Thursday, March 12, 2009

Once a bargain shopper, always a bargain shopper

I've said it's in my DNA, I can't buy anything full price - most of the time, or spend a lot of money on anything unless it's remodeling my house or buying a new (used, see?) car. Even if I had a million dollars I would still find the sales. If anything is on sale here I wouldn't know it unless I stumble upon it and even if it is on sale it's still more money than I am willing to spend. An article I came across today reported that due to the currency exchange rate Tokyo was ranked as the most expensive city in the world. So this is tough, as I haven't been able to do the shopping that I so enjoy. It's a bit like detox for the perpetual bargain shopper, but today I got my fix.

I joined a church here early on so that I could take some of the classes offered about Japanese culture. Since they had my name, they called me and asked me to bake some brownies for their flea market. I said of course and then remembered how much I despise baking in that damn oven. I baked 3 batches of brownies just so I could get a good dozen and a half to bring to the church. The kids weren't complaining as they got all the scraps, burnt edges and the parts that were just too chewy or just not really baked. So I bring the brownies over to the church and already there is a line outside the door waiting for the flea market to open. I had planned to have a quick look, but now I felt my adrenalin pumping, that high coming on when I hit a really good deal. These people must know something that I don't. The door opened and let me tell you those Japanese were good. Nobody was trampling anybody, we are in Japan, they did make their way through quite forcefully, but quietly at the same time. I hit all three floors and could have spent hours sifting through everything, but I was on my bike and already I wasn't sure how I was going to get home. It was hard to leave, but I had no choice. I had to do a lot of rearranging and such to make it all work. I had a bag over my shoulder, one hanging from the handlebars, both baskets spilling over with bags. I looked like a Japanese biking pro, now I just needed to talk on my cell phone while I was riding home. Not this time.

2 comments:

JUDY WENDT said...

So, so, what did you buy????

Anonymous said...

You are awesome. The only thing I'll challenge you to is that if you were in Amsterdam you'd be carrying all your finds, holding an umbrella (cuz of course it's always raining) and smoking your cig, WHILE talking on your phone:). I would give my right arm to see you do that:)

miss you.