Oriental Pearl Tower and Knock-Off Market

Last night we ate in the revolving restaurant at the top or the Pearl Tower. It was pretty cool, but exactly as you might expect it to be, and therefore not really worth writing about.

Today, after morning classes, we went to the knock-off market; an entire maze of small shops and vendors, all selling “name brand” goods. North Face, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Oakley, Rolex, and of course anything that could fall under the category of “Hello! Shoes Bags DVD!” Of course there were the regulars, shouting these things from their booths and pointing at the merchandise as you pass and pretend not to see (wearing sunglasses really helps), as well as the guys that stand in the middle of the alleys and tell you to follow them to the shoes bags DVD. There were a few more foreigners than usual here, and at one point I overheard a woman say, “It’s like I have ‘sucker’ written in bold on my forehead.” I wanted to tell her that she had it written on every square inch of her white skin, but decided she would figure it out eventually. Some of the sellers knew a new word that I had not heard them use before. Two or three times during my wanderings I would hear, “Sex DVD. Very cheap. You like? Sex.” Nice.

While we were there, a thunderstorm came through. Usually, when it rains here, it doesn’t really rain. It feels more like the air gets so saturated with moisture that it actually turns into water for 20-30 seconds, then right back into really humid air again. But today, it actually rained. A good, driving, thunder-and-lightning rain. It’s nice to have somewhat chill air for once. Also, it was cool watching all the vendors rushing around to buckle down before the rain came.




During the rain we took refuge in a McDonalds. Don’t worry, it’s essentially the same except for a few things: a slightly altered menu, smaller portions, and (here’s the good one) employees in the dining area to clear your table for you when you’re done. They wouldn’t let Tara take her tray to the garbage. Nothing like an unlimited supply of cheap labor.