Of Course I Bought Groceries

I hit 3 shopping malls in 1.5hrs- Sorya, Sovanna and the newest City Mall. Fast huh? I had no intention of shopping, but simply walked through to look at new developments and the latest range of imitation goods. (Prada and Jimmy Choo 'leather' bags!) I live in a city that's effectively a giant shopping mall. There's nothing the city's malls can offer me. The malls are filled with imitation goods. The city's shopping trove and treasures lie in the hot, humid, bustling and colorful Russian and Central Markets.

What I was looking for, were the supermarkets that catered to the expatriate community. Lucky holds the monopoly in Phnom Penh. One pays for the items in USD. Some items are still cheaper than Singapore though. Like chicken liver and pork pâte, as well as fig pâte de fruit. For someone who doesn't cook, I sure spend a lot of time meandering through supermarket aisles and grocery shops in any country I'm currently in.

I was looking for the hot sauces and chillies as recommended by the Cambodians and the friends. Imagine the glee on my face when I saw the rows and bottles of sauces, gravies, marinades, chillies and all. Woah. I also did a double take when I saw the squat bottles of 柱侯酱 (zhu hou sauce) stare out innocently at shoppers. The man has been looking for the sauce to cook his stewed beef brisket. But that sauce is nowhere to be found in Singapore supermarkets and we've been too lazy to do something about it. Now that I've chanced upon it in Phnom Penh, I'm just going to grab 2 bottles home for a start.

Even though the preference is to buy wares made of plastic, there're a few glass bottles in the suitcase. My suitcase is too big and I don't seem to have enough clothes to pad it and not have breakage and spills. The teddy bear is cuddly, but not enough to do very much. So the solution is NOT to buy more clothes. I just gotta look for old newspapers and magazines to do it the old school way. Hope the bottles hold!