I hear people talking about grocery shopping as a chore and am always surprised. I love grocery shopping. When browsing through the rows of cheese, meat, vegetable, herbs and what not, my mind imagines all kinds of great meals I will make with them. If I see Kafir lime leaves, I plan a Thai meal. If I see fresh spring onions, I think Chinese fried rice. If I see a relatively cheap pack of fresh mozzarella cheese in water, I see Atta happily eating my cheese croquettes! Sometimes, its more planned than that. I already have cous-cous salad in my mind and I correct ingredients for it as I walk. So you can see how the shopping experience becomes so much more than just picking things and paying for them. Lately, I have also started looking at the price tags and that slows me down a bit, but doesn't take away any bit of pleasure from filling up my basket.
We usually go to Thomson Plaza's Fair Price super market for our bimonthly grocery shopping. But today, we combined a morning walk with some fruit/veg shopping and Mallika, Aloka (in her pram) and I walked to Bishan Street 22 instead.
It was my first time grocery shopping at Street 22. This place doesn't have a posh fancy super market, but several smaller grocery shops interspersed with other shops selling cheap Chinese toys and Thai clothes. It was crowded even that early in the morning and people jostled with each other in the narrow lanes. It was so tight that Aloka's pram caused traffic jams several times. The fruit seller, an unusually tall and well built Chinese man, let me taste the lychees and grapes before I bought them and gave me an 80 cent discount. Grin. The aunty who sold us prawns explained why some fish was more expensive and helped me select the prawns. The meat seller wanted to advise me on the type of meat I should buy, but I was not in the mood for pork. I had seen some young small eggplants and it was Thai curry for lunch. Then we saw the Yong Tou Fu shop and I had to have those fishy tofu bits in various shapes and sizes for our tofu soup tomorrow. In between, I also managed to buy a cheap Chinese alphabet set for Aloka. When we were done, Mallika bought me cold soy milk in a takeaway pack and I sipped it all the way home.
What a wonderful Sunday morning spent with my favorite people doing my favorite activity in the heartlands of Singapore.
We usually go to Thomson Plaza's Fair Price super market for our bimonthly grocery shopping. But today, we combined a morning walk with some fruit/veg shopping and Mallika, Aloka (in her pram) and I walked to Bishan Street 22 instead.
It was my first time grocery shopping at Street 22. This place doesn't have a posh fancy super market, but several smaller grocery shops interspersed with other shops selling cheap Chinese toys and Thai clothes. It was crowded even that early in the morning and people jostled with each other in the narrow lanes. It was so tight that Aloka's pram caused traffic jams several times. The fruit seller, an unusually tall and well built Chinese man, let me taste the lychees and grapes before I bought them and gave me an 80 cent discount. Grin. The aunty who sold us prawns explained why some fish was more expensive and helped me select the prawns. The meat seller wanted to advise me on the type of meat I should buy, but I was not in the mood for pork. I had seen some young small eggplants and it was Thai curry for lunch. Then we saw the Yong Tou Fu shop and I had to have those fishy tofu bits in various shapes and sizes for our tofu soup tomorrow. In between, I also managed to buy a cheap Chinese alphabet set for Aloka. When we were done, Mallika bought me cold soy milk in a takeaway pack and I sipped it all the way home.
What a wonderful Sunday morning spent with my favorite people doing my favorite activity in the heartlands of Singapore.
Yes mallika always buys tofu milk and tried to make me drink too. Somehow I resisted. Next time I must taste it as I may not have this experience again.
ReplyDeleteIt's very tasty mom. And very healthy too. Will take you to Bishan ST 22 when you come in August.
ReplyDelete