Shopping Fun - Bangalore Style

As the memories of Australian supermarkets start to fade I ventured out to my Indian equivalent today.  When we lived here previously, we went to a place called Hypercity (fondly and aptly known as Hyerpshitty…….) but now there is a big, bright and shiny new place, called Loyal World.  It is big, it is bright, and it is shiny but yet it is still 'shitty'.  Notice, I don't call it a supermarket, there is nothing super about this place !!

Since being back from our summer vacation, I have tried to make do with online deliveries and what we had left in the freezer, but I finally had to succumb to a trip to the supermarket.  Of course, this only stocks certain things and I have to do meat, bread, organic items, alcohol, flowers and water all at other seperate shops, but at least this one stop gets most of the shopping list done.  

Buying groceries online is always fraught with danger and I have had my share of big mistakes.  I remember in Hong Kong I ordered some cleanser called Cif (same as Jiff in Australia) and I got the volume wrong when ordering - instead of 2 bottles, I got 2 cases of 24 bottles !!!  That was in our first week in HK, and I think we used all 48 bottles by the time we left 3 years later………  For 3 years, every solution to a cleaning question was 'use the Cif'.

I have always had an issue with getting the sizes or volumes wrong from a supermarket shop - just this week I bought two boxes of muesli and they were 2 individual serves, not large boxes !!  I really do need to take more attention to the size and cost but I am currently in that crazy head space of converting between currencies after being in Australia for 5 weeks…… and in the end I just give up and pay the rupees and cross my fingers.

This weeks online purchase of tomatoes resulted in this little gem…. not sure it will ever ripen or if anyone will use it ??  Who in their right mind selects this for a customer ??

You cannot buy 'anything' in bulk in India - you have to buy singles, and if you ever do find a box of something, they will open the box and then scan each item individually…… I have tried to explain the 'times 24 concept' but with no success.  Below is the sea of drinks that you can buy individual cans of…. .and they are the smallest cans ever - 300ml.

Then on to the fresh produce - you go around gather your fruit and vegetables and place them in brown paper bags, which inevitably break as you go, and then go and line up for someone to weigh, cost and tag.  This process can take close to half an hour, as there is only ever one person and people have loads of produce to be weighed, costed and tagged…… but it does keep people employed and it definitely keeps my days 'full' !!  There is also the positive of no plastic - I was shocked at the plastic in Australian supermarkets - so ONE positive for the Indian shops.  At least today my tomatoes were red…….

Today's final stop was to grab 'some' beer for Mike.  Now, I say 'some' beer because it is nearly impossible to find a full carton of beer in Bangalore.  If you are lucky enough to find 24 bottles of the beer you want, it is then put in to any box they can find - never the actual brand of beer you are buying, never …… usually laying down sideways, clanging together as you go.  Well, I ventured in to the bottle shop and have 8 men wanting to help me.  Possibly more men then bottles in the store.  I let them know what I am after and they point to the fridge and there are 2, yes 2, bottles of beer !!! See the evidence below.   None out the back, no more stock coming today - so that was the end of that. They offered me longneck bottles but there was only 1 of them too.  So, I hope Mike is happy to have a G&T tonight, not beer.  Shopping fail for a Friday.

individuals of 'everything'

Bag, weigh, cost and tag 

2 beer bottles sitting on the wall……..

So for those of you not in India, please enjoy the convenience, the cleanliness, the variety, and ability to buy in bulk at your local supermarket.  We miss them :(