Birth Pains at the Shops

These are inevitable and thus we can not blame the two shopping centers for their slip-ups. We went to the new SM on Sucat and found, to our delight, that the dreaded traffic jam has not happened. But the pedestrians are as hard-headed as ever, refusing to use the bridge to cross the street. Anyway, on a very hot day, we went in and found their new Hypermart, which they now call a Supercenter, set-up rather pleasant.

This is on the second floor of the structure, which is very SM–shops and food outlets on the ground floor and the one-stop complex on the upper level. Apparently not very many have discovered the center, or people might just be waiting for the appropriate time (and money, perhaps?) to visit, because it was not as crowded as some SMs in other parts of the city.

Needless to say we went to the fresh/frozen sections and noted that pork and beef are selling at a price lower even than the markets–kasim at P114 a kilo. And they have an ample supply of Magnolia chicken at P92 a kilo. This brand has disappeared from some of the big supermarkets in the city. We always go for the bigger bird, because unless you are frying them, the very small ones (less than a kilo in weight) do not make good tinola or sinarsahan.

Now the birth pains. They have what appeared like very state-of-the-art, high-tech cash registers, which turned out to be too much as well for the staff, who apparently have not been trained very well. It took the young lady a long time to clear our card, punching some wrong keys in the process. Somebody else had to come and help her. But we think SM Sucat deserves another visit, perhaps after they have enough time to get their act together.

It seems like we wrote too soon about the efficiency at S&R Price in The Fort. The next time we visited it, we had to stay by the cashier some 20 minutes before our card got cleared. And they did not have baggers anymore, since every staff on duty was assigned as cashiers. We suggest they arrange for a real hotline to the credit card establishments, so shoppers are not made to wait a long time.

There must also be some confusion at their pricing control section. The first time we went to the outlet, we rejoiced at finding the popular apple cake at P148 plus each. The second time, they had two sets of prices–P148 and P354. A friend noted that the more expensive one is an inch bigger in diameter. Big deal! But that is not the end of this price story. On our third visit, the pies were its usual size and all of them were priced at P354.

Another item that startled us was the pack of four boxes of facial tissue (Kleenex, 3-ply) which S&R Price sells for P349 which makes each box cost P82 plus! At Rustan’s or anywhere else this costs only P51.75 a box. Certainly, a good P30 difference would drive a customer away from buying at S&R. We called the attention of a sales staff and he just turned his back to us.

At their frozen food section, we got Pork Chops with Herbs and the Parmesan Chicken Breast, both of which are pre-seasoned with McCormick. All you need to do is put them in the oven for at least 30 minutes. We suggest, however, that since they come out a bit dry, make some sort of a brown sauce.

Avocados are in abundance now. Do take advantage–this is one of the most nutritious fruits we have. It can be made into ice cream, can be taken fresh with milk, sugar and ice and can be a salad to go with your fried fish or even baked chicken and pork chops. Here is a new recipe we encountered recently–cut two avocados in cubes. Mix with chopped onion (one small), crushed garlic (half a clove), a dash each of salt and pepper, and pour whatever wine you have left in your kitchen, either red (this is better) or white. Let stand for a few minutes, or even overnight. Drain when ready to serve and toss on a bed of your favorite lettuce. Super!

Actually you can do a lot more with avocado. Mix with olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice, cubed apples, nuts, chopped parsley, salt and pepper or combine with green and red peppers, pimento-stuffed olives, chopped ham, mayonnaise, catsup, salt and pepper. Have a happy salad Sunday.