Feminine stuff and escape to Mumbai

Yesterday I was again supposed to go shopping. And then there came some problems. So what did I do? Oh. We went for beer.

BUT.

Before that, I went shopping! I'm not really sure why the female readers are interested in hearing about shopping here. It's not so wonderful. There are basically two options how to do shopping (for clothes especially) here. One: bazaars. Two: 'normal' shops.

If you go to bazaars or any street stall, expect a lot of haggling and bargaining. And if you are in some touristic place like the pink city (haven't actually even visited there yet, that's the 'old town') the sellers are quite aggressive and there's lots of yelling and screaming and what all. So, for some curious reason, I prefer these regular shops.

The price in these regular shops is surely higher and there's no bargaining really. But the regular shops have also a lot better quality. Usually they sell branded stuff, and I think that stuff is actually genuine. At least it seems quite good and feels even better. So, I went for some shoe shopping as my last shoes have a big hole at the bottom and they might not be the best option for Mumbai's floods. The two shoe stores I visited were right next to the closest bar, so while I went shopping Pyry and Tani were having a beer. Fair deal?

The shops weren't too special really. Wheneven I wanted to try on a shoe there came a guy running with the right size, put it to my foot and tied the laces. That's the sort of service that makes a small Finnish guy nervous - I don't wanna have many Indians around me doing everything for me. Just not used to it. But anyway, found some ok shoes and bought them, 1080 rupees. Seemed like they might last for more than the usual one year.

What more could the shops offer besides helping staff and good prices? Well, this is India. What is precious here, especially in this state? Water. So, in all the fancier shops someone offers you a glass of water or water from a bottle. I usually just refuse it but this evening after dinner when I went shopping AGAIN they offered me some juice which I took. Was really great, by the way.

Street vendors selling all sort of stuff. Sorry, it was dark.

Yes, I went shopping AGAIN after dinner. There's one nice place which seems to have -90% all the time. And of course it's always the last day. For the past two weeks at least. Went in, seller showed me a few pairs of pants, tried them on and bought two of them. Took about 10 minutes. And earlier buying the shoes took about 15 minutes. I hate shopping so this is the best I can do. And as I am this fat Western, the pants are always too long for me. Now at the office Amit called some tailor who is coming here in an hour to cut my new pants for 20 rupees. Nice service!

More street vendors. That soda shop had some excellent juices for sale - 10 different varieties and 5 rupees per glass. mmmMMM.

Now I'm just waiting for the day to drag on so I can leave for Mumbai. Flight departs at 17:30 so need to leave from work around.. umm.. maybe 15? We'll see. I maybe won't be able to update the blog while in Mumbai, so maybe the next post is on next Wednesday. Take care until that and don't cry, I will return!

P.S. Helena, no, I'm not going to write an entry about hair conditionings here. Pffft.