Before leaving for this trip to Viet-Cam, I had absolutely NO CARE about how much pocket money I was gonna bring. Actually, I was even debating in my mind if I should ask for money from my dad or not. (I still did, though. Hehe.) But when it was time to go to the market on our second (or was it third?) day at Phnom Pehn, I was sooooo glad that I had a pretty good amount of spending power, since a lot of other people gave me dollahs as well. (THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D)
Fortunately for us--and all the other visitors who stay with Tita Elvie, for that matter--the mission house is just a stone's throw away from the Russian Market, which Lyqa said is the counterpart of our Divisoria. It's the ultimate spot for buying souvenirs and other local stuff. It's tourist-shopping heaven.
We were briefed by Tita Elvie about shopping. She said we had to go to 50% off right away, because usually sobrang taas daw talaga ng patong, especially for foreigners. The funny thing is, the locals can tell if the customer is Pinoy. How? It's kinda nakakahiya, but it is true, nonetheless: Mahilig daw kasi tumawad. What's worse, BARAT! But even then, they still like Filipinos.
Off we went, armed with lotsa dollahs to spend and bargaining powers to help us get far with our AMMOney. Tita Elvie didn't go with us at first so we had to find our way around the market, looking around for bags, shoes, shirts, and trinkets to bring back home to our loved ones.
I was just thinking about getting gifts for my family and some friends, especially those whom I know have prayed and are praying for me, and those who helped me pay for that trip. I bought wallets, key chains, fans, shirts, and some stuff for myself since I was kinda running out of clothes. For some of us, a lot of people back home asked them to buy stuff for them, so they really had to get those things. (You should see Ate Tess' shopping list for that! LOL.) Like, for Nicey, it was a silk placemat for her tita and a certain kind of shoe for her lola. What's hard also is that there's really a lot of people you want to give to, but we were all worrying about going over the baggage weight limit, so we had to pick who really was worth having the extra kilos for.
So we bargained with everything that we had. Here are some of the stuff we got.
MALETA: $17 (original price: $22)
SHIRTS: $1.25-1.50.
TRINKETS: $1 per package (keychains, bookmarks, etc).
FANS: $0.50-1.00 each. $1 is too expensive already for that.
"BRANDED" BACKPACKS: (small, heavy duty) $5 from $7 / (large, heavy duty) $9 from $12 / (regular school bag) $7 from $9
SQUARE PANTS: $3-4 each
Personally, I don't want to find out how much I actually spent that day. But a wise traveler keeps track of the money he has and the money he spends, right? Mahirap na ang mag-over budget. I recorded everything I bought on my notebook so that everything is accounted for. Also, never go around the market acting like you want everybody to know you're not from there. Chances are, if you're like that, they won't believe that you don't have enough money to buy stuff at their original price. because Cambodians think all foreigners, including Filipinos, are rich. :)) As for the bargaining, our technique was this:
1. Ask for the price.
2. Chop off 50% right away, within reason. NEVER get anything at their initial price.
3. If the vendor doesn't agree with your bargain, walk away. He'll come running and shouting, "OK! OK! I give you that! Best price!"
4. Buy it, give him a huge smile, and chit-chat. Then you'll be "fren-fren" (friend-friend).
It's good to go shopping with a local or a friend who's been living in the area for a long time so that you can make sure if the price is right for the item, and also so they can show you where to get the best stuff for the best prices. Tita Elvie was the one who brought us to the shirt store where she always brings visitors. In Tagalog, suki na siya dun. So we were able to buy a lot from there.
After all the walking around the hot, noisy place, we were tired but happy. Nicey and I concluded the experience with this statement: "I've never shopped like this before!" (For me, that's because I've never really had enough money to shop for that much before. Hehe.)
So now, all I know is that I still have some dollahs left, a few kilos added to my 8-something kilo-luggage (the limit is 15 for check-in and 7 for carry-on), and I'm looking forward to those smiles when I hand over the gifts I bought from Cambodia. (I hope I was able to buy enough! *bites nails*)
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