#HoarderDiaries | HI-TOP SALE BIN - AUGUST 8-9 WEEKEND!

You won't believe what happened to me over the weekend. But bah! It is something that needs to be forgotten, so forget about me telling you in detail - let's just say Murphy's Law was in effect. And yes, boohoo, everything went wrong.

One of the things that didn't go well in my favor was the car broke down and had to be brought to the shop at last minute Friday mid-afternoon. I got so frustrated with my car because it was just in the shop for more than a week when I was in Sydney, and then again, a week ago. Then all of a sudden, it started acting up again Wednesday afternoon. Sigh. So I was stuck with this service vehicle from the office (I had to force people to lend me one) because of all the luck, the weekend was packed with activities!

So anyway, I got my car back Saturday night - turns out it had a faulty starter that had to be replaced. While waiting for the car, the kids and I whiled away the time at Hi-Top Quezon Avenue. Check out what was on sale over the weekend. I shall head back in a while to check if they have more things today.

Look, Cai, full cream!
GIPPY Full Cream Milk; SALE PRICE: P40.75

GIPPY Skim Milk; SALE PRICE: P41.25

PRESIDENT Butter; Unsalted SALE PRICE: P83.75 / Salted SALE PRICE: P84.50

APPLE MONKEY Freeze Dried Fruits; SALE PRICE: P77.50

CHIPS AHOY! Chunky; SALE PRICE: P135.95

WANT WANT Rice Crackers; SALE PRICE: P28.95

MISSION Tortilla Chips; SALE PRICE: P21.25

SNIKIDDY Baked Fries; SALE PRICE: P116.95

LAYS Potato Chips Original; SALE PRICE: P14.75

PRINGLES Ranch; SALE PRICE: P43.75

MARUCHAN Instant Lunch Chicken; SALE PRICE: P14.50

HI-TOP SUPERMARKET HAS TWO BRANCHES: Quezon Avenue cor. Sgt. Esguerra Street and Aurora Boulevard. Both are in Quezon City.


Happy hoarding, friends!

#HoarderDiaries | HI-TOP SALE BIN - AUGUST 3, 2015

Was thinking of checking out the next door grocery all week last week, but didn't find time to do it. When I got to the office today, KY was in our conference room, having a meeting with a supplier. She was looking for something to munch after, so we decided to walk to Hi-Top.

I don't know what it is exactly about this ancient supermarket, but I love it. Because of social media, I have learned that a lot of my friends love shopping there, too. You always find great deals at their sale section. Today's sale bin had great finds. Here are some of them:

NONGSHIM UDON!
One of my faves from S&R, and it is on sale! Take note of the Best Before Date.
SALE: P28.75

Other NONGSHIM Noodle Variants. SALE: P25.50

Assorted GOLDEN FOODS CEREALS, SALE: P95.75

SPECIAL K VANILLA ALMOND, SALE: P178.50
APPLE CINNAMON CHEERIOS, SALE: P159.75
MULTI-GRAIN CHEERIOS, SALE: P140.75

GIPPY Lite Milk, SALE: P41.25

BLUE DIAMOND ALMOND BREEZE, Assorted; SALE: P70.95

PODS with SNICKERS; SALE: P 150.00

Aside from these, there are a lot of other products on sale. Kinder Bueno 5-pack is on sale at the Confectionery section. Noticed also that a number of Emborg Cheese packs were on sale at the Chillers. President Butter is at 50% off as well.

Hi-Top is at the corner of Quezon Avenue and Sgt. Esguerra Street in Quezon City. They also have a branch on Aurora Boulevard in Cubao.

Happy hoarding!

#HoarderDiaries | SALE BIN - HI-TOP Q.AVE AND SOME...

So my brother asked me to accompany him to Hi-Top (again!) last night. I work very near the place, in case you were wondering. Hehehe.

Noticed a few more items on sale...

LADY LIBERTY Cheez Balls Original, SALE P39.50

LADY LIBERTY Ranch Tortilla Chips, SALE P44.75

ORTEGA Taco Shells, SALE P68.25

MOGU MOGU Juice with Nata de Coco, SALE 3 for P147.50

RAUCH Happy Day Apple, SALE P10.25 

SHAKE Dairy Alternative Chocolate, SALE P61.95

TRUCILLO Espresso Coffee Grounds, SALE P186.25 to P243.50

Meanwhile, at the Chillers...

