Twice as Good

I came here with space in my suitcases to bring home loot, but I have been a shopping failure. I find that I can either take photos or shop - I can't do both. My eyes are constantly scanning the people, looking for a granny or grandpa to photograph; merchandise isn't on my radar at all. Finally today (Thursday) I put aside the camera for an hour and went on a hunt. I had some success, and was heading to our rendezvous spot when I spotted a really cool watchamacallit. You know, one of those doohickeys with three legs and a handle. Okay, I admit I had no idea what it was, but I HAD to have it. I picked it up from the table and went inside to ask how much it was. The shopkeeper went outside and got the other one that was just like it, set the two next to each other and said it was 500 ($82) for both. I set one aside, pointed to the remaining one, said "One" in Chinese and then asked how much it was. He said 350. We negotiated for a while until we arrived at 240 ($39) - still too expensive, but I really loved the piece. (Not a good bargaining position; I was not going to walk away). Deal!

The shopkeeper then proceeded to wrap up both of them for me.

I guess the lesson here is that you should never break up a pair of thingamabobs.