Tuesday, June 3, 2014

SH! SH! 02: Loots from Flea Market

I was showing Mr. Jim

I got 300 bucks RMB from my dad

as my pocket money

RMB 100.. my BFF

 

and they all went into

the pocket of the old gentleman

at Dong Tai Road Antique Market 東臺路古玩市場

 

that’s like such a safe amount

compared to what we spent at Beijing

and my dad was trying to

attribute the spending to me,

so this is for me, huh

not him who wanted this

 

an alcohol warming pot

crafted with the

“4 Pretties Ladies” 四大美人

ever… in the Chinese history

their individual stories were

pretty interesting, by the way

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

so what you do is:

the alcohol is stored in the smaller pot

whenever you wanna drink it

you warm it by pouring boiling water

into the outer pot

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

then you put the alcohol pot

back into where it is

and the heat from the boiling water

will warm up the alcohol as desired

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

the tiny mini monkey

surrounding by frogs

I am yet to find out

what significance does it carry

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

but the monkey looks real pretty

you see the tail, the ear, the limbs

no joke, this is fine crafting

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

during the bargaining

my dad was (again) telling the gentleman that

this gonna be my wedding gift 嫁妝

my future husband needs to

own a big house

he has no idea what kind of

unique items I gonna bring along

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

I don’t consume alcohol

is it possible to warm tea or something

in there instead?

酒壺 alcohol pot

 

this came real cheap

because it’s just one

instead of a pair

it’s solid bronze,

really really heavy

燭臺 candle holder

 

yet we left it behind

setting aside luggage overweight

my dad was suddenly thinking again

yeah.. I didn’t get the idea of him buying

in the first place

things that come in pair

it doesn’t feel good to buy it

when it’s left with one

and this probably comes from some

ancestral altar.. source unknown

moreover this is broken,

somewhere in the middle, the string

creepy… huh

燭臺 candle holder

 

we are not superstitious people

yet well since he doesn’t want it

I wouldn’t insist

one last picture

who knows this is really expensive treasure