To save a penny...
Ran around a bit today in prep for my weekend trip to Bangkok.
First errand was to get some Baht... The rate at the money changer in PS was 23.5 baht per S$ but somehow the guy's demeanour just put me off. Felt that i could prolly get a better rate elsewhere. Of course it didn't occur to me at that time that the difference in rate will be so miniscule that even expanding energy to walk to another money changer would make it not worth while.
Nonetheless, i was sure Sim Lim Square (SLS) had money changers so i headed there with smoe degree of optimism. No i didn't make the trip there solely to change money. Had to get a bigger capacity compact flash (cf) card for my camera.
Before i go any further, let me explain my view on cf cards. Like my view on cars, there need be nothing flashy, so long as it works, it's fine with me. For a car, get me from Point A to Point B. For the cf card, fit into my camera and store the pictures fine. I don't care how fast a car can or cannot go. How much time could you save driving a Ferrari instead of a Nissan Micra? Ok, there are other considerations but you get my idea. Same thing with CF cards, i don't need it to read and write at the speed of sound lah.
First shop i went into, no joy, he had a few makes of 1 GB cf cards. He had a BMW and Honda Civic version which cost $229 and $180 respectievly. Knew from some prior research courtesy of Sharon and Roy that a 1 GB cf card could be gotten for as little as $150. Second shop i went into, there was this old beng who tried to tell me that cf cards cannot get for so cheap one lah, "if got, i also go and buy ah!". Well, the 3rd shop i went to was right next to his and that is where i got my 1 GB cf card for an initial price of $155. After a casual "Can cheaper or not?", he reduced it to $152 on condition that i pay cash. Ok, some of you in the know will say that i could prolly have gotten it for $145 or something like that but see, the person was helpful, unlike the first two shops. So i didn't feel like i had to go into full confrontational mode and haggle for a couple of dollars more off. Which brings me back to money changing.
Right off the bat, i saw a money changer that quoted 23.7 Baht per S$ on his electronic sign board. Better than PS already! Anyway, we all know that the quotes on the boards leave some room for wobble. So i asked what rate he could give me if i changed $xyz with him. This is the part i don't understand. He faces the calculator away from me and starts tapping out a whole series of numbers then shows me the magic figure of... 23.7! WTF, why bother with all the tapping? Anyway, i left him and his tappy fingers to go look for better.
Found another with a quoted rate of 23.75! By then i had had about enough running around to save a few cents so i just rocked up to his window and said my piece. ALAMAK! He had no more Baht. Sheesh.... *swallow* my pride and head back to the 23.7 tapper lor!
Think the God of Bargains, if there were one, must have taken pity on me cos when i asked the same guy what rate he can give me, he quoted me 23.8. What the hell is happening?? This was the guy i asked no more than 10 minutes earlier! And this time he didn't even tap on his calculator!
Tapping aside, i also don't understand the thing where they tape one cent coins to the calculator. HUH?! Can someone in the know explain it to me?
First errand was to get some Baht... The rate at the money changer in PS was 23.5 baht per S$ but somehow the guy's demeanour just put me off. Felt that i could prolly get a better rate elsewhere. Of course it didn't occur to me at that time that the difference in rate will be so miniscule that even expanding energy to walk to another money changer would make it not worth while.
Nonetheless, i was sure Sim Lim Square (SLS) had money changers so i headed there with smoe degree of optimism. No i didn't make the trip there solely to change money. Had to get a bigger capacity compact flash (cf) card for my camera.
Before i go any further, let me explain my view on cf cards. Like my view on cars, there need be nothing flashy, so long as it works, it's fine with me. For a car, get me from Point A to Point B. For the cf card, fit into my camera and store the pictures fine. I don't care how fast a car can or cannot go. How much time could you save driving a Ferrari instead of a Nissan Micra? Ok, there are other considerations but you get my idea. Same thing with CF cards, i don't need it to read and write at the speed of sound lah.
First shop i went into, no joy, he had a few makes of 1 GB cf cards. He had a BMW and Honda Civic version which cost $229 and $180 respectievly. Knew from some prior research courtesy of Sharon and Roy that a 1 GB cf card could be gotten for as little as $150. Second shop i went into, there was this old beng who tried to tell me that cf cards cannot get for so cheap one lah, "if got, i also go and buy ah!". Well, the 3rd shop i went to was right next to his and that is where i got my 1 GB cf card for an initial price of $155. After a casual "Can cheaper or not?", he reduced it to $152 on condition that i pay cash. Ok, some of you in the know will say that i could prolly have gotten it for $145 or something like that but see, the person was helpful, unlike the first two shops. So i didn't feel like i had to go into full confrontational mode and haggle for a couple of dollars more off. Which brings me back to money changing.
Right off the bat, i saw a money changer that quoted 23.7 Baht per S$ on his electronic sign board. Better than PS already! Anyway, we all know that the quotes on the boards leave some room for wobble. So i asked what rate he could give me if i changed $xyz with him. This is the part i don't understand. He faces the calculator away from me and starts tapping out a whole series of numbers then shows me the magic figure of... 23.7! WTF, why bother with all the tapping? Anyway, i left him and his tappy fingers to go look for better.
Found another with a quoted rate of 23.75! By then i had had about enough running around to save a few cents so i just rocked up to his window and said my piece. ALAMAK! He had no more Baht. Sheesh.... *swallow* my pride and head back to the 23.7 tapper lor!
Think the God of Bargains, if there were one, must have taken pity on me cos when i asked the same guy what rate he can give me, he quoted me 23.8. What the hell is happening?? This was the guy i asked no more than 10 minutes earlier! And this time he didn't even tap on his calculator!
Tapping aside, i also don't understand the thing where they tape one cent coins to the calculator. HUH?! Can someone in the know explain it to me?
posted by cokecat at 2:27 am
1 Comments:
They tape one cent coins on the solar strip. Otherwise, the calculator will forever be on.
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