On Saturday we visited Big C. It’s kind of like Target, but on a super-sensory, Thai-style level. We go there about once a month to stock up on supplies not available in our town, like raisins, cheddar cheese, Energizer digital batteries, and internet cards.
A typical day trip to Big C, including preceeding and follow-up events, looks something like this:
Sleep in, go for a jog, eat breakfast and shower. Walk to the town bus/songtaew stop. Wait for a vehicle to depart. Ride over many hills and around many curves until arrival in the city. (Usually, Robert looks out the window while Kate reads a book.)
Upon arrival at Big C, to settle the stomach, head for the cash machine and then the lunch counter. Eat a quick and cheap Thai lunch. Attack the aisles, trying to avoid the massive display piles, the young women advertising various products with loud stereos and megaphones, and the crowd of teenagers clustered around the skin-whitening deodarant selections.
After forking over a large portion of PCV monthly stipend (peanut butter is expensive here!), head down the escalator for a recovery stop at the DQ, where mini-blizzards are available in all the usual flavors for less than a dollar. Walk with ice cream out to the parking lot, where a songtaew will be waiting for a full complement of other commuters. Ride that songtaew to the songtaew stop for our town, board it with all the bags of groceries, and ride for another 80 minutes or so to the gate of our house.
Upon arrival at home, lie on the bed for at least 20 minutes to get over car-sickness or songtaew exhaust poisoning before starting to make dinner. Enjoy a relaxing evening that includes at least one food purchase from the day!
2 comments:
Next time you go to Big C, I think you should find a manager and tell them that should the Big C Sausages Festival ever come to an end, you'd be interested in obtaining some of the leftover displays. Maybe they would find this request so charming that they would happily grant it. I think it would help distract you from the motion/diesel sickness of the ride if you had to carry a giant cardboard sausage along with all your groceries. And it would certainly add to the decor of your house (although it might be hard to put it lower than the portait of the King).
Darn, this idea did not occur to me when Robert took the photo a year ago. But the next time I go to Big C, perhaps I'll check out the new displays and see if any of them are household-decoration-worthy.
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