Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Shopping, Part Two: So Many Malls, So Little Time

Oh, yes, there were malls...so many malls. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go into too many of them. *sigh* Fortunately, I was not deprived of the holy grail of South African malls - Gateway: Theatre of Shopping. Modelled after the Mall of America, this sprawling complex houses a rock climbing wall, science museum, IMAX theater, skate park, a bunch of other stuff, and STORES! It was kind of fun to look at some of the chain stores and equate them to similar American counterparts. Mr. Price sure looked a lot like Old Navy. Number of purchases made at giant Gateway Mall? One - a blue slushie. Dammit. Yes, that's it. Every time I cast a lustful glance at a store, my hubby yanked on my leash and told me to heel like a bad puppy. *sigh* On the plus side, I didn't have to lug any crap back to the hotel, which was probably a mile away. Naturally, I insisted on walking, never realizing that part of our journey included no sidewalks and crossing a highway on-ramp.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town also had many, many shopping opportunities. There were plenty of fine little tourist shops. There were even craft malls. The interesting part of this shopping experience was the high-end shopping. I didn't bother to look in these stores, since it did seem pointless given my proclivity for bargain shopping. I might have made a small exception for the Jimmy Choo store, but it hadn't yet opened for business. It's supposed to open in February 2008. There was even an Aston Martin dealership in the area. Unfortunately, it would've cost a fortune to ship that Vanquish home. Purchases at the V&A Waterfront? Zero. Amount of time spent waiting for the public bus to take us back to the hotel? About 40. The look on my husband's face as he steamed about shopping, public busses, and the heat of the day? Priceless.

There were plenty of cutesy little Mom and Pop shops along the way too. I bought some handmade soap in Knysna. We found a cute little notebook made out of an old license plate for my SIL. Hubby bought some stamps. I think my lack of shopping frenzy was in direct proportion to my lack of excess shopping time. Generally, I need time to case a place before making my purchasing decisions. Since I didn't have a lot of time to shop around, I didn't do a lot of actual buying. Guess I'll have to do more one day when we go back!

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