这是否是 price discrimination? (part 2)

我上了美容院， 开始了美容配套的第一次facial。

在护肤的当儿中， 美容师开始向我推销产品； 是一种对油性皮肤有益的冰凉面膜 (cooling mask)。美容师一边替我护肤，一边解释面膜的神奇作用。因为刚下班， 所以我一边听，一边开始打盹。 她说什么， 我就应她什么。是在听， 但有时觉得懒惰就只回应她简单的一句OK。 最重要的几点，我有听进耳： 用一次cooling mask须付$53， 买一桶cooling mask (能用上10次) 只付$165。

老天爷！ 又乱开价， 这价格差异实在太离谱了！ 我好气。。。 但只默默地回答OK~ (“知道了， 让我考虑”的意思)。

开始涂上面膜了。 美容师拿了跟上次一样的面膜搅均匀后就把它涂在脸上。 之后, 又涂上了一层另种面膜。 我觉得奇怪， 便问她：“这是什么面膜，跟上次一样吗？” 她回答说：“是cooling mask啰。”

我差点跳了起来。 原来，美容师把我最后说的一句“OK”当成同意用$53的cooling mask。 我好气好气。。。 直接对她说我并没这个意思。 她便马上说这次cooling mask免费送给我。 (>_<)

这一次美容经验让我了解到两件事：
cooling mask 其实是那么便宜， 所以我觉得她们的产品不能乱买；
OK 这英文字母不可以随便说出口。

这是否是 price discrimination?

妈妈常对我说女孩子要趁年轻时学会保养。

工作了一年多的我， 终于有能力来支付自己喜欢的美容配套 (facial package)。

大概是一或两个月前， 我难得下班后有空， 就到新达城去逛一逛。没想到一踏进大厅我就被一位美容销售员给停下了脚步。之后， 我想你也猜得到，我以新顾客的身份， 用优惠价跟销售员买下了一次的美容经验来试试。

我上了美容院， 用掉了所买下的一次美容。 感觉还不错，蛮喜欢的。可没想到好戏竟在后头。美容师把我带进她经理的办公室说想和我谈谈购买美容配套的事。经理解释说因我是新顾客，我能以同样的优惠价购买无数次的美容作为配套。我想了想，觉得需要多点时间考虑。 可经理却说这优惠只限于当天购买，之后就以原价出售。我好奇地问了她原价多少，天啊，原价竟比优惠价贵了整40%！

我立刻在脑海里做了些计算。 最后决定买下了能用足一年的配套。虽然是以优惠价买了配套，但我心里总觉得这原价和优惠价巨大的价格差别实在是不合理。不懂之后是否还会遇到同样的事情？

果然，更多好戏真在后头。。。

Tour de Oz - Melbourne Highlights

MELBOURNE (1 - 6 June 2007)

This is the last installment of my Tour de Oz series ;-)

We finally arrived at Melbourne airport on Friday morning. No doubt the air was cooler than that in Adelaide, but the sun shone fiercely in the clear blue sky. I wrapped myself in a scarf and put on my sunglasses. The weather was a total opposite of what we experienced in Adelaide.

Melbourne. I heard about the casino, the weekend market, the shopping, the food, the Arts, the Great Ocean Road, etc. We would spend five and a half days exploring the place. Five and a half days seem like a long time, but it apparently isn’t. That’s because we used up 3 days on day tours. The remaining were spent eating out with Auntie Esther (mom’s friend) and meeting her relatives, who enjoyed going to the casino for entertainment.

I had never stepped into a casino in my life. Melbourne’s Crown Casino is the first. I am now even a member of the casino. Not that I like gambling; I don’t even know how to operate those complicated machines. But well, I had some interesting encounters at the casino.

