五金店

today e cat learnt how to change a leaking 'shower hose' (no idea what's e proper term) - e tubing covered by metal (not in all cases) that connects e shower head to e tap. super simple, just that up till now there has never been a need to change any of them in any of e houses that e cat has stayed in. so e cat has never had a chance to try its paw at it, thought it always keeps a blue plastic roll of e very important white tape on standby for plumbing emergencies in e house.

e replacement part was bought from a 五金店 (wu3 jin1 dian4 lit. 'five gold/metal shop'), e Chinese predecessor of HomeFix/VinMart/DIY store that almost always have bare concrete floors, bright white fluorescent lighting, metal grille gates & a shophouse setting. e cat has always wondered why e name 五金店, but never dared to ask e shop owner. why five? what are they? steel, brass, aluminum? copper? chrome? iron? zinc? nickel? or in e case of N|K|F, gold? (which would justify e '金' in 五金店 =P)

[ filed under: 9_lives_2005 + thewonderingstraycat ]