu (bbq pork) (we haven't quite worked our way up to buying live fish or raw meat...not to mention the live snakes and frogs!), we decided it was high time that we put some bargaining skills to use. Tom, in particular, feels that negotiating down from the posted price is an absolute requirement.

Our first attempt came when we tried to buy some asparagus. The woman weighed the vegetable and showed us a price on a calculator. Tom countered with a lower price, and the woman calmly proceeded to remove half of the asparagus from the pile on the scale and then take our money. Five spears of asparagus for $20 HK is NOT a deal. Bargaining fail!

Our next attempt came when we tried to get a $5 HK adapter for $4 HK. The gentleman selling the thing seemed disgusted -- I guess maybe because $5 HK is a pretty great deal in the first place (it's only about 65 cents)!

These failures definitely bothered Tom more than me, and when we went to the night market on Saturday evening, he was determined to get some fake Oakley sunglasses for a much-cheaper-than-posted price. Some Tsingtao fueled our venture, and Tom stuck to his guns in order to bargain the vendor down from $130 HK to $70 HK with respect to those sunglasses. Victory in hand, Tom also bargained another vendor down from $150 HK to $70 HK for a dress (for me, not him :-)). That vendor, impressed with his skills, laughed and said to him as she handed him the dress, "You're cheap." It was pretty much the best compliment one could get there, and it fueled Tom's confidence. We strode up and down the night market, looking for a place to eat, and when other sellers called out their wares to us, Tom magnanimously waved his hand at them and said, "Not tonight...not tonight." I had to tease him for pulling that "Mayor of the Market" act, but I certainly appreciated the cheap dress (which I'm wearing right now ;-)).