Day 2

This afternoon when we were buying the water heater at Farrer Park, I initally thought that the "hokkien-spewing" boss was being 敷衍。 It was as if he was "entertaining" pa, telling him that all water heaters are the same and you just need to buy the most basic. He wasn't even familiar with the controls and wrongly explained them to us. Then came the funny part...you had to pay $8 more to get a receipt, else it was just cash-and-carry.

But later when I got back to the car, I thought well these are the shopkeepers who really know how to do business. A customer comes in, be practical. Cut the sales talk short. Give him what he wants. He pays, he's happy you're happy. Actually there's not much need for the airy fairy sales pitch for the most expensive product down to the cheaper range. Chop-chop. Anything else it'll be handled by the Warranty ticket.

And so my initial aghast was replaced with deep admiration. I feel it must be that textbook writers hole themselves up when they write textbooks, else how come the books preach the opposite stuff?

Anyways, this kind of breezy transaction you observe, happens usu. b/w 2 men. And esp. when the good is an appliance or one of those DIY items.... Women on the other hand spend too much time on the unimportant...

At 5pm, we got back, helped to drill the holes, fit the heater and there.....warm water once again. Nice teamwork once again b/w Meng, Leng and Me =)

I didn't know Cambodians commonly ate fried tarantulas only until I watched a National Geographic clip at Bishan Popular Bookstore today. How come i didn't encounter it during my trip?