Posted in shopaholic , travelogue
Everyone had a little confusion about my recent whereabouts. Well, so was I. Because all this time, the e-ticket on my hand says, "Melbourne International Airport" and thus, I thought I was going to have a willy-good time in Melbourne. Think: all the nice warm fuzzy stuff people have told you about Melbourne.
Actually not. My final destination is in fact, Geelong - a city one hour's drive from the airport.
Because of this little mistake, I've been monitoring the wrong weather forecast, thus brought a couple of clothes unsuitable to battle the 11degrees freezing f-king-finger-biting wind. Considering two-thirds of my time was spent at the barren isolated airbase (a 20 minutes' drive from my ocean-facing apartment), the wind was so strong that it gets to my arse. If I were to run in the wind's direction, let's just say Usain Bolt is peanuts.
Road to Almost-NothingnessGeelong isn't Melbourne City. Hardly any late night waterhole or shopping. Now we know that Australia is famed for its laid back lifestyle - i.e. all stores close at 5pm. But times are changing; more stores are offering late-night shopping on weekends. Well, at least I know major stores in Sydney and Brisbane (and possibly Melbourne) hold back their closing time during weekends. I was very much a happy girl during trips to those cities.
Then again, Geelong is hardly like Sydney nor Brisbane. I endured five nights of finger-twiddling while on my bed in my apartment. Besides knocking back on Yarra Ridge wine, texting The Boyfriend was the next big thing. Then bed time at 9pm(!). Weekend was bad timing; we had to work until later than usual and KFC was the only 'shop' we were willing to visit in that brrr weather.
Come Monday which we foresaw early knock-off at 4pm. We rubbed our hands as we drove our station wangon to downtown where the largest shopping mall is located. Wee! But someone should have reminded us that Monday, 9th March is Australia's Labour Day. i.e. PUBLIC HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!! It was a moment of KNN.
The streets were empty; the mall was dim; the sun was slowly setting; and my heart was heavy. Momentarily I thought I was going to suffocate from the lack of my one most precious... motivation.in.life.
The story isn't that long actually. Basically I found K-Mart, along the outskirts of the city, opened at 7pm despite all odds that shops in Geelong closes at 5pm. I held my breath like a young kid entering the gates of Disneyland (never been there but real-life accounts by other homo sapiens were some sort like this). The shelves appeared tall and grand, the cashier counters were glittering in gold and silver. I took a few moments to recollect myself, then turned around to my colleague, "Where do I start?"
Two hours later, I emerged like a winner. The colleague next to me, emerged $150 poorer but gained a plastic bag full of Bonds socks worth $150 in all. Still she's a happy woman.
It's amazing what K-Mart (akin to Singapore's Carrefour) can do to a woman's hormones. The test of one's endurance (to walk through all those razzle-dazzling shelves!) and patience (lots of decision-making in there) is ultimate at K-Mart.
Then again, when one is deprived of exercising his/her purchasing power (of any sort), desperation tells one to seek the nearest relief outlet. And K-Mart came in handy.
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