Sunday, June 01, 2008

Observations and Global Shopping

I swear if there is one overused word these days, its Global. Of course there are other words that are being overused to the point that you wish the word never existed, but for today, we’ll stick to Global.

With the transition from May to June, once again Malaysians and a large number of tourists are thronging a particular mall in KL for shopping for things from India, thus making it somewhat global. That and the fact that some Malaysian stalls have also been thrown in to make a b
etter mix. Welcome to the 6th Global Indian Shopping Festival!
It was the second day of the fair yesterday and we decided to go, seeing that it was the weekend and all. The previous year we ended up visiting the fair towards the end, where most of the goods had met their respective owners and we were left with what can only be suitably labeled as the remnants.
We took the train there, and it was crowded to the point that I could not hold on to the bar that stood stolidly while people of all shapes and sizes with varying degrees of hairstyles held onto it as though it had promised them wonderful things! Both my sister and I had a conversation about the train driver who most probably is bored to death every single day that his idea of fun is pronouncing the names of the stops in different accents.
Anyway, we kind of systematically scoured the aisles among the booths that were set up. I met a friend of mine shopping for her wedding at the end of this year. And we kept meeting at each aisle several times during the whole day. Probably we had subconsciously devised the same system as to not miss anything. This year, I ditched the heels for proper comfortable shoes, which were not that comfortable anymore after three hours of walking (we were there for about 5 hours, which means my poor feet had to endure 2 hours of pain!!)
The crowd was unbelievable. I can’t imagine why people are willing to throng shopping malls in the weekends when it gets so crowded (each time I go there, regardless if there is an exhibition or not, if there were sales or not or if the whole country was suffering from an economic crisis or not, every single shopping mall in the city will be packed with people in the weekends) although I do have a theory. It’s because we have no where else to go to. It’s too hot for the park, there’s no where to go to and no one wants to stay at home either!
We got ourselves some stuff, including a saree which was adorned with prints with some sparkly stuff that was sewed by hand by some poor rural women. It was gorgeous!! I had left my camera at home on the way out, so there are no photos of the shopping fair itself. These are photos that I took when I got back.
From the top: A bracelet, an ethnic bangle which can be used as a weapon for self defence, and the gorgeous saree that politely whispered "buy me"

Well, after all this excitement, and as I'm typing this out, I realised that I had just missed a bookfair held in another mall that would have been equally crowded!

12 comments:

  1. woah..5hours of shopping ar??? u r amazing:D

    how u use that bracelet for self defense la?? im curious...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful sari! Do you wear them often? I hate sales season but I have to say, the sales over here are excellent as they slash the price of goods 4 times. Meaning, the 4th slash is incredibly absurd. I prefer the shopping during the second slash as you still get the really nice stuff, and the people who shop at this time are not the vulchars who shop at the 4th slash.

    ReplyDelete
  3. vivek: the area was huge, and there were too many things to see!!! (Plus I thought that i might as well check out the whole area) As for the weapon... hmmm, the bangle is actually made of some really hard metal. Say if someone attacks you, you just swing your wrist at the person's face, and there will be blood. And a few broken teeth! :D

    anita: It's nice yeah? No, I don't wear them that often. Maybe once or twice a year. But when we (sis and I) see a good one, we get it. Oh wow, sales over there sound good. But don't the items get sold out even before the 4th slash? Or do they really wait till the prices get really low?

    ReplyDelete
  4. haha..really ar? metal weapon..ish ish..just dun wear it and embrace your loved ones! accidental mishaps might occur!:D
    saree must have been a great business item at the sale:D
    anyway, gals wearing saree always beautiful..arent they??? *drooling* :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmmm. The shape of the bracelet's device looks like it might catch a blade if you knew what you were doing. Of course, you could also just as easily cut your hand off.

    Just don't be the one they tell jokes about later, who brought a bracelet to a gunfight. ;)

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  6. I guess the urge to shop is a global phenomenon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. vivek: Actually, there weren't that many stalls selling sarees this time. I can't seem to understand why...

    ian: I suddenly feel very superhero-esque seeing the picture of the bangle. And, yes, i'm hoping that if I ever get invited to a gunfight, I'd remember to bring a gun along :D

    travis: yeah... that must be it. If you can't fight em, join em!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the middle item. Looks awesome.

    There is an actual science to why shopping malls are always so busy. From a retail point of view business isn't what it seems since most people just want to walk around and not be bothered by clerks, but the reason they're there in the first place has a complex scientific reason. Next time you're at the mall just ask yourself this; if you had full reign over ever shop in the place how long could you without ever having to go outside? Thats the jist of it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. no more indian gals wearing saree edi kot:D
    all modernized edi lor! hehe

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes, most things get sold out before the 4th slash. The leftovers attract the vulchars.

    I love wearing saris but hardly ever get the opportunity - I try to wear it whenever I am back home.

    ReplyDelete
  11. orhan: I thought so too.

    That's a good insight into the psychology of people visiting the mall. My only complaint is that it also makes it impossible looking for a parking spot because of all the people.

    vivek: well, that could be true, although sarees can never run out of fashion!

    anita: yeah, it would be kind of strange walking around Belgium with a saree (as well as the fact that it can't protect you from the cold!)

    ReplyDelete
  12. 6th global indian shopping... that's a dig!

    ReplyDelete

IT's THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Time for the Annual Appraisal again.  It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon, and I had just finished giving scores to my subordinates on their ...