australia :: melbourne :: shopping

[calvinc]

Went to CI yesterday. The SA told me they are gonna have a sale on saturday (but he also said the date is on 21st, which is on friday). Under impression it is gonna be on saturday though.

Tried on Indonesian restaurant Bali Bagus on Franklin St. The price is decent, most of them are Bali-nese cuisines. Very authentic I must say. As an Indonesian, I really do recommend the place.

On a side note, if someone were to ask the price of your particular jacket or clothings, what is the best way to avoid answering the question? Someone over-complimented me saying my julius jacket is worth 5grands and he directly asked how much I bought it for and i really felt uneasy.:eek:

[Deiv]

Just tell them a reasonable/decent price.

One think I've noticed is usually when someone asks how much something is, they just want to know for the sake of it sake of it being expensive.

[swooc]

for all my outerwear i always answer it wasn't too expensive or 2-300. if they proceed to justify my value i either say it's a knock off or some el cheapo no frills brand.

[notsicknorwell]

Close friends often won't ask.

To strangers I normally go "I can't remember but it was an arm and a leg luuuuuuuuulz " and I hardly ever get asked again.

[kuugaia]

Haha I had this heated debate on SZ in the reaction's thread. As we know, price isn't always derivative of how awesome something is (not trying to be elitist). So I personally never ask the price of somebody's clothes unless we're having a proper discussion and not small talk. Some people feel awkward, myself included.

I try to blow it off by being vague...but no matter how I say it...I sound like a pretentious prick. "It wasn't expensive" = I have so much money that this expensive stuff is cheap. "It was quite expensive" = This shit is too expensive for you to even dream about.

[Ivans On High]

I always tell people "too much", in a self-deprecating way, not a "too much for you..." kind of way. Seems to do the trick - lets them know it was expensive, but also lets them know that I appreciate not everyone is willing to spend that much on clothes.

[lotek01]

^ wanted to post that, it's exactly what I do too in a similar situation. I don't usually get a good impression from people whom you don't know very well asking that though. I get the feeling they just want an opportunity to judge you. Friends who ask and genuinely want to know are ok though.

[DJI]

yeah that's pretty much what I do Adam, something along the lines of "probably more than I should have spent on it".

[calvinc]

lol kuu, yeah I saw that and for some reason i feel like I was so obliged to participate in that discussion

Actually, that was coming from the SA at CI, not from my friends. If it were, I'd obviously put the i-do-not-want-to-answer look. But man, as kuu stated, no matter what my answer is to the SA, it would turn out bad. .

Had an experience in assin at toorak, I kindly asked the SA whether they stock undercover jeans on that time. His response was something like "no we dont stock undercover this season, but if we were, you wouldnt be able to afford them anyway". Something along that line

Haha, I really wish I was studying in a country where fashion > biceps

[calvinc]

oh and the funniest part is, they asked me whether i've heard the label devoa before and talked highly about the label. And later on they curiously asked me whether devoa is a japanese label haha. I said yes, and they went to check the tag to confirm if they are really made in japan.

EDIT: when i visitted CI

[notsicknorwell]

Haha, I really wish I was studying in a country where fashion > biceps

You do realize that you're ruling out most if not all of the English-speaking world with the fashion > biceps criteria right

[kuugaia]

Ahhh 'too much', that seems like a good way to respond. Cheers A, appreciate it. I'll use it the next time some random asks me.

Yeah the discussion on SZ went along the lines of, 'people only ask the price because its small talk and don't really care about how much it costs, so you shouldn't care so much about the answer'. I merely narrowed it down to a possible culture difference. Don't go into an Asian's house and ask him how much his TV costs for small talk

[calvinc]

You do realize that you're ruling out most if not all of the English-speaking world with the fashion > biceps criteria right

Haha, yeah I do . I love melbourne though. Really love the culture and all my surroundings. At least melbourne is much better than Indonesia where people consider fashion as whether or not you could afford the labels like LV gucci chanel etc.

