Going Marketing

I’m not going to talk about the art of selling and promoting because my knowledge in that area is almost zilch. Enough of the torture of Marketing Management okay. What I’m going to talk about instead is about the places that I frequent for my groceries shopping. I’m not sure whether the term ‘marketing’ is appropriate in this case, but I often hear it uttered by my Chinese friends. Perhaps it colloquial, I’ve no idea.

Living in the Klang Valley, one cannot avoid hypermarkets that are mushrooming all over the city. In fact, Carrefour and Giant are within short distance from my house, and Tesco isn’t too far away either.

Somehow my top choice has always been Carrefour. In that moment of indecision when DH asks where we should go, I’d just day Carrefour. Don’t ask me why, but the reason that I often give is that I’m familiar with the layout, so I know where to find things in the shortest possible time. Usually I go there to buy detergent, condensed milk and such. I have to say though that they’re not that good in wet stuff department (I mean fish and vegetables). Perhaps it’s just the outlet near my house, I don’t know.

Not too long ago Carrefour made some changes to their layout. Shelves were rearranged, items were relocated. I almost went berserk when I went there for the first time after the changes were made. Carrefour was at a high risk of losing one of their loyal customers. So my trips to Giant became more frequent. And occasionally I’d go to Tesco eventhough somehow they have yet to win over my heart. My opinion about these two outlets is not much different from Carrefour: good for dry stuff, but not for wet ones. Or perhaps I’m generalizing. I do once in a while find good bargain at Giant like the other day, when ikan kembong was selling for RM4.80 per kg, and they were fresh too, which is not something one would expect to find at a hypermarket.

And then Carrefour introduced the UOB credit card which entitles cardholders to instant cash rebates. My DH is not the type who likes to entertain salesmen, but for once, his pushy wife won. The card is free for life, and the instant cash rebate does make it worthwhile. So our loyalty somewhat shifted to Carrefour again. But I was still miffed at the layout changes, so as a silent protest of sort, I made a point to frequent Giant once in a while.

Then last weekend DH noticed that Giant too had tied up with a bank to introduce a credit card similar to the one launched by Carrefour. I’d say this kind of competition is good for us customers, provided that we use the credit card wisely. We have not applied for it yet due to lack of time during our last visit.

Enough about hypermarkets. For our weekly supply of chicken, fish and vegetables, we visit a Pasir Tani which is held every Saturday in Kelana Jaya. The items there are fresh and prices are reasonable. DH usually buys kerepok lekor from the market for our afternoon tea. I keep an eye for cheaply priced mangoes to make into fruit juice. They are not as sweet as the ones you find in Mekah, but the taste is almost divine, especially on a hot day.

Last weekend we missed the Pasar Tani because DH had a badminton session with his colleagues. So we decided to go to the Pasar Tani Mega at Stadium Shah Alam instead. The word 'mega’ is aptly used here. The market is huge; you can do your groceries shopping and top that up with browsing for all sorts of knick knacks such as rattan baskets, wall hangings, clothes for kids, jamu and maajun, magazines, and even cars. Last time when our old house was infested with house lizards, DH bought the racun cicak from the market.

This time around we didn’t have enough time for other things beside groceries shopping. This market offers more choices than the one in Kelana Jaya. One can even find stalls selling ikan terubuk masin from Sarawak here. But I find that some items are more expensive than in Kelana Jaya.

We had breakfast there too. The teh tarik was just right for us, not too sweet and not too strong (we’re mild people you see).

Now that brings me to another market, which is the night market in Kota Damansara. The market is under a covered structure and is open every night of the week until about 4 am. We went there for the first time last month. No groceries are to be found here. Instead, one can find lots of stuff from Thailand such as blouses, watches, handbags and children’s stuff like the ‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Barney’ items. I fell in love with the trainers for children. They are so cute, but my DD doesn’t need them because hers are still in good condition.

My maid bought a wallet and a watch for herself. I bought DD a Mickey Mouse cap for her sports practice. I liked some of the blouses, but given my constant state of bloatedness, I was not in a mood to be proven that the blouses were too small for me.

We capped the night off with light meals at the row of foodstalls located next to the market. It was a Saturday and the stalls were alive with families and friends hanging out for meals. They even had karaoke session then. My DD was all wide-eyed watching people singing off-key.

When I don’t go around checking markets at other people’s neighbourhood, I usually settle for a Pasar Segar near my house to buy odd items which I suddenly find my household has run out off. The items here are slightly more expensive, but it’s convenient. Besides, I love the fresh vegetables and imported fruits that they sell. Sometimes they sell apples and oranges at bargain prices just to get rid of them before they go bad.

Now all this talk about food is making me hungry. It’s time to find something to munch.