A promise is a promise

I was really infuriated when I found out the others went ahead and bought bags without me while I was exploring the streets of Old Quarter by myself. It was the last straw in a series of frustrations I endured the whole trip, especially since I was the one who told them where the shops were.

So after dinner on the last night we were staying there, I stalked to the shop where they had procured their stuff to buy the backpack I had promised to get my mother. There I tried to cajole, charm the salesgirl with a smattering of bad French, and excuses, to get the price down. It was quite fun because the lady played along, even though she wasn't the same girl who sold to the group earlier than the day (or that's what she said).

In the end I bought three backpacks, a huge "Crumpler" for B1 (because I had torn one of his backpacks before), two smaller "Kiplings" for my mother and myself (I was starting to give up buying my "Smelly Cat" bags. 

It was next to 31B? Or 41B? or 37B Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street. Anyway the white shop on the left...

It was 1.1MVND for the three. If anyone buys or has bought from her at a lower price, do tell me =D. So I used up almost all my Dong and had to switch to USD. Turned out she didn't like transacting in USD, due to proliferation of fake notes, and she tried to "smoke" me and said she didn't have enough USD in change. I told her sadly then I could not buy (which was the truth) then she said, never mind, she got! In the end she went to the next stall, where another bag seller lie indolently in her own little chair, smoking and asked her to check the authenticity. The other lady leant back against the light, cigarette still in her mouth, and narrowed her eyes with an expert air before declaring my note as authentic. *roll eyes*

Still the lady was a cute charmer, so I said I was going to blog about her when I returned to Singapore, and asked her to smile. She did a few poses, which were unfortunately let down by my shit camera (Canon, you are not delighting me as always). This was the best. Sue me =D

The shop is located on Đinh Tiên Hoàng, facing the lake.