Toying Around: Mattel Warehouse Clearance @ SSTwo Mall

 

Pointing to Toyland

The word ‘Mattel’ brings me two mental images; Barbie dolls, and Hot Wheels. Plus a vague image of Superman’s red cape (Although that is called ‘Mantle’).

Mattel has been busy this year. Instead of 1, we had 2 warehouse sales for year 2012. I’m not complaining…hopefully d next one would be a few days before my next birthday (Imagining big, collector items with wings / wheels….*drool).

…Hmm…who am I kidding…any toy of mine will end up being Irtiza’s….

 The conniving ad

Anyway, there was a Mattel warehouse clearance sale at SSTwo Mall from the 27^th till 29^th December. This was actually my 2nd Mattel warehouse sale visit (The 1st one was the one at Atria Shopping Centre back in 2011). As wifey was away at work, Irtiza and I went to the sale last Saturday.

An extremely happy kid at the entrance

 Parents were the most excited bunch of people here

"Train-ing dey!" - Denzel Washington with an Indian accent

 Crossed upon some zebras for pre-schoolers here (RM50-80)

 Barbie girls...in a Barbie world (RM10-15 I think...)

 The DC characters were a bit limited in number

A Pixar Cars lover

 Seriously...would you buy this for your kids?

More Cars characters...with price ranging between RM50 - RM130

 Queuing up to pay for the toys

No, this is not boxing day

What we plundered for the day (RM75 in total...arr!) :)

It was worth it. The selections were a little bit limited though...but perhaps I shouldn't have come on the 3rd day (The first rule for warehouse sale shoppers: You should always come in the first day). I'm anticipating the next warehouse sale to be sometime around the 3rd - 6th month for next year. So, keep your eyes open for the ad :)

Stepping into AHC's New Boutique (The Grand Opening) - 24 Nov 2012

Here's a question for you: Would you find it strange that a husband was genuinely excited and wanted to go to a grand opening of a new hijab boutique...with or without his wifey? Apparently...I was that strange.

Last Saturday was the grand opening of Al-Humaira Contemporary new boutique at The Strand, Kota Damansara. Found out about the event sometime early last week, when a lady collegue wanted to know about it's newest display of collections, and asked me to open the AHC website....and in a very non-queer-ish approach, I was really excited to come to the event. 

Perhaps I just like to go to the grand opening of things (I did come to the last 2 Harry Potter book launches)...or perhaps the after effects from decades of accompanying mum to Cameleon, reading her collection of mags (Jelita, Keluarga, Nona, Mingguan Wanita, etc), absorbing gazillion hours of cooking shows, being an unofficial fashion advisor to mum, lil sis, and wifey...have finally get to me. Gosh, am I changing into something? (*gulp...need manly drink after this).

That day, wifey was almost persistant in not coming to the event, as she had already gone to Ariani a day before. But she later succumbed to my...err...pleas (Warning: Please skip this part if you find this as unusual / manly-offensive).

A fine display of the new boutique (with the office at the top floor)

It wasn't that hard to find the new boutique. It was not that far from the Red Carpet, and was located at the same block as the Gulati's. The big crowd that day was just an additional identifier.

Wifey and son...divided in interest (Wifey: d boutique. Son: the displayed candies)

They had 2 open tables that day; one as a membership counter, and the other was a food table. Irtiza was particularly interested with the latter (There were assortment of candies, cream puffs, macaroons, 'Kuih Talam', candy cottons, marshmallows, etc). Wifey was already distracted with the boutique and went inside...leaving us wide-eyed guys to approach the food table with a big grin.

 The already crowded boutique at 1130am-ish (The event started at 11am)

Happy tears were dropped due to the glorious display of free food

 The model for AHC at the membership / goodies counter

 Irtiza's real interest

The weather was very fine that day (Kept thinking about doing laundry tho)

An ocean of women shoppers

It was almost impossible for the men to be in the venue. I managed to catch glimpses of displayed items. The various designs were quite nice, while the garments look very natural and comfortable...not at all too striking or too stiff....or not as what Michael Kors would say..."too over the top". In a list of favourites, I prefer wifey's AHC collections, among others.

 Everybody look to the left...

 ...everybody look to the right...

 Shoppers...making the world dance, and forgetting about the price tag.

 It was a very long queue

Irtiza and I went out after several glimpses in the shop, and wifey finally appeared with some veils. Then the waiting game started. The queue was a long one...I think it took about an hour before wifey finally reached the cashier. Irtiza was already making tantrums half-way towards the counter...guess the effects of the candies were wearing off. Fortunately, Irtiza's 'pacifier' was wifey's iphone.