Ah, yeah I will definitely try that response in the future. cheers A

[notsicknorwell]

I can think of worse places to study. Strangely enough I always had the impression that there are far more warga Indo in Sydney than there are in Melbourne. Then again I live in Maroubra which combined with Kingsford is like an Indonesian colony. Yay for food.

[calvinc]

Most of Indonesian always choose Sydney over Melbourne for some reason. Perhaps the initiators chose Sydney over Melbourne and thus the rest goes with the flow.

Here is one confession. I do hate to look like an Indonesian (eventhough I am one) and perhaps that's the reason why I love fashion (in order for me to look different from them.) But now my languages are all messed up. My English isn't fluent, haven't spoke chinese for a century, and it was just yesterday I had difficulty to talk with my fellow indonesian because I could not remember what sugar is in indonesian . I do know some words in chinese but not in indo, some in indo but not in english and etc. I think I should consider taking private lessons and learn indo haha.

That is probably why I do have lots of malaysian and singaporean friends. Because they are trilingual.

[eversuns]

haha! I am not even Indonesian and I know what sugar is Gula

then again, I studied Indonesian for 5 years at school and managed to score pretty well in my finals.

where in Indo are you from?

[notsicknorwell]

My guess is that Calvin is from Medan. Seems to be more chinese dialect speakers there.

[calvinc]

LULZ! man seriously that sugar joke just shows how fail I am as an Indo. Good guess, my parents come from Medan but they moved to Surabaya (Java) and I was born there. I do speak chinese with my parents most of the time, and hokkien with all my relatives. My parents always laugh and make fun of my chinese and hokkien

Javanese is the dialect in Surabaya and there was one time, I mispronounced 'persistent' in javanese and I ended up saying "I am fucking" (literally). Additionally, and also I ever wanted to say "I love to eat tempe" but i mispronounced that tempe and I ended up saying "i love to eat pussy".

EDIT: are you guys local?

[eversuns]

local to Melbourne?

I am from Perth Half Scottish though.

[calvinc]

more like Australian/born in Australia.

Strong british accent? I'm working for government and spoke with a lady with lovely voice and british accent. Definitely loved it

[fenrost]

Had an experience in assin at toorak, I kindly asked the SA whether they stock undercover jeans on that time. His response was something like "no we dont stock undercover this season, but if we were, you wouldnt be able to afford them anyway". Something along that line

Perhaps, they are insinuating, that they haven't be able to sell undercovers very well haha.. But that's rude nevertheless.

Speaking about int students in melb, especially the chinese, they are real ballers.. always haul at Assin or Chiodo..

[eversuns]

nah, I was born in Scotland and moved to Perth when I was still a baby, have a British and Australian citizenship.

[DJI]

That is probably why I do have lots of malaysian and singaporean friends. Because they are trilingual.

manglish for the win haha. wish I was better at mandarin, learnt it for 12 years but because the standard here is so low I still know shit all (also learnt indo for 4 years in high school, was good at it but then the course was cancelled :\ ). still fluent in hokkien even though it's only really useful for talking with relos (and including on the resume lulz).

[swooc]

^didn't know you had chinese blood in you. from the few pics i've seen of you i've always thought you were full white.

Javanese is the dialect in Surabaya and there was one time, I mispronounced 'persistent' in javanese and I ended up saying "I am fucking" (literally). Additionally, and also I ever wanted to say "I love to eat tempe" but i mispronounced that tempe and I ended up saying "i love to eat pussy".

i believe those are freudian slips more-so than mispronunciation .

[DJI]

yeah I get that a bit. half malaysian chinese but besides the hair and eye colour you can't really tell, most people pick me for some sort of hairless european haha.

[Ivans On High]

any of you guys getting an iPad? I can't decide...

[wept]

i would get an iPad if it could make calls. Oversides phones are awesome (0). But no, i dont want one.

[Ivans On High]

They seem like pretty good value compared to some (most) of the clothes we buy...

[DJI]

as cool as some of the features are I'm happy using my laptop and desktop PC at home and my xperia x10 (4" screen ftw) when I'm out and about, not sure how many people in Australia can be bothered with another data plan.

[eversuns]

I have the 16gb iPad, its pretty decent for university IMO, that and comics.