I am in Colombo, Sri Lanka
where I have a wee problem with my shoes.
These North Face hiking shoes have been caught on something
and this is starting to pull away.
The thread kinda, ripped out.
Anyway, so that it doesn't get any worse I kinda want to fix this
and I've seen these guys over here
have some threads and look like they're fixing shoes and stuff.
So maybe they are the perfect men who might be able to help.
Hello sir. How are you?
I have this small problem here.
See this?
You can fix?
Oh, he's saying "yes".
Okay, I'll take it off then.
No. Only this one.
This one here you see. Aye, yeah, yeah.
See this? I want this. Aye, aye, aye.
Ah, how much this cost to fix?
Yes, sewing, sewing, yes? 200
You can do?
200 Okay. Very reasonable.
Okay.
Ignore my mosquito bite covered legs
while I take my shoe off, on this wet ground.
Just stand like pirate
[laughter] while he tries to fix it.
I'll just hop around.
I would like to wander around the area,
talking to the camera
and make a good video for you guys but I'm kinda like stuck
here right now.
How are you sir?
Good?
You are the shoe fixing men? What is you country?
My country? From Scotland.
I'm not gonna lean on it.
A little bit, I need to lean on it.
[laughter] Country?
My country is Scotland.
Scotland. You know Scotland?
Whisky country. You know whisky?
If you know Whisky, you know Scotland.
Scotch, Scotch whisky. Good.
Oh, what is this? A wee doggie.
This your dog? Cat. Cat.
Cat? Oh it is a cat. I can only see its bum.
[laughter] Okay.
Okay, he's telling me not to lean on this.
I know. I need to lean on something mate.
Okay, I'll lean, I'll do this.
I'll stand like a Jessie.
I'll stand like a Jessie, like this.
So he's found some black thread.
That's good.
Oh, he's given me another shoe to put on.
Oh a slipper. Oh, fantastic.
That's perfect mate. Thank you.
That's better, innit? [laughter]
I was hopping around. I was standing on one leg.
[laughter]
Okay, so he's gonna fix this wee problem that I have.
Obviously it's a tiny wee problem but
something like that can just get worse and worse and worse
and that's a nice pair of hiking shoes I've got there.
Perfect for the rough streets of Colombo actually.
So, I do want it fixed.
I do want it secured so it doesn't get any worse.
You are Dale Philip, right? Yeah, I'm Dale. How are you?
Yeah, I know. haha
I'm making a little video, about getting my shoes fixed in Colombo.
I was hiking and the thread pulled out
so I want to get it fixed.
This man is fixing it.
I'm watching your videos. You're watching my videos? Ah.
Maybe you can help me translate.
Can you ask him, every day how many shoes is he fixing like this?
Around 10 to 50.
Around ten to fifteen every day
and he's here ever day?
This is his main job, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ah, good. How long has he been doing this job?
Around 10 years. Around 10 years? Ah, good.
And what about you? What is your job?
You're not old enough to have a job, right? Yeah, I still go to school.
You still go to school, yeah?
Yeah. Ah, cool.
What are you doing here today?
I came to buy a bicycle.
Oh, buy a bicycle? Ah, a good one? Yeah.
Better than the one I drove in Batticaloa?
[laughter] I saw that.
You saw that, yeah? Yes.
That wasn't the best bicycle, was it?
You gonna get a good one?
Yeah I'm going to get mountain gear.
Oh one with gears and everything, yeah?
And you're going to ride it where? Around Colombo, or?
No. Around my hometown area.
Your home? Where is your hometown? Moratuwa.
Oh right. That's like kinda far from here, right?
Around 22 kilometers.
Yeah, so you just came here just to buy the bike? Yeah, yeah.
And you came with your father or you came alone or what?
No. This is one of my friends. Oh. this is your friend.
Ah okay. Pleased to meet you. My name is Dale.
Ah okay. So you came to help him buy a bike?
Okay. I'm just looking kinda stupid here but eh,
I'll look much better when I have a decent pair of
fixed, perfect shoes.
Bye. Okay and good luck with your bike.
Yeah. Hope it's a good one.
Yeah. Okay, see you.
Okay, that's nice.
Having somebody to help translate.
The benefit of getting popular, now, on Youtube.
People coming up to you and helping you translate with the locals who can't speak English.
Perfect.
I might see if I can buy myself a wee bag. I'm thinking about it.
I bought a knockoff Ducatti bag in Bangkok, Thailand
and the bloody zips have fallen off it.
I just bought something cheap, because you know when
like I was telling that guy, I did the bicycle videos.
I needed something to strap the GoPro onto.
Some backpack strap.
So I just bought a wee cheap bag specifically for that but it's rubbish.
So I might buy a better knockoff bag from one of these stands.
The last time I was here I asked the guy how much
for a regular bag, about you know, the size that you can see over there.
He was saying like 800, 800 rupees
which is like $4 or something.
Pretty cheap.
Anyway, we'll see how this guy's getting on with the shoes.
I thought he was just gonna run a bit of thread through it
but he's got all sorts. He's got glue and he's
he's making little holes and
he seems to know what he's doing. That looks well secured.
Oh, very good. Very good.
So he's glued it and sewed it.
Double secured.
Fantastic.
Is it dry?
Aye.
Okay, I think we're gonna have to wait for it to dry a bit
but I can probably wear it in the mean time.
Let's see.
Urghhhhhh. He's saying no touch it.
Yeah, because the glue is still drying, yeah?
But I can wear it, right? I think I can wear it.
Okay, looks good.
Let's see.
Okay. He's gonna help me tie it since I'm one-handed.
A lot of you in the comments are like "Tie your own laces Dale!"
