dollarstoreextravaganza

July 24th, 2014 by Jan

Ken told me that to make anything a real adventure, there has to be an element of risk involved. So, although I will say yesterday’s events were quite adventurous, I never felt any real risk, yet the opportunity for risk surrounded me.

I was looking forward to a day at the sewing machine. I have some presents I want to make with fabric I bought (yes, I bought fabric) on our trip to Oregon. Marian had called earlier asking if we could dog sit Moser, as she and her niece Ona were going to town.

When she dropped off the pup, I asked her where they was going. She said they were going to a giant Japanese dollar store  in Richmond.

I said I wanted to go.

We were shooting for the next ferry, so I quickly changed my clothes, put shoes on, turned off the sewing machine and unplugged the iron… We went tooling off island.

It took us 2 hours to get to this place in Richmond. I’m not going to say anything about Marian’s driving, because we did get there, and I am always grateful when others drive. The ride was in some part also what made the day an adventure. Still, I had no idea what we were in store for.

The place we went to is called DIASO. It’s in a mall like no other I’ve ever seen. I felt like I landed on another planet. At the centre of the three storey mall by a fountain, were huge mechanical bugs! Bugs! Grasshoppers, mosquitoes, and flies that were 20 feet long and munching on stuff as they wagged their tails or fluttered their wings, with coloured water from the fountains spraying swirls high into the air. I cannot over emphasize the weirdness of this place. Too bad I didn’t bring a camera.

Marian told me that DIASO is FULL of plastic, bright colours and cheap shit. She was right. Everywhere was stuff, Japanese stuff with Japanese packaging, bright, funny and totally bazaar. DIASO carries household goods, clothing, snacks, stationary, containers, cleaning stuff, cooking stuff, fake stuff and more. There were two floors full of people with carts, bumping into each other, and spending money.

Everything in the store was two dollars. This made a few things a real deal, but in my opinion, most everything was totally over priced.

I’m not a serious shopper. In fact, I don’t care for shopping all that much. I do like going to a new place and looking around, picking things up and putting them down and then moving on. DIASO was overwhelming. I would stand in an aisle, shoulder to shoulder with someone, looking at plastic containers, thinking they would be great for the van. Then change my mind, because I would see something that would be even better! Then I’d have to decide on blue, pink, green or orange, small, medium or large.

My biggest fear was that Ona and Marian would lose me in the store and I would never be seen again.

I did spend a whopping $8. though on some containers for the van.

Marian and Ona spent a bit more with Marian splurging on art supplies and loads of fake flowers.

We found a place to recover, ate some noodles and onion pancakes, then started for home. It was near 8pm when I walked in the door. It was a fun, stimulating, long day, with wonderful women, in a very weird place.

Maybe we didn’t have an adventure, but we certainly had an experience.

1 thought on “dollarstoreextravaganza

  1. Jenny

    Love this story! I can see you there in aisle 12, nearly paralyzed with indecision as the colors and size choices bear down. Reminds me of our long-ago forays to ToysRUs, when Josh, at age 7, would carefully cruise every aisle, then find me and say, “There’s nothing here I need.”
    Reilly, at 4, would labor over legos, balls, and action figures, trying to make a decision in the time I had allotted. Often he would leave in tears, unable to choose, but recover with ease, thank God, before his seatbelt was fastened around his sweet little body!

    Reply

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