I Think I'll Miss The Fruit The Most :(

So I'm back in Shanghai now...don't really know how I feel about that lol. It's fine I suppose. I'm excited to get back to the gym as it's been 2 wks and I'm majorly craving it (God I never thought I'd say that lol). Literally, I was back in the city less than an hr and I stepped outside to hit up the grocery store and I see not 1 but 2 men urinating in broad daylight and I thought to myself...aww yes I'm DEFINITELY back in Shanghai lol! Also totally weird. I ran into my model friend Michelle outside my building after grocery shopping. She JUST moved into my building 3 days ago...what a crazy coincidence as she didn't even know that's where I lived!

I really wish I would have actually booked a few extra days in Bangkok as I don't have any shoots booked for the next couple of days but c'est la vie. I definitely want to go back to Thailand at some point in the future though and travel more throughout the country. I really enjoyed it a lot and the ppl there are on a whole so nice and polite...the exact opposite of a lot of the ppl in China actually lol!

I took a ferry/bus/train from the island to Bangkok and on the bus I met these 2 hilarious British lads...ahh got to love the accent. I love British boys and their humor. These guys were a lot of fun and we had some time between the bus and train and grabbed a bite and then both our trains were delayed so we hung out some more. Wish we could have actually got the chance to hang out in Bangkok but they were actually flying back to London straight from the train (and they took a different train then me/I took the Express). Hope they add me to Facebook actually and it totally made my travel time fun for once (travelling alone not really the most exciting thing all the time lol).

My day in Bangkok flew by and was so much fun. I went shopping at MBK and it was amazing! Again I wish I had more time b/c there is this amazing market just out of town on the weekends but I was leaving :( . The shopping is SOOO AMAZING and SOOOO CHEAP!!! I could have bought so much more stuff but I had to stop myself...seriously. If I would have had another day I would have had to buy a second suitcase and I probably would have filled it lol! Even now I'm sitting here going damn I wish I had more time b/c even w/ 5 hrs and MBK I felt rushed (had to meet a friend for dinner).

So yeah I met a fellow detoxer for dinner. We went to this AMAZING raw food restaurant. Seriously, the best meal I've had in a long time. It was so good and so flavourful and filling. Then we went and had some non alcoholic cocktails at this cool rooftop patio called Nest that was really cool.

I think I'm going to miss the fresh juices, coconut water and fresh fruits the most! Man, seriously the best bananas I've ever eaten (and not just cuz I went w/out food for 7 days they were seriously awesome)! I LOVED being able to buy fresh watermelon and pineapple on the street everywhere!

P.S. I'm lame...here's some pics I took of myself making funny faces w/ a coconut lol!

MMmmmm Fresh Young Coconut Juice!
Enjoying my last coconut :(

Btw it's really hard to take a pic of yourself while making and funny face and sucking down coconut water lol!
Yeah I was bored by myself in the restaurant
Now I'm cool...I have my shades on lol!

Update: Haggling For A Curling Iron

So I went and did my haggling today...actually I didn't even really have to haggle so that worked out well lol! I went to the street that has all the beauty supply stores...and I found it quite easily which made me really happy b/c People's Square the central metro stop in Shanghai has 20 different exits so I'm really impressed that I picked the right one...I of course started to walk North instead of South upon exiting the metro but I figured out I was going in the wrong direction in less than a minute so that's really good for me lol!

So I went in a couple of beauty stores and then went back to the one w/ the most selection to do my haggling. Another makeup artist in Shanghai told me it would cost between 150-170 rmb for a decent curling iron that had variable temperature control on it so that was good to know before I got started. So a young girl is helping me. I should add that I literally don't speak a word of Chinese except Thank You (and according to Nils I don't even say that right lol)...btw yes I will soon be learning Chinese I've contacted what seems to be a very nice Chinese girl and we are going to meet once a wk to do a language exchange - My English for Her Chinese :) So back to the curling iron, the sales girl of course doesn't speak any English (this is VERY common btw) so basically we just play charades of me pointing to different irons and her showing them to me. Then I narrow it down and we have a pad of paper and she writes down prices and I bargain from there.

Well the first iron was the one I was eyeing the most and I ask how much and she writes down 80 rmb...so right away I'm a little confused and wondering if I have chosen a crappy curling iron. Then I point to another and I realize she doesn't actually know what to charge me b/c she goes and asks another girl, they talk for a bit and then comes back and writes down another amount which is about 3X the price of the first one. I ask about another one and again she asks the girl and she writes down a price that's about 2X the price of the first one and this one doesn't even have temperature control. I ask about a fourth one and again she goes and asks another girl and comes back and this one is the most expensive at 4X the price of the first one.

So I soon realized she made a mistake w/ the first price but can't go back now b/c she's already told me 80 rmb that's why she had to check on the prices for all the other irons. So I tried to bargain a bit for the first one but I realized yeah she can't go lower she already made a mistake lol...I mean it's 100 rmb less then I was expecting to pay so I can't really complain much btw 80 rmb = $12 USD. It's a professional quality one too, temperature control, swivel handle and everything. So I bought the curling iron and then treated myself to a Starbucks latte for a job well done!

Btw for all you jealous Canadians it was a gorgeous sunny day today of about 12C in Shanghai so I got to enjoy my Starbucks over a nice, relaxing walk home...hope you're all enjoying your snow and -10C weather hahaha!

Haggling for a Curling Iron

So today I'm going down to GuangDong Lu to go haggle for a new curling iron for a shoot I have this weekend. Apparently this is THE street for curling irons and other hair equipment b/c it was suggested to me by two separate MUAs. I'm just hoping I can find the damn thing b/c anyone who knows me just a bit knows how directionally challenged I am. Seriously, Todd has said to me before if you think you should go Right...just go Left lol.

Haggling or Bargaining is always a weird one for me. In North America this sort of thing makes me totally uncomfortable but here I just get into my actor's mind and pretend I'm someone who's good at haggling...and last time I tried I was actually pretty good :) . It's all a game really and you can't get really aggressive during the process you just have to smile and play nice. Basically you have to pretend like you're not interested and they will tell you a price usually showing it to you on a calculator. You then sort of laugh and shake your head and pretend like you're not interested then they ask you to suggest a price and you suggest something really low and they laugh and you and usually say something like "NO...what's your REAL price...what's your REAL price?" Then you insist that is your real price and you start haggling from there until you are both satisfied or you walk away and try somewhere else. The important thing is to always keep it light and smiling. I'm a pretty good bluffer too b/c I've even walked away and had them chase me back and give it to me at the price I wanted. Let's see how my haggling skills are today!

Btw on Detox Day 4...so far not going too bad. Have had a couple of headaches but I figure it's probably the lack of caffeine and sugar.