But if haggling Christmas tree is something you boast, if you look at any more like Christmas tree hunting as shopping, by all means read on.
Hunting Christmas tree in Indonesia is an adventure in itself. You trek back and forth across the city following leads dead by unknown on . and chain them half-cooked telephone conversations with guys like Yosep, who happens to have a dozen trees out of Christmas prize and an army of ducks behind his house in Kembangan in East Jakarta. Think of it as trying to find a package of Super Mie in Iowa. It's the thrill of the hunt.
You could start on the fourth floor of a department store price tags mocking fake trees before to convince you to check out the selection of real trees along Dharmawangsa Raya, Jalan Kebon Jeruk or Arteri in Jalan Gerbang Pemuda behind Gelora Bung Karno before decided you want to "Go Green" and buy a plastic tree to finish somewhere in the heart of Glodok, a shop that looks like it doubles as an opium den, butter to a former saleswoman who swear up and down that fake trees are supposed to look like they are made of green pipe cleaners.
This is the thrill of the hunt. It is about the back and forth. Crossing and re-cross your arms. Scratching your head. The narrowing of the eyes. Pacing back and forth. It's like poker, it involves patience and you must do your research. You can not switch to the first Christmas toko you see and expect to grab a bargain. You must coax. You must complete. You must have patience.
Any saddle can walk into a store and drop $ 300 on a plastic tree. The kind of guy that does this is the same guy who tells the driver to Blue Bird "just keep it," when the cabby turns his head and said he did not change for a Rp. 100,000.
But it takes more than moxie to head down to Mangga Dua and stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best deals or men in the city.
This is a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. To see if you still have. You can always brag to your wife about your business sense after getting the kids to bed last night without a fight, but if you can walk away with a 7-foot tree that does not look like it has survived AIDS or tornado for Rp. 700,000. You deserve this link your kids will buy you again this year.
So it is good to say very little when you get into the Christmas tree Thunderdome. You might learn something. It is of all sales. And it is not their first rodeo.
is a list of things I heard in the stores I visited
"Why do you even buy a tree There's a lot of big trees? the river. We could just go cut a branch and you could wrap the lights around it. "
" Look, I get paid Rp. 350,000 a month if I give you something over 45 percent reduction [a tree that retailed for Rp. 3.5 million] they'll go out of my salary. "
" I know it does not look like it is 7 feet tall, but it is. I promise. "
" This tree is in Taiwan, which is why it is expensive. If she was in China, I could give you a better deal. "
" Come here and feel it. "
" I worked here for a month and I've sold 727 trees. I will not lie to you. "
" I do not know if there are other stores that sell Christmas trees. I just got here each morning and do what that guy there told me to do. "
" Look, either buy the shaft or do not do. I do not care. "
How much can you know about yourself if it diverts look every time he comes to negotiation? But it is more important than not the suction cup. It is about knowing the city where you live. Know where to go when you need something. If you have not braved the Mangga Dua basement on a Saturday afternoon, you have not lived. Ditto for Glodok. I walk away with a tree the day I was there, but I found many stuffers :. Fireworks, a guy selling a tarsir, a cage full of cobras and an alarming picture of methamphetamine pipes