"Who do you think you are, getting the man to tie your laces for you?"
Look, I have one free hand.
It's difficult vlogging and doing stuff at the same time
and trying to keep the video entertaining
while you're stuck in one spot. [laughter]
Okay, so we're in Pettah.
Actually, this is where I've done previous market videos.
So you fixed it for me?
Look at this.
A little extra attention to detail,
tucking the laces in for me.
What a nice man.
Fantastic my friend.
Is that us done, yeah?
How much? 200, yeah?
Aye. Okay.
Here's a wee tip for you. Take 500. Okay?
Have a nice day guys. Okay.
See you. Okay.
[laughter] Thank you. Thank you.
And you, thank you.
Have a nice day my friend. Bye bye. Bye.
Bye bye. Okay.
That's nice, innit?
That's the kinda service you want.
You wouldn't be able to do that in the UK, in Scotland.
If I wanted my shoes fixed I'd pretty much,
I'd probably ask my mum actually.
My mum would probably fix them for me for free
but if I was somewhere where my mum wasn't.
I'm running away from this music before it ruins my video.
I don't want the money sir. Really, uh?
So why are you helping me if you don't want money?
Because Australian people is a good.
My brother is in Perth. My brother is living in Perth.
You brother is living in Australia, uh?
Yeah, Australia.
So what are you doing here?
I'm a [inaudible] ship.
You're a what?
I work in a ship. I working.
You working in the ship? Ships.
You work on a ship or you working in the ship?
No, no, no. In the ship, a cargo ship.
Cargo ship, yeah?
I think Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Texas, Florida.
Ah, okay.
That why sir, I say Australian people,
my brother is coming everybody.
Ah, okay, good.
Because I never drink.
I drink only one month on this bar.
Yeah?
Okay.
Because I go.
Okay, there's many stuff here. I will look on my own my friend.
I will look on my own.
No need to guide me.
Come sir. Uh?
Oh really, uh?
Columbia bags.
Who's shop is this? Who's shop is this?
Which one you like?
I dunno. I need to know how much these things are.
How much are they? Look, they all bag.
Who's the, who's the owner of the shop?
He's the owner, he's coming.
How much the Under Armour bag? How much?
How much the bags? This one is [inaudible]. Very good quality.
Yeah, how much though? How much?
5,500 good quality.
5,500? Ah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This one cheap.
Ah, okay. No worries.
Someone else selling this kind for like 800 or something, so.
This one 3,000. Same quality. 3,000 yeah?
No worries. Ah, no worries.
Okay, thanks for letting me know. Thank you.
Uh? Excuse me. In here earphones.
Uh? Earphone.
Earphones for what? Ah, okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Actually, you can put it in.
Ah, okay. Okay, thanks for letting me know. Thanks.
Okay.
How much you are looking to buy for? Uh?
How much you're looking to buy?
Like 800 or something like this.
How much? 800.
I seen it before. 800?
Yeah, you think it's cheap? Who say 800?
This man with a Muslim hat. He said 800 for me.
[laughter] Really.
No? No? Excuse me. Excuse me.
You're laughing at me. Why you laughing. Why you laughing?
I give 4,000. No, no, no, no. 1, 2, 3, 4.
I give you 4,000 if you bring one bag. Okay.
Okay, okay, thank you.
Okay, give me. Okay, give me, give me then. [laughter]
[laughter]
You crazy sir. If you can buy 800 I give 4,000 for you. Really?
Okay, come. We buy one for 800. Nahhhh.
Come then. We buy one for 800.
Okay. Nice to see you my friend. Nice to see you. Bye!
Okay, so that guy right there was the bloody Tsunami Temple Scammer
from my Tsunami Temple Scam video.
I'm just walking around in Pettah
and he's like, he come up to me and he was like
"You want to see Tsunami Temple, Tsunami Temple?"
And I'm like, oh, GoPro, get it out my pocket. Turn it on.
And then I start saying.
I start looking at bags and stuff.
He's like "Oh, you want a bag?"
"Oh my brother has a shop. My friend has a shop."
And he starts "Come, come, come! Let's buy a bag!"
And I knew obviously,
I'm not gonna bloody go with him and buy a bag.
I just wanted to see how much he'd try and charge me
for a bag that I know costs 800 from a legitimate stall over there.
And 5,500 apparently.
And then after rejecting that, 3,300 or something.
So just another bloody scam.
Here, that guy, obviously
into everything.
Scam temples, scam shops, scam everything.
Aye. That guy, he needs locked away so he does.
So he bloody does.
Anyway. I guess this is gonna be a short video but
I know a lot of people seem my Tsunami Temple Scammer video
and might like to see the follow up.
It's very interesting, isn't it?
This is the first time I've really walked around the Pettah area
in the daytime since then
and I see the same guy again.
So imagine how much foreigners,
how many tourists end up coming into contact with that guy,
every day.
And I had some comments on my last video saying
"Oh Dale, he's just a guide mate. He's just a guide."
"He's not a scammer. He's just hustling. He's not a scammer."
He is a scammer.
He's trying to take people to a fake tsunami temple that doesn't exist
and then like you just seen there,
trying to guide tourists to,
touting tourists to go and buy overpriced,
by like 5 times the price,
goods. So,
aye, that's a scammer in my book.
Anyway, from the mean streets of Colombo,
make sure to stay safe,
ignore idiots like that when they come up to you.
Yer man just talks to them because
he's making a video. He wants to expose the guy
and show you guys who not to talk to.
But yeah,
this guy comes up to you in the street,
two words,
piss off!
And that's it done.
But for now, I'm gonna go for a wee wander and I will see you guys on the next video.
Peace.