"I like Chinese"

And thus it was that I dropped in to my local Chinese shop on the way home. They sell clothing, shoes, wigs and bicycles. But they don't speak English!

I didn't expect much - if Woolies can't get a size right, how would the small yellow people from that end of the planet? Perhaps a size 36 in their terms is a 16?

Nevertheless, I am the eternal optimist. I headed to the back of the shop and perused racks of jeans in all sorts of interesting varieties. On a whim I picked one - a fraction of the price Woolies charges - tried it on in the creaking-door, never-quite-closing fitting room, and lo and behold, I'm a Chinese size 36. Eish!

So now I have a new pair of jeans, slightly stretchy, a little lower in the waist than I'm used to, but not too bad.

Just hope they're not melamine-based...

Postscript:
Favourite Man went on a jeans finding mission yesterday. First stop Woolies. Tried on the same size he had on when he walked in. Couldn't even get a leg into them. Point proven. Woolies is cheating.