Copy Watch? - Hong Kong

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Alex hasn't realized it yet, but I am ready to spend money. Big money. I am so excited, I can barely contain myself. I order GMT Rolexes, Tags, Breitlings and Cartiers with black, brown, pink, two-toned and steel bands in both men's and women's styles. I am in a buying frenzy. I am thrilled, high with shopping fever. I keep ordering and ordering for everyone I know. Family, friends, even the guy I had just started seeing back home. Another man Alex works with keeps going back to a mysterious room to bring out the various styles I had selected. Watches are now covering the otherwise empty desk.

Apparently I had stumbled upon the seedy "Copy Watch" underground of Hong Kong. It had been a circuitous route getting to the space where this tailor by day, copy watch vendor by night actually sells his goods. True, I was in the market for imitation watches but didn't heed attention to any of the accented frog-like voices that yelled "Copy Watch?" as I walked the crowded, busy streets earlier in the day. "Copy Watch. Copy Watch. Copy Watch." What does that mean? Fortunately, I met some fellow Americans in the hotel lobby who knew exactly what it meant and where to take me.

I need to think this through. I have a list of what I think others would like but I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight. There are just too many watches to choose from, never mind if they work or not. I am pumped with adrenaline. My hands are sweating profusely, so my list is barely readable at this point. My new friends that I had met at the hotel are looking at me with wide eyes. I don't think they have ever seen a watch-crazed woman quite like me before.

It's finally time to apply the skillful art of negotiation. The kill. The point in the adventure where you leave with a smile or the disappointed feeling you've been ripped off. Alex threw out the number, "Seventy US Dollars."

"Seventy?" I exclaimed. "No way. With all these watches I'm buying, its $50 each or nothing." I frantically start punching numbers on my calculator to convert the cost into Hong Kong dollars as that's the currency burning a hole in my pocket. I eventually get him down to $55 each and walk out with 50 watches. "Yes! I have scored," I thought to myself and smiled triumphantly. Now it's onto part two of the copy watch adventure...How the hell am I going to get these 50 plus contraband watches back into the U.S??

About the Author

Vist Lisa's website at www.LHTraveler.com

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