I was stopped several times at the entrance and asked for my identity. They thought I was under-aged. I was quite a flattered because it meant I looked young - under 18. But for one time and only one time, to avoid the whole hassle of being asked again, I flashed my identity without being asked. The security officer stared at me and remarked, “You don’t have to show me that, you don’t look that young.” Wow, I was stunned by that! Okay, even if I didn’t look that young, that was still pretty rude, I thought. At that moment, I vowed that the casino was not going to make any money out of me, not even if they had machines that were as simple as ABC. (>_<)

The casino encounter did turn me off a bit for a little while. But the best things were that we had really nice hosts. AND I got to meet up with another friend, Grace, who took time off from work to tour around Melbourne with me throughout the 5 days.

Day Tour #1: Gold Mine @ Ballarat
This is a very touristy place with people dressed up in old-fashioned dresses and suits. This was where we began to descent to the underground mine to experience what it was like to be a miner.

So, did we find any gold in the mine? Of course not, but we saw some at the Gold Museum.

The bad thing about day tours is that sometimes, they can get boring. But luckily, killing time with Grace was easy ;-)

Day Tour #2: Phillip Island.
We were not allowed to take pictures of these almost endangered penguins. The flash might frighten them. But I secretly took one with my camera phone which didn’t have flash. So we curious people sat there at 6pm sharp waiting for the world’s smallest penguins to return back to shore after a day’s work at the sea.

Day Tour #3: Great Ocean Road Drive.
I had been anticipating the drive to the Great Ocean the most. We started the day very early for we had several destinations to cover.

I remember that day was a little rainy. But the journey and scenery were still great!

It felt as though I could easily reach for the clouds in the skies.

A little river next to the restaurant where we stopped for lunch. I like the layered bushes.

This tree is so huge! I bet you didn’t even realize that I was standing below it. Not until now :-p

One of my favourite shot of the Great Ocean. Can I retire here?

Next stop was the famous Twelve Apostles. The skies were getting darker and it was getting really cold. Grace and I were shivering for this photo..

And all the shivering was quite worth it, I think :-)

There are about 7 or 8 of the rocks left, not 12...

Big waves crashing and the wind was really strong here. My father and I were enjoying the wind immensely, leaving poor mom suffering in the cold...

We found a beach nearby. Only adventurous Grace went down to have a look ;-)

I forgot to ask why this was called London Bridge. Anyway, the middle portion had collapsed. Maybe that’s why it’s called London Bridge.

How could I forget to mention about the food? Like in Sydney/Adelaide, the food portions here are really bug too. These cakes look like nothing here in the picture, but they are ENORMOUS. The sight of them makes me so very full already.

Again, ENORMOUS nougats. I’m not sure if I will ever dare to eat them.

After a sumptious dinner with Auntie Esther one evening, I had supper at Max Brenner’s right after that. The hot chocolate was simply perfect for that chilly night in Melbourne! Grace’s treat :-)

On our second last day, we paid Auntie Esther’s relatives a visit at their homes in Springvale. We went house-visiting and all their houses were very pretty. We also went visiting a huge garden place where there were many strange looking plants. Here’s the brain cactus.

The Condom plant, um ahem, it’s an insect-eating plant actually :-P

I don’t know why, but Grace just loves taking pictures of my hands. She said I could be a "hand model", haha! This is a picture of me enjoying the café culture in Australia after a looong tiring day.

Finally, on the last day, Grace brought me to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. It was so good that we didn’t have to queue for the donuts! My treat :-)

Tour de Oz - Adelaide Highlights

ADELAIDE (30 - 31 May 2007)

We left Sydney for Adelaide. Before leaving, my god-aunt warned us of rainy and cold weather at Adelaide. I didn't mind it that much. For me, I love cold weather and so the colder the better. But now I take back my words because I fell terribly ill with a cold the moment the plane touched down at Adelaide airport.

Luckily my cold subsided in a day, but the rain continued in the 2 days that we were at Adelaide. Fortunately, they were light intermittent showers, so we could still carry on with our plans.

Adelaide is on my itinerary because of my friend Karen who's doing her PhD there (^_^). It wasn't supposed to be a very interesting place to visit, but I ended up liking it very much. The Cibo cafe was one of the more memorable moments. Even with my cold, when my appetite was poor, the aroma of coffee and pastries from Cibo was just too irresistable. Karen explained that it is an Italian cafe which can only be found in Adelaide, but they will soon expand the business to other Australian cities.

