A wicked headache and stomach ache (Disclaimer: I am not hungover!!!) gave me a chance to go through 200 plus unread personal emails as well as pictures stored on my laptop. I came across these pictures that my cousin Irene took during her trip here. Definitely blog worthy--

The ULTIMATE Shopping Experience with the German Gents (aka Andi and Parkie)

Aditi and I have both experienced shopping with Andi and Parkie which can only be described as a great lesson in appreciating cultural differences. :-)



Lesson #1:"Throw your strategies out the window!" : My view is that grocery shopping always starts with a list and a slight idea of where do we go first? What do we buy? However, the boys always have a different view on strategizing- it always involves going through every aisle and standing for copious amount of time at every aisle. So much for the strategizing. Even I am caught up with reading cereal boxes and calculating carbs and fat content in each box. Germans: 1 Canadian/Filipino: 0 :-(




Lesson #2 “Do we really need this?”: A very typical scene of whether we need a particular item. Always the argument is:
"We don't need it"
"But it's on sale and it's good Melissa!"
I do try my best to question every single item that goes into the cart (do we REALLY need this?) but it never works. I give up 10 minutes in the store. Ok, so I am losing and I know I am about ready to give up.
Germans: 2 Canadian/Filipino: 0



Lesson #3 "Don't Forget to Sample!": As Andi roams the aisles looking for taco shells and salsa for the Mexican themed feast he is cooking on Saturday Night, Jong Hoon and I are already getting bored and thirsty not to mention hungry. Parkie and I search the aisles for the best food samples Carrefour can offer. There was icecream and some other good stuff. Still hungry, we decided that it would be OK to open Parkie's unpaid purchaseof ptrezel’s and iced coffee. I contemplated saying “no” as this is Singapore and who knows if there is a fine for eating unpaid purchases. However the pretzels were really good...
German/Korean: 1 Canadian/Filipino: 1 Singaporeans: 0



Lesson #4 "Take Control": Part of grocery shopping in Singapore also means knowing how to work the crowd especially when it’s a holiday Friday and with Easter Sunday around the corner. We know we had to be smart—we needed to have the right skills in shopping cart maneuvering and gently pushing people out of the way. Plus of course having the best eye(s) for bargains.
Judging from the picture above, I am beginning to think that Singaporeans do not own television sets or DVDs. People actually stop to watch the movies showing on the screen making it harder to steer your grocery cart. After knocking some people over (no mercy!), we finally made it to the cashier.
Germans: 3 Canadian/Filipino: 2 Singaporeans: 0



Lesson #5 "No Pain, No Gain": 2 hours later and too much money spent we are back home where Aditi is patiently waiting (with a look of sympathy on her face). Success is measured by the good food on the table and a full fridge (which won't last long anyway).
Final Scores: I say we are all pretty even, especially since I cooked dinner and did not end up poisoning anyone!