Four and half months passed, I have not been going out much other than to get my groceries and food. I thought I could survive because it is the kind of life I wanted; remote working, remote learning, online retail therapy, & physical distancing. It turned out I was capable of being bored to tears, sick of the daily grind and my environment. So, I decided to get adventurous by choosing a shopping mall instead my regular supermarket.
It was around 3 PM when I dressed up and booked a grab to take me to this premium mall called Ambarukmo Plaza. It took around 25 minutes to get there by a car. I generally avoid this mall because it has some bittersweet memories. There was a time when I would visit this mall with an ex and ex best friend almost daily for hours. That is why, I would pick other place or not visiting a mall at all. However, in a dire situation like this, that mall was the only one that was nearby and open. So, I went there.
When I arrived at the drop off point, the staff opened my grab door. Then I was asked to stand in an automatic sensor based temperature check device. When I hopped on the lift, it also use sensor based button so visitors don't have to touch anything. I think these were sophisticated since this mall didn't have this then.
I went to this mall with only 2 objectives : 1. Groceries based on the list and 2. Get something to eat. In reality, I wandered through several outlets and my favorite, being the mug section. I also got distracted by imported cheap books and I got myself a book from Sophie Kinsella and a mug. There is a quote on the front cover that captured my attention and described my situation, " When the going gets tough- the tough go shopping".
The mall was rather packed and it just felt like there wasn't a pandemic. Some visitors don't use mask and I was taken aback since majority of places impose a strong policy on mask.Physical distancing was also imposed, the management put a sticker on benches like this one;
When it comes to payment, majority outlets prefer card or e-payment like OVO or Gopay than cash payment. From my experience, I would rather do it with cash because I can track my spending, with card, I feel as though it's a flowing tap water until the card says " declined" - never happened to me but it would be a disaster if it did.
After I strolled for 30 minutes, I decided I was hungry. Instead going to a restaurant, I went to the food court area. Honestly, I have eaten most of the food in this mall but through Grabfood app. So, I try to find one that I haven't tried. It was this Bento box and sushi chain called OISHI.
I was randomly picking and I got this high carb food with a bunch of protein. Did you see the silver ware? I brought my own cutlery (spoon, chopstick and paper straw)because I hate using public cutlery. I get weird looks when I tell the waitress "you can keep the cutlery" but I am use to it now. When it comes to taste, I would rate that 4.3/5. It was not too bad nor too delicious but the sushi would be 4.4/5 since it was crunchy and savory.
While eating, I took out my laptop and reviewed my thesis. I wrote about several words before closing it and began to eat. I took this weird selfie before I went down to the grocery to actually buy things I need to buy.
It was hard for me to stick to my shopping list. I intended to buy only banana but I came home with chicken and beef jerky because they were cheap. Beef jerky is my favorite snack as a kid and in TransMart, they always have this under two dollar. So I was sold to these jerkys with three different flavors : spicy, sweet and spicy, extra sweet.
I ended my shopping when I spotted a grilling stall inside TransMart. I love grilled seafood especially the street food ones. But since there is no fair market due the pandemic, this would do.
I got octopus and also bratwurst. There was a deal with bratwust, buy two get 1. So, I decided to get that one and shared it with the landlord's daughter who went to the mall with me. Though it was not as tasty as the one at the fair market, it was quite decent to satisfy my cravings of grilled seafood.
Visiting the mall was interesting. I learned that people has moved on. It was interesting to see the dynamics and situation especially in this so-called " new normal" day. Another thing that was intriguing to me, despite many who was laid off & not able putting food on the table there are some percentage of people in this country who was able to shop in high-end boutique and stores. Sometimes, it is good to get out there and learned that life is not as bad and horrible as it portrayed in the media, it is quite amusing & fun. Life also is not always about suffering since it's easy to think that way when you are sitting in front of the screen almost all day, consuming the news online, wired to world news 24/7 and especially on twitter where you get cancelled for almost everything.
I also learned that the pandemic creates a new innovation, new ways to live our life, to travel and to interact with each other. Suppose,that is life: adapt and improvise when there is an obstacle.
~Mac
[//]:# (!pinmapple -7.782057 lat 110.401286 long Plaza Ambarukmo d3scr)