While on coffee, I remember what Karen told me about the "coffee phenomena" at Adelaide. EVERYONE has a cup of COFFEE at hand EVERY MORNING, without fail! Wow!

The other memorable thing about Adelaide is perhaps what it is infamous for. Nicely put, it's very laid back, take-it-easy and relaxed. Badly put, it's boring. But that's exactly what I find charming about this place for a holiday. No jam-packed activities to tire me out. No night life to make my eyes dark-ringed the next day. No shopping to burn holes in my wallet. Just the cheap and comfortable tram ride to catch the perfect sunset. And a couple of dollars for a Cibo coffee before visiting the pretty wineries. This is my ideal vacation and I could not ask for anything more. Thanks, Karen..

A river at the University of Adelaide campus.

University of Adelaide, where Karen studies.

Victoria Square.
Karen had to leave us to head back to her lab. We took a tram ride here to Glenelg. The tram was so clean and comfortable that I fell asleep for 10 minutes.

Glenelg.
I think we were a little crazy to venture out to Glenelg in this extremely rainy and windy weather. But I was too excited to see the "sunset that you cannot find in Singapore" that Karen promised, to care about anything else. We were at Glenelg and we were happily taking photos against the strong wind. Look at those waves!

The "sunset that you cannot find in Singapore" at Glenelg.
It almost gave me the feeling of what a Chinese idiom best describes: 仙女下凡 ^_^ (fairy comes down to Earth). But the sunset was too majestic that I am tempted to change it to 天神下凡 (God comes down to Earth).

The next morning, we grabbed a quick bite from our favourite Cibo cafe and hopped onto a bus to head towards Hahndorf - a German village. This used to be where all the German immigrants stayed but now it has turned into a tourist place. We went into a chocolate shop which sells so many interesting chocolates!

Who needs Botox when you can eat Bochox ;-)

A chocolate vanity set. Perfect for any girlfriend :)

We walked some more and couldn't help but keep taking pictures with the pretty village. Karen and I outside some Internet cafe.

An old cart near the Hahndorf Museum.

Aha.. time for lunch. Karen brought us to Hahndorf Inn - a restaurant that serves German cuisine. The interior decor is so homely and warm with German music playing at the background. Time for some beer and dance?

We flipped open the menu and everything looks sooo good. But Karen warned us of the huge portions. So we played it safe and ordered the German platter which was meant for 2-3 persons. Look at what we got!

The German platter - here's a closer look!
It was really yummy, but it's too much meat... In the end, 4 of us Asians couldn't finish it. Luckily Jane and Li Wei came by in time to save the food from becoming wastage..

After lunch, we walked some more. We needed to digest the food. I found some funny signs.
Will I wanna eat the fish and chips? I asked myself.

Here's another one :D
And I thought such funny signs can only be found in China/Japan?

Jane drove us all in her little car to visit several places for the rest of the day. The first was Fox Creek winery. It has a very pretty garden!

Another picture of the pretty garden at Fox Creek.

Fox Creek winery.
The place where we sampled the wine.

Next stop was Hugh Hamilton winery. Pretty landscape :)

Hugh Hamilton winery.
This is the scenery I often see in books/websites. I couldn't believe I was experiencing this for real.

Hugh Hamilton winery.
Karen and I picking grapes. Who are we kidding? :P

Next stop: Moana beach. Jane lives just nearby. So lucky!

Here's a nice picture of Li Wei, Jane, Karen and I. Well, I didn't know Jane and Li Wei before. They are Karen's friends. Jane is working at Adelaide and Li Wei was like me, holidaying there. So we just went on a half day tour together in Jane's little car! :)

Finally, Port Noarlunga.

Port Noarlunga.
People fishing along the port. After this, we headed back to Karen's home, to prepare for our flight to Melbourne the next morning.