At the day after honeymoon period, as a housewife I prepared to go shopping. Although I had a desire to go, I had no strength even to walk with the aid of a map. Therefore only when my husband had finished his work, both of us went shopping.

It would take three minutes to walk from home to the market which was the most crowded are in Chinatown. My husband had been living in Myanmar for four years. As for me, he was a real senior. Depending heavily on him, I followed. I had to listen to my husband who was giving me many lectures like a teacher how to choose the right color and so on.

At first, if you found the right one, you would have to ask 'How much?' This market was different from Super Market Goods and commodities were put on the pushcart, shopping cart and tray which were placed beside the road. So there was no price-card on them. I had thought that the price should be written on the used card box. My husband told me that they would not know about that and the shopkeepers would tell me 'Don't say nonsense'.

If I asked, 'How much!', the seller would reply, 'two hundred Kyats per 25 ticals'. If you buy from that shop, follow this procedure. For example, you need some tomatoes. First of all, choose them and put into the basket. The seller would pour them on his scale and then calculate the cost. If you think that it is too expensive to buy, ask the seller to lower the price as soon as you know the price of goods. He will reduce the price if he can do so. Be aware that sometime the seller weighs the vegetable in the basket without removing the basket.

My husband, the senior, knew nothing about weights. He knew only one thing. He said confidently, 'I know the price of this thing. It is 10 kyats'. He paid ten kyats to the old woman seller. The thing be bought was a bunch of onion tops. What a reliable husband! I wanted to speak with much irony. The times he went shopping by himself was not many. Before this time, the cook in his company did this work. So it was not strange that he knew nothing about this.

On that day, the thing I thought about the vegetable when I went shopping with my husband, was that the size of the vegetable was very small. It was like a humor written in a book published by the association of Japanese in Myanmar. The size of the onion tops was so small that it was thought to be the roof of Tulip. Really, onion tops and carrot were very tiny. I doubted whether they were very small. Seldom we found some tomatoes whose size was equal to one in Japan. Cucumber was big. But its cover was too hard to eat. If it was cut out you would find that seeds took many area of inner part. Aubergine was thin and long. Some were round and green like American aubergine. Probably you could say, 'Can it be eaten?' However it was delicious. Lady's fingers were two times the size of ones in Japan.

Potatoes, onions and red peppers sold in China Town

Moreover white yam could be found in Myanmar. According to hearsay, it had been grown by Japanese Army since second world war. But it could not be sold because almost all Myanmar did! not eat. I finished my shopping. At once I learnt them by heart and then went shopping. I gripped that paper in the left hand. Worrying whether the other could understand or not, with the trembling voice, I asked the shopkeeper, 'Be Lau Le' (how much?). I thought that she had understood my words. She replied to me. But I did not understand her words. It was not strange. Because the words I learned by heart were only one side of conversation. There was no word from other side. They were 'Please, reduce the price', 'Give me this', 'It was so expensive, and so on. At this time, with the help of my reliable husband, my schedule was ended with many difficulties. The more I went shopping, the less I had to depend on my husband. At first as soon as my husband arrived from his work, I made him accompany with me without taking care of his condition. Now, that kind of foolishness could not be found upon me even at a tiny amount.

Groceries sold in China Town

Later, I determined to buy from some sellers regularly. They become my customers. Sometime I got a little unfresh vegetable without payment. I also found the way how to make the seller reduce the price. That way was the following. Firstly I held up the material and pretended that it was expensive. I hesitated to buy it. At that time the seller told me the prices at the various levels. Although I could not understand any word of him, I pretended that I knew all he said. Then I said to him, 'I will not take it'. And I turned back. Here, the seller who wanted to lower his price said to me, 'Wait a little'. 'The price was 25 kyats for these three things'. 'How about that price?' 'It is impossible not to reduce the price' 'I will reduce 10 kyats'. If the seller was my customer, I made her reduce the price by force.

The style of clothing would be noticed. I had to wear Longyi and T shirt neatly so that I was not considered as a foreigner. Even when I had done so, I was still like a Chinese. I was often spoken in Chinese. I could not determine the cause. It would be either resembling to a Chinese or living in China town.

In the early days, when I went shopping although I ask in Myanmar language, 'Ba Lau Le'(how much), the reply I got was in English. I thought that Myanmar that I learnt very hard, could not be used. These were the person who raised the price if the buy was thought as a foreigner. Therefore I wore Longyi and T-shirt.

While I was going shopping, I was looked around by some people. Only when I stared at them in the type of asking, ' What do you look at?', the other withdrew his eyes from me immediately.

My husband said, 'It is pity that Myanmar raises the price. The maximum was only 10 to 20 kyats. Other countries do in different ways. They were greedy and dishonest.

Although it would be so for a foreigner, if the tiny dust of 10 kyats and 20 kyats accumulated, wasn't it important for me as a housewife? It didn't matter if I was considered as a miser. I wanted to buy at the price a Myanmar pad. However I could not speak the words Myanmar said when they bought goods. So I had to buy things pretending that I understood the words they said. Or after looking and listening carefully how a previous buyer did, I had to do in the identical way. If I showed the manner in which I could not understand, then the price would fly up twice.

There was the person who sold the goods at the same price without differing Myanmar or a foreigner, although she knew that I was a foreigner.

Vegetables sold in China Town

Every time I went shopping, I noticed that vegetables were not fresh. For example, cabbages were yellow. The color of fresh cabbage was white. Some began to blossom. You could see that if you looked carefully. Onion and potatoes wrinkled and shrank. I felt soft when I pressed them with my index finger. Sometime, fresh vegetables could be found.

Recently, while I was staring and choosing lady's finger and aubergine by rubbing and pressing to test that they were fresh, the seller suddenly pulled out some of them from behind and pushed them in front. From her mouth, the words 'those are good, very good' came out. They were better than ones which were chosen by me for a long time. The seller urged me to buy them smiling so that her dark-brown teeth were seen.

From that time, I learned how to get fresh vegetables. However fish and meat were like a thing in the unknown world. I would have to search for them

Flower Shops in China Town