November 15, 2007 Vientiane (Laos)

“Where are my shoes?”

In this morning, somebody stole my shoes, which annoyed me. Although it was sort of my fault because I left those outside, I wanted to blame that thief.　Anyway, I had to go to the market at the city centre to buy new one. On the way, some people turned to see me wear slippers of my guesthouse instead of the shoes stolen. This was just embarrassing. Finally, I could not stand this poor situation and took tuktuk to get there. Wearing simple slippers from my accommodation, I thought I could not have much discount for new one, because it obviously implied I had no shoes and really wanted to buy new one.

After hanging around in the Morning Market, I found good one with Adidas logo. But I cannot say this is Adidas one. Well, probably, this is Adidas. Anyway, I started talking to a shopkeeper. She said, “850 Baht (=28$) or 26 US$”. Sometimes, this happens. She offered two prices each different currency. Of course, I decided to ask for discount in the dollar. And I said, “What about 20$?” “No, 25$”, she said by showing her five fingers. I just shook my head without any words. “22$”, she said. “Please!” I just said. Finally, she gave in and accepted discount to 20$.