Rustan’s K quickly

Today was possibly one of the quickest trips to Rustan’s I’ve ever made. I didn’t have a long list of items to buy, I just wanted to check out the Casino products from France I had received a text about from Rustan’s, days back.

Casino, not the rubbing alcohol maker but the French brand, holds a special place in our lives. For almost four months two years back, son shopped in its Dijon branch. So did we in the week we visited him.

There I bought my disposable diapers, experienced my first French snub (the lady told me in English “I don’t speak English” when I asked her something), bought a small can of Coke for my sister who loves Coke – yes, it became a pasalubong for her, and a plastic container with cover in lieu of a dipper or tabo for use in bathing.

There for the first time we paid for plastic bags for our groceries or brought them to the hotel naked, with me trying hard to hold on to them while praying I wouldn’t fall off my wheelchair as I had no more hands with which to hold on to the arm rests. But I digress…

Back to Rustan’s. There were a lot of Casino products- 3 cans of pâté de foie porc at 107 pesos. Yummy. Juice drinks, cans of vegetables, chocolates, etc. I bought pâté for me, biscuits with chocolate on top for son, and muesli with fruits for husband. There was a small can of pâté de foie gras but it cost 600 plus pesos. On my birthday, I’ll get myself a can perhaps.

But aside from Casino products that sold at 10 percent off for Sapphire card holders, there were new product offerings at Rustan’s; or at least I saw them only today:

Starbucks ice cream in pints, Ben and Jerry froyo, Twix in pints. The first two cost 400 plus each, Twix cost less than 200 pesos.

Gourmet food to go was available – the healthy kind. But as I was asking questions of the one selling, someone butted in and the clerk forgot all about me. So I bought not. Servings are quite small (part of being healthy is to eat scantily? Unlike in the South Beach diet) making the dishes a tad expensive therefore. I wanted to try the kebab but it came with couscous which I don’t like. There was a salmon dish as well, a beef fish, a tofu dish, etc. Maybe next time…

Incidentally I was planning to buy from the roast duck stall outside instead, but noticed it was dark and covered with netting. It was no longer in business, sadly.

Rustan’s is still giving out planners, last day tomorrow. They have raffle tickets again, prizes promoting healthy living like a visit to the farm in San Benito, Mactan Shang, etc. Forgot what the first prize is, oddly enough.

Bought beef caldereta cut, buy one take one kilo. Savings, happily.

Speaking of savings, Fully Booked is selling 2012 calendars at 50% off. Many kinds to choose from – Dilbert, Monet, etc. Oh, but I found that out yesterday.