On 31 Jan 2015,
for the first time in twenty years, I participated in an outing organized by
Bukit Batok East CC. I am secretly a closet resident, cloistered at the end of
Bkt Batok East in my cosy condominium and anything that requires a walk to the
heartlands that can be done by a car is deemed to far away.
But when I
saw the notice of the trip on one of
the condo’s notice board , I decided
that $5 whole day outing to wholesale centers and the fishery is far cheaper
than driving. Besides, how would I know where the factories are?
I have ideas of
factory visit, overlooking the bak kwa process from start to finish in a
viewing gallery and seeing fish thrown all over at fishery port road. The last
time that I have been in a factory of any kind was of the semiconductor type
and I am raring to see some action where the end result ends up in my tummy.
8.45am, the bus
punctually picked us up at the CC and went to the next stop at Southhaven at
Upper Bkt Timah. There were far more seats than people in the bus, so we have
lots of place to move around. The spirit of true blue Singapore Kiasuism was
well and alive in me – Pat and I sat near the front so that we could get off at
the soonest before the rest to do our buying part.
It was a bit of a
ride to Senoko near Woodlands on the PIE. Our first stop was at Ken Ken, the
cuttlefish snack supplier. Many people swarmed the place, all disgorging from
the tour buses.It was a frantic moment. My lack of height meant not knowing what
goods were before me. I picked a couple of packs of fish maws ( for CNY ) and a
disgraceful amount of cuttlefish snack , something I have not purchased for a
long time because of the cost. It was a crazy moment and I dare say , the
crowd made me do it. In my sanest moment, I will not even say yes to a pack of
potato chip.
Checkout was a
nightmare and it takes skill to attract the attention of the cashier and edging
fellow shoppers. It was cash transaction and I parted with almost $30 for the
snacks, extravagance that I did not realise until we boarded the bus.
A short ride away,
we were let loose at Kwong Cheong Thye. Now fully in the mood to spend, we did
the unimaginable thing. We tried all the foodstuff sample and ignored the
smorgasboard of yusheng salad and yufu noodles. At normal times it would be a
no-no, to have 2 unrelated items on the same plate. But hey! That was
extraordinary times indeed.
Our modest loot
was a bottle of oyster sauce , black sauce and 3 packs of sauces for crabs. I
never cook crab at home but the pictures got me imagining and caused me to
think, why not? We drank sauces and soups from miniature tubs, ate noodles hot
off the pot but sanity prevailed, almost, and I held back stoically.
KCT held some
nostalgia to Pat, whose dad used to work for eons ago. I knew he was in that
mood because he started snapping photos of KCT with his handphone. Most times
it would be unthinkable to use the handphone for anything but calling and the
phone camera was way below him. Anyway we had a good time doing all the ‘aunty
things’.
By now, I figured
that no one will be punctual returning to the bus. Shuvin, the CC organizer for
the event, was not good at motivating us to return to the bus on time. For
every stop, we delayed and waited for the shameless folks who boarded last
without a word of remorse. The end result was that we had to drop the last stop
because time ran out.
Back to our
shopping. The bus went up a humongous multistory factory to a trading cum
warehouse place, where an assortment of snacks and drinks were sold. I sampled
the yogurt, a first because I could
never stomach yogurt drink, given out by the store’s staff. The mish mash of
goods followed no particular theme, for what has oats, chips, chocolate and
abalone got to do with each other. Just 2 days ago, I had purchased a big bag
of rolled oats but the frantic grabbing of Quaker quick cooking oats praised by
the aunties as good for everything made me grab one too. So yours truly now has
2 kg worth of oats. I wonder when I will ever finish consuming them. It was a
small place jam packed with a hundred visitors and the cashiers simply could
not cope.
The bus did a
couple of turns around Woodlands/Senoko and lo and behold! We ended up at Bee
Choon Heng bak kwa. BCH showed their retail chops with VISA, NETS checking
counters and staff decked in BCH uniforms reverently waiting for us to pounce
on the endless cans of floss of every kind. It was pork floss haven and prices
were going at 90% of prevailing prices outside. Pat worked the maths and I went
for 1 kg pack which deemed cheapest. I have yet to figure out how the 1 kg will
be consumed.
An ice cream
mobile store was stationed there and in true Kdrama style, Pat got me an ice
cream. It was a dollar purchase but it tasted a million bucks. Who says there’s
no romance at 50?
By now near noon,
the bus made a couple of twist and turns before depositing us at Bengawan Solo
factory. Communications were poor and it was sometime before we realized that
we would stop for an hour for lunch and ‘looting’ Bengawan and Ping Si foods.
We were sure the organizer were not any wiser but collective wisdom dictates
that it was time for lunch and none congregated at the drop off /pick up place
until more than one hour later.
We had a
ridiculously cheap lunch at a bustling factory canteen, bursting to the seam
with bargain seekers out with their respective CCs. While everyone shopped, we
amused ourselves by harvesting dried pods of the blue flower vine(Clitoria
ternatea flowers). Potentially, the
pods with their seeds would mean years of endless supplies of Pulut Tai Tai,
provided I get to plant them in my much neglected vegetable patch.
To much relief, we
set off to a nursey at Jalan Bahar. I was beginning to feel the bliss of not driving.
There was no pressure to decide how to go and already the hot weather and much
waiting was making me sleepy. At the other corner of Singapore, we visited a
huge nursery. My worries of heat and what nots were unfounded – the retail
section of the nursery was sheltered. It was a mini Chelsea flower show and I
actually enjoyed the place.
Most of us left
empty handed. Our objective was food and the last thing was to lug bags of can
foods and a meter tall pussy willow back to Parkview.
Pan Ocean was our
first seafood place in Jurong and the smallish retail area could not contain
all of us. It was more than 5 buses worth of people poring over freezers of
frozen fish, lobsters, scallops and anything that lives in water. Then, just as
quickly as we came, the entire bunch left the place at almost the same time
giving reprieve to the folks running the place. Snorre was nearby but it was
not the sort of place for CNY goods so Song Fish it was. The crowd stopped me
in my tracks – the tiny place was literally swarmed with people holding
multiple baskets. Snow crabs, most about $70, were snapped up.
It was more
waiting for fellow travellers caught in the endless checkout queue before we
made our way to Hock Seng Foods at Pandan Loop. This place, I like. HS carries
the Hosen brand of canned foods, one of my preferred brands. The outing was
near its end and almost everyone bought cans and cans of abalone like it was
free. I made off with a modest number of canned foods. No point waiting when I
can be one of the waited for a change.
We forgo the Tai Sun
Snacks and headed for home. Those at Southhaven were dropped off first before
it called base at Bkt Batok CC. Pat and I struggled with bags of purchase we
have no idea we had bought and it was a slow, painful walk home even if it
should be 500m down the road.
So, the pertinent
question, will I go again? Yes and no. There are way too many warehouse retail
places in industrial areas that we do not know off and this is a good
introduction. On the other hand, our pet peeve of waiting for recalcitrant late
comers will be the main reason why Pat and I will not be joining the CC for any
outcoming anytime soon.
