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| Friday, December 23, 2005 |
| Ata's Shop-a-rama |
I feel like I have been shopping ALL DAY. Which is not so far from the truth, actually.
My Friend-Around-The-Corner and I braved the Central Market to do a big pre-Christmas grocery shop. It was supposed to be 38 degrees today, so it was with some trepidation that we agreed to depart at 10am, hoping to get into the carpark before it filled up.
By the time we actually got to the market, the carpark (which is enormous, and resembles a giant-sized rabbit warren, full of cars instead of rabbits) was full. Or so the sign said, anyway. We took our chances and drove in anyway. Fortunately there was enough people leaving that we got in and got a carpark immediately, just near the escalators. Hooray! First success for the day.
Before getting started with the actual shopping, there were several tasks to be taken care of. Neither of us had thought to bring green shopping bags, so we located Coles and purchased a couple. Then, noting that many of the die-hard Central Marketeers had handy little trolleys, we located a shop selling handy little trolleys and bought one. They were $25, which seemed like a significant investment given that we don't go into the market often, so we went halves. Then Ata, having lost her shopping list somewhere between writing it in the living room and arriving at the markets, had to sit down & write another. So we got a drink and sat down.
Finally, we were ready to begin. After some browsing to establish prices & quality of goods, we settled on a stall to buy most of the vegies from. After loading up with assorted fruit & vegetables, it was back to the car to drop off the goods. Which would have been a simple endeavour, had we remembered on which side of the escalator the car was parked. So, on locating the car, we taunted would-be parkers whilst unloading shopping.
Now it was lunch time. Into the food court we go - and horror of horrors, Ricky's Chicken Rice is closed until January! So we had barbecued lamb with spring onions from Li's Mouth Magic instead. While waiting, I noted the sign on a nearby stall - they boldly advertised, "Your Choice Of Meals!". After lunch, it was once more unto the breach for fruit, then back to the car for more parker-taunting, then a quick circuit again, searching for Kangaroo Island Organic Corn-Fed Chicken. But they were fresh out. My Friend-Around-The-Corner settled for Clare Valley Corn-Fed Chicken (so far as I can tell, the major difference was about $3 a kilo), while I went for Greenslades Grain-Fed. I'm a cheapskate.
By this stage the event was becoming somewhat wearing. After examining ham at three different ham-purveyors, and Friend-Around-The-Corner waiting fruitlessly in line at the butchers for lamb, we decided to throw in the towel, as it were. So we went home for a nap before the Shopping Finale - at the local Westfields Shopping Centre - the Plaza.
Braving the Plaza at Christmas time is a dangerous game, so we kept in short - Darrel Lea for chocolate, House for pretty nut bowls (hey, I had a credit slip that was three years old! You can't keep these things forever!), General Trader for a roasting rack (when did I become the person that spends ten minutes deliberating over roasting racks?), Woolworths for assorted supermarket items, then the butcher for - no! It's too late! It's five past six, and the butcher is SHUT! Do you know what this means? We will have to go shopping tomorrow - CHRISTMAS EVE!
Oh well. At least Friend-Around-The-Corner made it to the Pet Shop on time, so her kitties will eat tonight. And Ata acquired the last element of Mr Ata's Christmas Present. AND a roasting rack.
So on the whole, the day was declared a success. I have laid in enough food to feed - well, at least a family with four assorted children and a childless aunt-and-uncle for the days while the shops are shut. Given that I actually have to feed five adults (seven for Boxing Day), and my Mother will insist on resupplying as soon as the shops open again on Wednesday, I think I'm covered. At least, I've got enough dessert items to last us about a week.
But, darnit, I still have to go to the butcher tomorrow. |
posted by Ata @ 6:38 pm  |
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