In many of the
shopping centers here in Singapore small 'pop-up' markets often appear. They
appear most frequently on weekends and they are referred to as
"pop-up" stores. This is because they literally just pop up. Out of
nowhere. They are generally here today and gone tomorrow.
In America
Shopping Centres are referred to as Shopping Malls. I have no idea why. My
spelling auto check keeps changing the word 'Centre' to "Center" on
my MacBook Air.
My migration
to Apple technology is relatively new and I have not yet worked out how to
change the language settings from "American English" to "English
English" but it is however beginning to annoy me. The word
"Centre" now appears to me with red underscore and my computer is
telling me that this is a misspelling.
Which it most
definitely not.
"American
English" indeed well there is an oxymoron and a half. I actually hope that
there is an "Australian English" auto check spelling option because I
can then throw in words like "Strewth", "Cooee" and
"Fair dinkum" without the red underscore. This post is already
littered with the underscore and it really pissing me off. Interestingly the
word "pissing" is under-scoreless.
I will now
type in the word "Fucker".
Wow.
It is also
under under-scoreless!
I assume it is
therefore in the Webster dictionary. I shouldn't really be surprised.
There are a
lot of Fuckers in the US of A.
So back to
these pop-up stores. I have come across many before here in Singapore. They
usually specialize in a single line of item and they offer products that are
heavily discounted. The Singaporeans love them. Anything that is discounted
here will create a flurry of interest and it will gather a crowd. A bargain is
one of the most sought after items to the locals - no matter what the object
might be. I have previously bought pillows and cushions from these pop up
stores and sheets and blankets too. Pop-up Traders will normally leave the
original price label on these items and then put the discounted price label
next to it. For comparison. Savings can be up to 80%.
In Australia
we would normally be a bit suspicious of such sales in a 'pop up' situation. We
refer to these things as being sold "off the back of a truck". The
implication is that the items may not have been legally acquired and they have
likely been stolen. Theft is the reason for the heavy discounts and these items
are 'hot'. This may also be the case here in Singapore.
I don't really
know.
I haven't
asked.
As I was
meandering through the Novena shopping Centre this afternoon I noticed the
gathering of a crowd. People were sprinting towards it. I was en route to my
local Cold Storage to get some milk for I had run out. The Cold Storage is a
local supermarket. Think Woolworths, Safeway, Wal-Mart, Tesco, Waitrose or
Carrefour. Interesting, Woolworths, Tesco and Waitrose have been red
underscored but Carrefour is not! The Americans have accepted the French.
That is
strange.
Carrefour
closed their doors here in Singapore early last year. They ceased trading. I
was quite disappointed when this happened as their range of cheeses was
excellent and their chocolate mousse were to die for.
Virtually
every paragraph I have written now has these red underscore marks in them. As
soon as I finish this post I am going to work out how to change the settings.
I don't like
it at all.
Cold Storage
is the brand name of a local supermarket chain but they do in fact have a cold
storage section. In Cold Storage. It is where the milk and other dairy products
are displayed and it was where I was heading.
The sudden
gathering of a crowd though piqued my interest. It aroused my curiosity and
distracted me from my mission to get some milk. I immediately suspected that a
'pop-up" store had been established and this was indeed the case. Quite a
lot of people had gathered at this set up and more were rapidly arriving. The
store was set up within a rectangle of benches and the product that they were
selling was tins of food. There were boxes of these tins stacked high within
the rectangle and I could see that cash and product were being exchanged at a
frenetic pace. The Singaporeans refer to tins as cans. Which can be a little
confusing.
As I am about
to reveal.
Even though I
was a fair distance from the store itself I spied tins of my favorite brand of
tuna on display. Tuna in brine. Jumbo size. These are normally quite expensive
here on the Island and sell for about $10 each. I eat my tuna with salad and I
spread it on toast - with a little mayonnaise and sometimes with a squeeze of
lemon juice.
I eat it all
the time.
I was
fortunately carrying my umbrella with me at the time. I normally do. It can
rain suddenly and violently here on the island and I do not like getting
drenched. So although the throng of people was deep when I arrived at the
pop up store I was able to prod and beat my way to the front of the pack
with relative ease. I caught the attention of one of the sales attendants and
pointed at the stack of tuna cans.
"How
much?"
I enquired.
"Two
dollars" he replied.
"One
can. Can?" I asked.
"Can" he said.
"Can" I responded.
Then he gave
me two.
I think the
second 'can' was taken literally and not in the normal Singaporean way.
The can-can is
also a risqué dance that was first performed in French ballrooms and brothels
in the early part of the nineteenth century. It involves a lot of skirt lifting
and high kicking and the exposure of stockinged legs. I think it was actually
outlawed for a while as it was considered too raunchy during the Victorian
period.
I didn't
really mind buying the extra can of tuna through the miscommunication. Two cans
for four dollars is a bargain in anyone’s book. I marched home triumphantly
with my cans in hand.
Then I realized
that I had forgotten the milk.
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