James Mok’s Soliloquy

My folks used to collect and redeem coupon savings at the supermarkets when they were living in Canada. Their feelings toward such chores was not unlike Rechelle’s over in Chicago.

We, in Hong Kong, are not so fortunate enough to get such deals. Oh, we do get the big tabloid size posters listed with “special deals” which anyone could get so long as they go and shop for the specific products. Since, I gathered, there is no such feeling of being someone “special” that coupon holders have, people don’t general get hooked on such kind of shopping as coupon shopping does.

We also get stickers rewarded for the amount spent in supermarkets. The more you spend, the more stickers you’d get. After collecting a certain number of stickers, you get to redeem them for some other specific merchandise with a discount plus a number of stickers or free of charge with several times more stickers.

However, these specific merchandise for sticker redemption usually have some big time sounding brand names but poor quality products. For instance, last year at WelXcome we redeemed a “Royal DoltXn” bathrobe listed at HKD$1,280 for Alec by stickers alone without paying a cent after just a few months of regular amount shopped! The brand seemed like some big branded china with similar name but these are bathrobes and towels. The bathrobe shredded tons of “cotton balls” and shrunk about half a foot! Which works out just fine for Alec though, for it was a full size adult bathrobe now much lighter and just the right size for Alec; which is perfect for the after swimming car ride home before a proper shower. But poor quality it is. $1,280 my a$$.

This year they have the “Platinum KiXchen Appliance Collection” full of electric stove, oven, microwave, toaster, and coffee maker. Look stunning, but again of poor craftsmanship and poor quality. There is noway I am putting those “crab” in my kitchen. Besides, they don’t mix well with ginger and spring onion or curry.