The “Sales” culture is so embedded in the life of Malaysians. If it is not on sales, don’t buy yet, wait.

“What you do not have now is what you do not need” holds water here. Most shopping centres and complexes, huge ones, are quite deserted nowadays if there is no promotion of sort to draw em crowd in.

So I went and bought meself three pairs of trousers and two pairs of socks. All on 30% discount. Smart move eh!

Why buy so many freaking pairs for? My waistline is playing havoc on me. Sometimes big, sometimes small, really. Got some wide range of sizes, these trousers of mine. Next I ought to get a bigger wardrobe to stuff em in.

So short are my legs that all three pairs of trousers need to be altered. “We do not have alteration services during promotion sales” says the saleslady.

Very well, I will buy a pair of scissors from the stationeries dept and cut em myself. I just need you to fold em up and sew them, can? Cannot!

Ended up paying RM8 each pair for alteration at one rundown tailor shop near my place. That is 40% of the purchase price of RM19.90 a pair. So much for the 30% discount smart move purchase.

Heck!

I have seen many types of rubbish being thrown out of a moving car. Tissue papers, unwanted bits of papers and wrappers, packets of drinks, plastic bags and tins, rambutan peels, glass bottle from obviously drunk drivers who throw just to break it and you just name it objects. I would not be surprised if someone were to throw some durian skins out of the car during this durian season.

Malaysians still have the “as long as it is not on my turf” mentality when it comes to throwing rubbish. Even neighbours will conveniently sweep rubbish to the house next door given the chance. This I can attest to. I do not smoke and no one in my household eats sweets or junk food. Somehow cigarette butts, junk food plastic bags and sweets wrappers will conveniently appear in front of my apartment’s doorway every evening. Maybe it is out of convenient, maybe it is the wind.

Those who want to see the ultimate in rubbish throwing frenzy has to visit the night market also known as “pasar malam” when they are done for the night. Truckloads of rubbish are strewn all over the street where the night market operates. There is no proper recycling effort. Organic and non organic matters are treated the same. Drains and waterways are full of them and the rain often gets the blame when floods happen.

KLCC Suria Shopping Mall is a six level shopping mall near Petronas Twin Towers. The place is unusually crowded on a weekday.

One particular thing worth noticing is the crowd. The majority are very young and very fashionable. My usual t-shirt and pants outfit is no doubt the most out of fashion attire in the entire place. There are young couples holding hands everywhere I looked. The water fountain and garden just outside of the shopping mall is a major attraction for lovebirds.

I had my lunch at the food court, tasty but expensive. Most of the shops there are very expensive and up market. It is the best place for window shopping and ogle at watches and jewelleries costing tens of thousands of ringgit.

I had this very confirmative feeling that if I were to walk in any of the shops, no salesperson would bother to come and serve me. Outside one of the shop windows, the private security guard inside actually came out to see what I am ogling at. It is important to dress nicely in order to be acknowledged there. My credit card would break into two and goes up in smokes if I were to swipe it at one of those shops, figuratively speaking.

The most outrageous conversation I overheard at a camera shop there:

Salesperson: This is a nice camera (pointing to a Canon EOS 400D in the showcase, which also happens to be my dream camera)
Young Man with Pretty Little Lady in tow: Yeah, nice…
Salesperson: We have a special promotion today. You get a two gig memory card free.
YMwPLL: After I download the photos, can I edit them with Photoshop?
Salesperson: Yes, you can.
YMwPLL: Can I have one set of the camera?
Salesperson: Sure.

I wish I am rich and young. Sigh.