Happy Independence day, everyone! This is our third Independence day to be together, but we’ve only seen fireworks once out of those three. The other two years, we’ve been out of the country — in Denmark and now in Hong Kong! What jet-setters we are, huh?
Like I said in an earlier post, we brought our Vonage box with us so that we could make free calls back to the U.S. and allow you all reading this to call our home phone number for free, and we could talk a lot and get caught up. Well, I put that box in our checked luggage, and it gave up its ghost the day I tried to get it to work here in the Headland hotel. My gracious father bought us another Vonage box and FedEx’ed it here on Tuesday night. FedEx is awesome because it left Tyler, Texas on Wednesday morning and got here Friday morning, at 9:00 a.m.! And that’s after heading to Memphis, Anchorage, Hong Kong, and then losing 12 hours! I plugged the new box in and bingo, we’re now cooking with gas. I called my parents and Laura called hers and we are off to the races when it comes to communications. By the way, would you like to talk to us? Call us on our home phone number between the times of 10:00 p.m. and 9 a.m. EST. If you don’t get us, just leave a message and we’ll get back to you. I love Vonage, don’t you?
Today, we wanted to run down to Mong Kok to get some good deals on some electronics we needed, or at least I thought we needed. I wanted a flash drive that I could use for work, and I wanted a camera card reader so that I could take the photos off our little point and shoot digicam and put them on the computer. You can click on Laura’s picture at the top of this blog entry for more photos from our day in Mong Kok.
The streets were packed, as usual, but there is something fun about just walking along and seeing anything and everything you could possibly ever want to buy. The only trouble is, at least with electronics, buyer beware! If you want a real Prada bag or a knock-off, this is the place to be. If you want a tailored suite for $150 U.S. then this is the place for you. But if you want high end camera equipment or other electronics, then the NYC internet wholesalers are the place to be, not here! Try Adorama or B&H; for anything electronic, from a camera that costs $150 bucks to one that costs $15,000 bucks. They are in NYC and are trustworthy. For everything else, use Amazon. But don’t buy it here in Mong Kok. I learned this after finding a good “deal” on card reader that when I got it home, doesn’t work. Now I’m afraid to even open the flash drive I got because I want to take it back. We’ll see tomorrow if I ever get my money back. I can buy the same flash drive for less, right here in Cathay City. Arrgh! The trials of life, right? Also, I realized that I can get the pictures off the digicam without the card reader anyway . . . bummer.
Anyway, we had a fun time, even though it was hot, just walking around and seeing all that was for sale. The standard fare here is to be offered something, like a beaded necklace, for an exorbitant price: “For you, 85 Hong Kong dollar.” One U.S. dollar is 7.8 HKD. So these beads worth just a few bucks are offered at US$10.89. No way! We start walking away. “Okay, 60, for you.” No response from us. “Forty!” Okay, now we are getting somewhere. The Asian way is to offer something very high knowing that, I, the customer, is to offer something lower. One never pays sticker price or first price quoted here in Asia — it just isn’t done that way. They know it and expect you to know it. The good thing for buyers is, that you can walk off and they will give you the absolute best price they can, and if it isn’t low enough, 10 other merchants can be tried out, within 100 feet. It’s a tough way to go for the timid, but can be rewarding too. And no, we didn’t buy the beads, but we’ll be back!
Afterward, we got some takeout food from the food court in Cathay City, the complex our hotel is in, and enjoyed being in for a change. The running around wears on you after awhile. It’s been a good week, so far. I know we have been posting a lot of pictures and blog entries, but they will slow down as I get busier. But for now, it’s fun write to you all about the goings on here in Hong Kong. Tomorrow is Saturday, so enjoy some fireworks and cook-outs for us, will you?
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