Shanghai Markets

For some strange reason I felt, after only a few hours sleep, I was able to cope with the clothes market. My motive was a broken zip on my jeans. All I wanted was a dressmaker to fix my zips and get the hell out of the place. Gillian was brave enough to come with me. I knew that it was going to be hell but I didn't realize that it may cause me to come close to physically assaulting someone. The first second off the bus and a tout approaches us asking us "What is it you want?". Gillian and I run to the safety of the shops, hoping we've lost the tout. To no avail. We are only approached by several more. This only adds to the frustration of being asked, by every shop owner to,"come buy from me". It's like being a celebrity, only it's your wallet that is getting all the fame. Meat with pockets. That's all we are.
After several "No thank you's" that were gradually becoming more aggressive, Gillian and I finally found the floor that had a seamstress able to fix my zip. 20mins she said. We decided to find somewhere to eat, since breakfast was hours ago and this situation was draining us of all energy. Outside and across the road, we came across the same situation, so we promptly returned to the center where my jeans were being tended to. At least this way we knew where to hide from the touts.
On the way back in we were approached by yet another, in your face tout, who didn't get the message. Boiyow (I don't want) just didn't seem to have any effect, no matter what tone you used. So I decided to try "Go away" that seemed to only be a hilarious statement and only encouraged our little mate to piss us off more. Okay I went in with the big guns. "F**K OFF". This had the same effect. Having someone two steps behind you, in a crowed situation, in your ear, does something to a woman. When I raised my bag, above my head, in rage and took a swing, I hoped this would get the message across. Instead he laughed and continued on in my ear. Only when I actually got my hand on his shirt did he get the message and like a cockroach, he scurried back to his hole. I was fuming and the fact that, an hour later, my jeans were still sitting in a heap where I left them, didn't help. After seeing my face and telling the lady that I really wanted to get outta here, before I killed someone, prompted her in to swift and cheap action!
Next time I decided to venture in to a Market in China, with little sleep, remind me of the benefits of a strong Vallium! and a good lunch.