AMERICAN HERITAGE Mild/ Medium Cheddar Blocks, SALE P86.25 - P88.50

HI-TOP SUPERMARKET
Quezon Avenue corner Sgt. Esguerra Street
Quezon City

~~~ * ~~~

Anyway... last night, while in line for the cashier at the Express Lane, there were three parties ahead of us. Two of whom were ladies who had push carts. The first girl (second in line) only had a few items in her cart. The cashier took notice of her push cart and told her to transfer her purchases to a basket because it was, in fact, a BASKET ONLY line. The girl went to go get a basket.

Lady in front of me had two carts - one being pushed by her helper, and another one with her. The helper's cart had a basket with fresh items in it. While the lady had a cart full of groceries. Now, the sign that says we were at the Express Lane counter isn't exactly too small to spot. If you are a regular shopper at Hi-Top, you would know how strict they are when it comes to the Express Lane.

Believe me, there are countless stories on fights that ensued because of their Express Lane. One time, my brother even witnessed a fight between two ladies, one of which even threw a sayote at the other in anger.

So anyway, after much contemplation, I decided to be nice and helpful by telling the lady that it was an Express Lane. I didn't want her wasting her time because I knew she won't be able to transfer her groceries into a single basket.

K: "Miss, pang basket lang o." (pointing to the sign overhead)
L: (turns to her helper) "Ay, pang basket lang daw."

At this point, she turns back to me and says, "Ba't ka nagagalit?!!"

K: "Huh? Galit ako?"

I was caught by surprise. I know I carefully considered and reconsidered what I was going to tell her because I didn't want to come across as crass, nor did I want to embarrass her. And yet, there she was - angry and offended customer. According to her, I rolled my eyes at her. I keep replaying this scene in my head because I was consciously aware of how I wanted to be "nice." On hindsight, heck, I should have said what I said with a fake smile.

But really, do people ignore these signs thinking it is ok not to abide by rules? You have a whole queue of people with only a handful of items and yet, you so blatantly fall in line when the sign clearly says this line isn't for you, so to speak.

Next time, I shall reserve my "kindness" and leave the advising to the cashier. Me and my big mouth. Sigh.

Basa-basa naman kasi 'pag may time.

#HoarderDiaries | SALE BIN - HI-TOP QUEZON AVENUE 03/17/15

Good morning, Hoarders!

Here are some of what's available ON SALE at Hi-Top Quezon Avenue this week. Went hoarding yesterday afternoon, so these should still be available today.

TOSH Multigrain Sandwich Cookies with Yogurt and Strawberries, SALE P52.00

CALIFORNIA CRUNCH Cassava Chips, SALE P40.00

GARDEN Chocolate Fingers, SALE P115.50

KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Original, SALE P42.00
NOTE: Kraft issued a recall for this product in the US. Check the codes to see if this is safe for consumption!

KRAFT Parmesan Cheese, SALE P49.95

CBTL Ready Coffee 3-in-1, SALE P112.50
CBL Ready Coffee 4-in-1, SALE P122.95 

CBTL Sparkling Iced Tea Apple, SALE P23.50

WELCH'S Grape Juice, SALE P35.50

MILCOW Long-Life Whole Milk, SALE P13.25

RAUCH Happy Day Orange, SALE P10.25

RAUCH Nativa Green Tea Lemon, SALE P49.25

Do note that most of these items are near-expiry. Prices are subject to change without notice. Their SALE bin is first come, first hoard. Hehe.


HI-TOP SUPERMARKET
Quezon Avenue corner Sgt. Esguerra Street
Quezon City

Happy hoarding!

How to Load a PEZ Dispenser

My kids are crazy about PEZ candies. 

When I was a kid, my dad would bring home a new PEZ dispenser from the US, just for me. Too bad, I didn't know anything about collecting and didn't think this would be valuable. Nowadays, you can get PEZ candy from just about any local supermarket.

My dad still loves buying the kids PEZ candy. He takes them to the little grocery store beside the office, and treats them to a pack each time the kids are there to visit. RL probably has over two dozen dispensers - Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lightning McQueen, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, etc. A was delighted to find that they now have Littlest Pet Shop dispensers! I'm just a tad peeved that the distributor doesn't carry the candy refill packs here - what a way to make more money and have parents buy dispensers each time. Ha!

Anyway, when I was in Hong Kong with RL a few months ago, I had to load and reload his dispenser over a dozen times (we shared the candy with friends). I never really learned how to load that thing properly, and it took me several tries to find the perfect way to load a PEZ dispenser WITHOUT touching the candy with your bare, oftentimes, dirty hands.

Last time A and RL got their PEZ from my dad, my brother and I thought to document step-by-step instructions on how to PROPERLY LOAD PEZ INTO A PEZ DISPENSER.

Here's how:

1) Choose a PEZ dispenser.

A's Littlest Pet Shop PEZ Dispenser with Orange-flavored PEZ.

