I got well acquainted with the malls in Miri because malling became part of our everyday life while we were there. My aunt and cousin are both certified shopaholics! Contrary to what my father said, Miri boasts of four malls (although not as big as our malls here), 1 department store and plenty of small shops selling an assortment of goods. Clothes, shoes, bags and accesories are quite pricey in Malaysia. Much to my dismay, I found out too that prices in West Malaysia are several dollars more expensive than those in East Malaysia. The saleslady said that this is because they pay more taxes in the East. Unfair if you ask me. I guess if you are earning Malaysian Ringgit, the prices and the difference in the prices won't be much but for a tourist like me, one can't help but do the math before buying anything. On my 3rd day there, I changed the left button shortcut of my cellphone from contacts to calculator. We were lucky that there were lots of sales (they even had a midnight sale at one of the stores) the time we were there. I had such a great time going patiently through rack after rack and come up with great finds at only half the price. As proof, our suitcases were bulging to the seams. Lucky for us, we did not exceed our baggage limit; we hand carried some of our loot that's why. I was also on a mission while there - I have to find my most wanted book at the moment which I told you about in my previous post. Sadly, I only found two bookstores that carried English titles. If books here in the Philippines are out-dated, even more so in Miri. For example, they are only now putting on sale Harry Potter Book 6. I don't know if this is also the case in Kuala Lumpur though. Books are expensive there too, English novels are priced at RM35, roughly Php525. Nevertheless, I brought home 2 novels both bought on sale at half the price. Lacking at the malls are the specialty boutiques that can be found in our malls here. I only saw one Giordano shop (very small and shabby at that) at one of the malls. But this is compensated by the original Swiss watches and French/Italian leather bags. My aunt and I were practically drooling over an original Balenciaga bag at one of the stores, too expensive for us. I got introduced to a lot of local brands of shoes, bags, clothes, etc. and I must say, our local products are better in terms of quality and style. The stores also carried lots of cheap China/Taiwan and Korea products.

One routine I missed while in Miri is the weekly trip to the grocery store. Grocery shopping is a weekly family affair for us here in the Philippines but in Miri, we seldom cooked (except for breakfast and most of the time lunch) because we always ate in restaurants even for merienda. We only had to rush in and out of the grocery store if we needed eggs, laundry soap, butter, coffee or iced tea. Even through the rush, I still noticed some Filipino products there like Cloud 9 chocolates, Maggi noodles, Blue Skies and Eskinol. The first two products are being manufactured in Malaysia already. I was also able to go to their palengke. The two palengkes we went to are so clean and doesn't even look like a market place from afar. Both were open air, with stainless steel tables where the sellers can display their goods and with tile flooring. I also learned that not all stalls are open throughout the day so if are late going there, chances are, you will not be able to buy all the things in your list.


*** to be continued