Mall Thoughts

Today, since the training sessions I was a part of didn't get done until later, I didn't have a chance to go anywhere far from the hotel, but I did decide to check out the local mall to see what it was like. Basically, it was like an American mall except for a few small differences.

Inside of the mall there is a lot of security. Outside of most of the bigger stores (like Sears) there was a guard stationed along with guards inside. Also, stores that sold expensive items such as electronics or jewelery had guards at the entrances of the store.

The stores were basically what you'd have in the US--clothing, electronics, a food court, a Bath & Body Works type place, shoe stores, sporting stores, and a liquor store (which is the one you probably won't find in the US). The most interesting part of the clothing stores were the female mannequins. As opposed to US mannequins, each of the female ones were molded to be nipping out something fierce. Seriously, I think the nipples on some of those mannequins (even though they are covered up by clothes) could stab right through you.

Prices were actually more expensive than in the US. After figuring the exchange rate I went and searched out how much different items cost. Here is what I found:

--A 750 ml bottle of Absolut vodka was $25 (I checked that for you, Alex)
--Xbox 360 games were between $60 and $80
--An actual Xbox 360 would run you about $550
--Most new DVDs were between $20 and $28
--The third season of Alias on DVD was $65 (I checked that for you, Kristin)
--A moderately priced suit coat was $200 to $400 (there were some cheaper ones for $100 or so, but nothing really below that)
--Jewelery, especially watches, was insanely high priced. A cheap Citizen watch was $500 to $1,000
--A pair of jeans was about $30 to $50
--An iPod (the 30 gig, I believe) was about $400

There actually wasn't much of anything that was cheaper than the US. Now I'm sure that if I was in a seedier part of town I would be able to come across items for much cheaper, but the nature of the part of the city that I'm in is that it is very affluent.

Now I'm getting ready to wake up early tomorrow morning and catch my plane home. All in all, it was a very nice trip. For being a work related trip, it was still an enjoyable time. Oh, but before I nod off to bed, here is a picture of the worms that I ate. I actually liked them!