Souvenir Hill X Shopping Nil: A Backpacker’s Budget Bill

the Phuket trip this round

is seriously on a tight budget

I spent like only half of the cash

which I brought along

and no credit card

 

since dining out in Patong

is quite expensive

I think I should talk about food

in a separate post then

we brought grocery

and saved on a couple of meals 

From The Sea X To Big C: Grocery-Crazy

 

friends around me know

ya despite the fact

I do not really spend much on food

when it comes to shopping

I always fall into a helpless state

 

but at Patong

not so much

all over the places

there are all the imitation goods

which does not rise my interest at all

and some of the retro cartoon shirts

I can get it back at Melaka

roughly the same price

skipping all the bargaining

 

Patong OTOP

OTOP: One Tambon One Product

a government-sponsored initiative

to create small local industries in Thailand.

The idea is to offer every tambon in Thailand

the chance to create its own small industry

producing a local product

and providing employment for local people.

quoting from Knowphuket

 

yet

they are the same old stuffs

you see at the other part of the town

 

there are quite a number of

Hello Kitty store like this

I was checking out a couple of them

since Jazmine Ng asked me to

buy her a Hello Kitty school bag

which is pull able

the prices offered are close

to the one we have seen at airport store

might as well….

 

this particular one at Otop Market

with the signboards

“No Discount Please”

and some of the items with

“Made in Japan” printed on it

okay, maybe those are authentic stuffs

 

wait a minute

can you see the Tweety and Kitty dress

yet the tag at the neck is “Disney”

what the hell

Tweety X Hello Kitty: Disney

 

passed by this store

a couple of time

thought of buying from them already

170 baht havaianas (imitation)

no.. I will just hold on a little bit longer

 

till I got into another shop

since they have the colour

I really like

guess you would have guessed

 

the man offered 300 baht

I directly typed 150 baht

and he said it is a deal

trying to get it lower

asking him what if I buy more pairs

then he said this is the lowest

 

this was the price I got

back in Khaosan Road, Bangkok

but I ended up not buying

because after all

buying pirated items

sounds kinda unethical isn’t it

 

more over

for that price range

> RM 20

I can get an authentic pair of

Cotton On

and even heavily discounted

Roxy and Rip Curl too

so why bothered

to get pirated havaianas

 

but

so sorry

still I ended up buying

this time round

my one and only loot from Phuket

 

okay

I did research on the official site

there is the famous Brazil series

there is the slim series

there is the metallic series

yet there is never a

Metallic Brazilian slim series

super super limited edition

that’s the awesome thing about imitation

sometimes they can be even more genius

than the original creation itself

 

okay

I am being a big time liar

critizing the pirated goods industry

yet buying them at the same time

ok just once

 

then what else

was there in the black backpack

everything in there was bought here?

 

I support Thai local industries

by buying souvenirs

for my beloved family and friends

my miss manager was so worried

because we only got 20kg in total

for luggage space

 

the items are

Zam-buk ointment for bruises

 

Nissin X Winnie the Pooh cup noodles

day 1: marked it down

day 2: no stock??

day 3: grab grab grab

 

since school bag is quite beyond my budget

I just grabbed this Hello Kitty toothbrush

with the keychain

well, at least it is authentic

another one,

is for an adult

who is an underground Kitty fan

doesn’t want to be associate with it much

yet secretly collecting them

ooppps…

 

Koh-Kae peanuts

peanuts with flavoured crunch coat

come in different flavours

but I prefer sweet flavours like coffee

and the original coconut

 

for the friends who cook

 

all these combined

chili, fish sauce, glass noodle

and also egg and bean sprout

fry fry fry

 

then here you are

ok I will give it a try soon

it is always easier to say

 

so those are the things I bought from Phuket

not very iconic souvenir

all the small goodies

hope everyone is fine with

what they get

I have tried my best

and this is already the maximum

I can carry with me

 

another surprise for myself

Dove hair shampoo

buy one free one at Watson’s

135 baht

after the few days of sun

without bringing anything except basic shampoo

I felt my hair was quite dry

grabbed a pair without hesitant

 

sadly

the baht I saved up at Phuket

has been almost spent dry at Zara yesterday

Merdeka X Pre-Raya: Accidentally Bought Puma & Zara