Friday, March 12, 2010

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!

7 comments:

kikare said...

Next time pack a roll of bubbled plastic lah.

kachunknorge said...

haha, was just going to suggest the same thing as kikare.

If bubble wrap not available, I pack the bottles in several layers of socks. I can do that coz with 4 boys there are PLENTY of socks to go around! Then I put the sockified bottles in ziploc bags, and then shoved in good shoe boxes.

Nothing has ever broken for me. So far.

Dawn said...

Haha - it's Siracha! I've brought chilli over here and haven't had too much problem.

imp said...

kikare + kachunknorge: i'll take your clever suggestion, ladies. at the rate i buy groceries on these trips, it's a way better option. EXCEPT, i usually have more clothes on other trips. heeeee. London/snow cities in winter was the best. the winter coats make for wonderful padding!

dawn: WAH! you're very clever leh. it is. the red and the green. :)

kikare said...

Siracha = 是拉差辣椒醬?
me and my friends used to laugh at its chinese name cos it simply doesn't make sense and sounds comic

imp said...

kikare: i don't know, but it does sound like it. although i don't think it's a real chilli sauce as Indonesians, Singaporeans and Malaysians know it. Siracha hot sauce is more like the cambodian version of the tabasco or China's version of chilli oil.

Anonymous said...

i've never heard of 柱侯酱. that's mainly used for beef brisket? i must look for it then...
haha... the first thing i saw in the pic was the bottles of red chilli sauce, cos that's what i buy here. the best chilli sauce i find in this place!
D