Along the way, we were speculating whether JH will join us for the 九寨沟, or Nine Village Valley (9VV) tour. On our last day in Tibet, JH was already sick of this trip. He even said that if we really want to take ZK’s jeep offer, he will fly back Chengdu alone. Now, he felt that 9VV tour is not worth going and most probably will not join us. Reason being? My guess is: One, he misses his gf. Two, he is really not feeling well. Three, he doesn’t like this company he is hanging out with. Four, maybe about job-hunting once back to SG. Five, he is not feeling well. Whatever the reason, I hoped he do join us for the tour. Maybe he wants to break away from the group and mix with other travelers. I have the same intention also, but since this is our graduation tour, I thought maybe we should stick together.
Anyway, JH said he would give us an answer by today. We returned to the Sims Cozy House after breakfast (which was so-so only) and found the other 2 lazybums had just woke up. While waiting for them to wash up, CCG and I chatted with the girl at the counter.
Once the 2 of them were ready, we set off again to explore the city. With the free map provided by Sims, we decided to walk towards town center instead of taking the bus. The bus was always packed and we feared that we might be pick-pocketed. But I will definitely try taking the bus one day. Along the way we passed by a large sportswear retail shop selling brands like Nike, Adidas, etc. The designs were only average but the prices were cheaper.
CCG guessed that these clothes might be factory defects and indeed, some of the polo Ts have frayed threads at the sleeves. I chose a Nike berms which I think I cannot fit now. Think I am turning into male version of Kim Sae Soon.
We arrived at the Orchard Road of Chengdu around noon and I immediately like the place. This place is called 春熙街, and is lined up with shopping malls and packed with young people. There was a long overhead bridge across the main road which was connected to 4 big shopping complexes at the 4 corners.
We decided to settle our lunch first before shopping and already had a place in mind – thanks to ZK. I think that’s his only contribution to us. He once mentioned that there is a restaurant in ChunXi Jie that sells all kinds of Sichuan delicacies. The restaurant worked in a slightly different way. First we had to go to the counter, which had no queues at all, just a pool of people shouting their orders. Once we had our orders placed and paid up, we would get a receipt. We then had to pass the receipt to any waiter/waitress standing around and get ourselves a table. There were over 10 stalls preparing all the different kinds of delicacies and the waiter, with our receipts will go to the respective stalls to collect the food.
What we had ordered was a combo set consisting of 14 kinds of delicacies. We really overestimated our appetites because 14 dishes was too much for one person. Some of them were tasty while others were simply inedible. Some of the dishes include, 抄手, 水饺, 凉粉, etc. just to name a few.
After a full but not exactly delicious lunch, we began our shopping spree. Well, can’t really use this term on guys although the clothes here are cheap. In fact, CCG isn’t really interested in shopping. Ken is too preoccupied with the 9VV trip. Moreover, the clothes here wasn’t that fashionable either. While walking along the 步行街, there was a mini choo-choo train offering rides to shoppers, like that kind that can be found in parks or zoos.
I went into a shop similar to Baleno-style and tried on a T shirt. I realized the sales assistants practiced a peculiar custom. When I took a shirt to try, he would write some number on the tag. My guess was that he indicated his employee no. on the shirt so that he can claim commissions after I made purchase. Or, it was a way to record the stock status.
Anyway, I took this shirt to try and while inside the fitting room, I was rather satisfied with the design and the size. The T-shirt looks like one of those I bought at Topman. Just before leaving the room, I took a look at the words on the T-shirt. “Fashion” was spelt as “Fashaion”. No way am I going to wear this kind of shirt.
I came out of the fitting room and returned the shirt to the nearest salesgirl. She asked why I rejected the shirt and I just told her it didn’t really suit me. She insisted that I give her a good reason. I told her that there was a misspelled word and while she was figuring out the mistake, I quickly left the shop.
We went back Sims and discussed with the people there on 9VV trip. Mr. Sim came and dissuaded us from taking tour package there, even though he himself liaised with agencies for his guests for such package. He said that most of the people who went with tour group complained about poor tour guide service and pestering them to buy in souvenir shops. He told us to go on our own.
With everything settled, and JH had also agreed to go along, we had no more worries and relaxed at the lounge in Sims.
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