Wednesday, November 4, 2015

SEOUL Random 03: The Grocery Craze

I do enjoy grocery shopping

(like I always do)

in another city

Lottle Mart, Seoul Stn

 

see what the locals eat

and probably buying some

for consumption during the stay

snack, yogurt, fruits etc

 

and probably one or two

as souvenir items

for the kids back home

 

but the craze at Lotte Mart

is way out of something I can handle

 

cartful of instant noodles, cookies, chips

flavoured seaweed, banana milk

as my beloved partners started filling the cart

I felt a bit ridiculous

Lottle Mart, Seoul Stn

 

I got quite disturbed when

they took out their phones and

checking out the must-buy recommended cookies

oh come one those are just cookies

 

and instant noodles are just instant noodles

and are you serious

did I hear them say that

those items gonna be hand carried since

they are quite fragile

Lottle Mart, Seoul Stn

 

a lot of serious folks at work

packing the products into boxes

Lottle Mart, Seoul Stn

 

I probably understand if

you are buying cosmetic, ginseng

okay those are Made in Korea products

probably specialties at

a way cheaper price too

 

Seaweed, instant noodle,

cookies and banana milk

one moment, please

I still find this hard to digest 

 

and there are some more hard-core cases

buying Korean sanitary pads

which are of better quality

 

true story..

I saw the sanitary pads

are sold in gift-pack set

 

or cooking utensil

such as frying pan

okay.. white flag


my sis probably resented me

for I had been stopping her from

buying the above mentioned products

which she did anyway

 

okay to make up for it

I ordered some Pepero

like 30 packs of it in assorted flavour

 

since I found it cheap on 11street

the Korean shopping site

 

like seriously

why bothered to buy it all the way

from South Korea if

 

you can order it online

with doorstep delivery

without any shipping fees incurred

 

even if it is slightly cheaper

is it worth the effort

 

but ironically

the price I got online

is even cheaper from

the retail price in Seoul

 

so after getting the Pepero set

the sarcasm in me prompted me to

add something like this

 

“by the way

I found the noodle is quite cheap too

instead of hand-carrying those

you should have ordered some

before you left for Korea

and use them as souvenir

when you got home”

 

and I never thought

for real, she took this seriously

and asked me to order some

she actually doesn’t have enough to

distribute as souvenirs

 

so I ended up ordering

6 packs of 4-in-1 Cheese ramen

and 4 giant packs Pepero in a day

 

thank goodness

there’s online shopping

 

by the way

I find 11street rather shopper-friendly

was bombarded by their ads on YouTube

the one featuring Lee Min-Ho

 

I did my first purchase with them

back in June

a basic smart phone for my mom

 

on top of specific discount / shipping deals

offered by the respective seller

they always have this coupon scheme

well categorized based on different banks

 

similar to promo code

to be applied during check-out

as additional discount

 

The Complete Seoul Random Series

01: Direction to Hyundai Residence

02: Duty Free / Tax Refund

03: The Grocery Craze

04: Foodie as a Dummy (Like Me)

05: 11 Reasons to Book Hyundai Residence

06: Constantly Reminded of Siwon-LiuWen 石榴夫婦

07: Ssamziegel, Insa-dong 人人廣場,仁寺洞

08: The Palace 宮

09: Bukchon Hanok Village 北村

10: Final Shopping Tips