July 13, 2013

Supermarkets

I do not what's wrong with me, but I think I got bitten by a chef bug. I tend to enjoy cooking more than I use to and I frequently hang around in supermarkets to get my ingredients. My mum often call me see lai (housewife) or aunty as she said usually these people always hang around the supermarkets to buy stuffs to cook for the family. >.<
I don't really go to wet markets because:

  1. I unable to speak Chinese, I only can speak broken ones or basic ones, therefore I unable to tell the trader which part of the poultry I want or what type of seafood I'm looking for because I cannot describe or explain to them
  2. I'm an OCD-sufferer (Obessive-Compulsive Disorder) whereby I cannot tolerate dirty and wet area and loud-spoken people. It totally turns me off
  3. I cannot wake up super early and go to the market to buy the things
So my best option to get my stuffs is at the supermarket or hypermarket because they are clean, wide varieties to choose from, spacious and most importantly, it's fully air-conditioned (no need to sweat or rub against people with sweaty arms and smelly body odour... Eeewww...). I prefer AEON (previously known as Jusco) or TESCO. AEON for their seafood, vegetables, fruits and poultry as well as their Japanese foodstuffs, whilst TESCO for their shelves items, such as sauces, cooking oils, seasonings, etc. I find AEON has really fresh and properly indicated signages of poultry, seafood and vegetables. Some of their prices can be bit expensive, but as long as it's fresh, I guess that's worth it. When there's a Members' Day Sale or AEON Sales, that's the time I will buy a lot and store them in my refrigerator because the prices are much attractive yet the quality remains the same. I always go there to buy chicken breast and thigh, salmon fillet and prawns and sometimes I bought some organic vegetables, too. Expensive, but it's good to consume organic foodstuffs once in a while. I prefer to go to AEON at Mid Valley or 1Utama as they seems to have all the items I needed and the items are easy to find (I hate going round and round to find a particular item. I prefer to be able to glance at everything at one place). The next alternative I would go for will be Cold Storage, Mercato, Village Grocer and Isetan but these places are my last resort, because their items are really expensive. 
I usually do my grocery shopping in the morning, when the shopping mall opens at 10am or perhaps have my breakfast first before starting my mission. I don't really like to scramble or bumped into people or trolleys and rushing about as well as to wait on long queues at the check-out counters. I like to shop with ease and at peace, carefully and casually select my items and end my mission with a sigh of relief and a smile on my face. 
Any suggestions or opinions on where to buy seafood, poultry, fruits and vegetables apart from my favourite supermarkets mentioned above. Do share :)