2) Take a PEZ refill pack, and tear out one side of its wrapper. Make sure you tear out a narrow side (see photo below for reference) You can peel off outer wrapper if you choose to do so; I just find it less time-consuming to leave it on. Plus the outer wrap keeps the inner paper wrapper from tearing during handling.

Peel off wrapper off one of the narrow/ thin sides. Make sure you leave 3-sides of the wrapper around the candy.

3) Open PEZ dispenser and secure candy tray with finger. Make sure the tray doesn't slide back down. Have your "peeled" candy ready, and angle it such that the open "narrow" side faces the open tray.

Use pointer finger to secure candy tray from slipping back into the dispenser.

 4) Push the whole refill pack into the dispenser's candy tray. The whole pack should fit all standard PEZ dispensers. Make sure you are still securing the candy tray, such that it doesn't snap back down into the dispenser.

Push everything into the open candy tray, narrow-side first.

5) Use wrapper to push the PEZ candy all the way into the tray. Look, Dad, I didn't use my bare hands!

Keep your candy clean! Don't use your bare hands! The wrapper keeps it finger-free. Hehe.

6) Make sure the candy is aligned and you don't have one protruding out of the candy tray. Snap the candy tray back into the dispenser.

Once all the candy is in, snap back candy tray into dispenser.

7) Tilt dispenser head back to open. Et... voila!

Enjoy! And don't forget to brush your teeth!

Do your kids love PEZ, too? My kids are PEZ cccccrrrrraaaaazzzzzyyyyy!

Dear Shopwise...

I have been a customer since you opened your first store in Alabang. Those were the days when I worked less than an exit away (read: east service road office) and my ex lived a stone's throw away from Festival Supermall.

I have been a Wise Card member since 2002 - the fateful year I got married and started shopping with my hard-earned money. Needless to say, your rebates have been something I looked forward to, even when my mother-in-law compared you to the Rempson's of her youth (I wanted to tell her you were Rustan's-owned, but I didn't want to get her ire by making her think I knew more than she did).

I faithfully shopped every First Wednesday, as well as each time you announced double points, and sometimes x10! I thanked the heavens when you launched x10 Wednesdays and hardly ever missed shopping on that day (just once this year because I was in HK). I rejoiced when you introduced your reusable bags and offered Double Points with its use. I rejoiced even more when you offered the new Bags of Life, as you definitely encouraged your shoppers to use reusable bags...

...and that is why I was surprised when yesterday, the cashier asked me to voice out my feelings on a comment card, when she told me you (as well as your sister Rustan's) were taking away the Double Points Incentive on the use of your reusable bags. Do you know how many of your bags I own? Four of the old canvass bag, two of the "bayong" ones for wet groceries (one I lost to a helper with sticky fingers), two of the Rustans shopper bags and two of the new Bags of Life ones. Yes, even the cashiers and bag boys at your store are amazed that I've amassed so much - ok, not exactly a fortune in bags, but a lot, nonetheless - definitely more than my fair share. But I didn't mind, I was getting double points with each use.

Face it, you're more expensive than most stores. Your rebates come as an incentive to most - a lure to the non-loyal customer. Of course you were educating the public on saving the environment, and I understand it was an incentive we've probably enjoyed too long. But it IS one of the main reasons why I am loyal to your store. It probably IS one of the reasons why anyone bothers to bring their bags to Shopwise. Maybe not the main reason, but a perk anyway.

It's funny because, just recently, you limited your special promotions (pick-a-prize, spin-the-wheel, pick-an-apple, etc) to the weekends - a shopping incentive we enjoyed on any given day in the past. And now, you decide to take away the incentive of double points with the reusable bag WITHOUT announcing it on either Facebook or Twitter! (Ok, maybe a few members have questioned it, but we don't see member comments on our news feed...) And that small card you placed near your cashiers to announce the change effective March 1, 2012? Couldn't you have made it any bigger? Tsk. I was told that those cards were delivered first week of February. What happened to at least a few months' notice before effecting a change? Thanks for surprising your loyal customers!

Don't be fooled. The actual card is even smaller than this photo. Thanks for the head's up...NOT!

And there I was, just telling the folks at the office coop how I earn more with rebates at Shopwise. I suppose I should do more shopping at the coop now (and finally earn from dividends) and limit my Shopwise shopping to x10 Wednesdays (first of the month) and special sales (sunrise, Fresh Fridays, Anniversary specials, etc).

As for the bags? Well, I still love them and will keep them handy. Meanwhile, I shall see you, Shopwise, once a month!

XOXO,
Kaye