Opening sale in Dry Land

 Lunch felt unimportant to most of the shoppers here

 A peaceful display in crazy world

 Why is everybody so serious...acting so damn mysterious (Ok2, enough of Price Tag already)

Towards the end of it...wifey became a happier woman, and Irtiza fell into a deep slumber when we reached home...while I managed to learn a new thing or two. It was a good day :)

Victorious @ Nike Warehouse Sale, Bukit Jalil

This post contains a lot of pics. So, brace yourself :)

One of the good things about blogging is that you will sometime come across bits and pieces of interesting facts. One of them is the real origin of the word ‘Nike’. Got to know that Nike in the Greek mythology was the Winged Goddess of Victory. So, the name is befitting and symbolic for a sportswear and equipment company like Nike, Inc. So, if you plan to start-up a company that sells rock-hard raya biscuits, you may wanna use ‘Kelembai’, or BBBT (‘Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup’).

Last Wednesday was the first day of the Nike Warehouse Sale at Bukit Jalil. I was extremely happy when I saw the ad a week earlier (after the minor disappointment with the recent sports warehouse sale at Sunway Damansara). This time, I was adamant to be among the first to be there (in order to get more selections…and most importantly…they come with my size). From the promotion (plus the fact that Nike got a big fanbase in Malaysia), I anticipated a big crowd at the event.

That day was a hot day. I started the journey by driving to KL-Seremban Highway, entered MEX from Jln Kuchai Lama, and exited to Bukit Jalil. Then I drove slowly, while following some directions (managed to agitate a driver that was behind me), reached Endah Parade (saw live ducks at the back of a motorcyclist), turned to the right, and drove straight into the Bukit Jalil area…which was not that hard. The tricky part was where to go from there.

I tried to find the Nike signage along the way, got frustrated, turned to the left, and entered the Park ‘N Ride carpark area, and asked a guy at the entrance. I was then informed of the Car Park D area. So I drove again, turned left, saw the Car Park C and D signage, and turned left again. Parked my car at the side of the road near the entrance to the Car Park D, followed some Nike signages, and walked straight to Dewan Sri Putra.

The entrance area to Car Park C and D

It's a sign

As expected, there was a huge turnout. There were almost 100 Nike fanatics queuing in front of the building when I reached there (and I was 10 minutes early!). It felt like a very long waiting period under the hot sun…that I even managed to make friends with a young Chinese couple in front of me (and promoted my blog…hehe). There were more people coming after that, heard the crowd’s energetic countdown at the entrance, and the door was opened at 12pm sharp.

There's already a long queue....*sigh

Restless in Bukit Jalil

A short clip

The security was tight

Close to You - The Carpenters

I noticed the hall was a big and spacious place when I went in a couple of minutes later. It looked like a closed badminton hall. The organizer did a good job in making the event as organized as possible. Tables for the different kinds of shoes (with signages to show size and gender categories) surrounded the court (which was a good idea). The apparels and equipments were put in the middle of the court (They were also separated into categories).

The madness in motion

Shoes for everyone

So, I went to Size 11 area (Yes, I’m a Bigfoot), and was planning to buy a pair of black LunarGlide+. Browsed through the shoes in different colours and types (They have quite a collection that it seems you can find every single type of Nike shoes here). But in the end, I fell in love with a pair of black Nike Air Pegasus+ 28, and asked the lady to box it straightaway. I was told that it was the very last pair. It feels like we were destined to be together (It’s like that movie scene, when Harry Potter chose his magic wand in the magic wand shop).

My area

Colourful, ain't it?

Love at first sight

This lady was a real helper

Anyway, went to the XL apparel area after that (Err, I’m a big-boned guy) to look for some t-shirts. There were lots of good designs and unique fabrics. Some were meant for real sporting activities (They were quite tight to be in the XL category). There were lots of cotton t-shirts; with abstract designs, zombie-themed ones, MU-related, etc. After about 30 minutes-worth of contemplation, I finally managed to choose 3 t-shirts from the bunch.

See the guy with wing design at the back? He was a real kiasu (grabbed a big load of t-shirts at a go)

T-shirts for the picking

A very convenient sign

Marching home with this one?

The Walking Dead fans would love this t-shirt

A very convenient sample display

Track bottoms and shorts

I was not that interested with the bags and equipments (Didn’t explore much in those areas), but I was extremely fascinated with the Nike black hooded windbreakers. The thing was almost a sure purchase, before I returned back to reality (and when I say reality, I meant my wallet).

A very cool Nike windbreaker

Bagging some bags?

Lay equipped

The apparel price list

We were observed. Felt like a gladiator in a colosseum here.

In the end, I have with me 3 t-shirts and a pair of shoes (AKA Raya t-shirts and shoes) and went straight to the cashier. That day was a special day for Maybankard holders, as they were entitled to get additional 10% discount for all purchases. So, I got 50%+ for everything (including the additional 10%). It was a real bargain, as instead of paying about RM800 for everything, I just need to pay about RM380 (after discounts).

To the cashier

Credit or cash?

Do you have those yellow t-shirts in XL?

When I left the hall around 1pm-ish, there was a way bigger crowd than the one in the beginning of the sale. Overall, I was pretty much satisfied with the warehouse sale, with the vast selection of products and it was a well-organized event. It was still a hot day, but I walked away towards my car with a smile.

*The Nike Warehouse Sale will be on until this coming 12th August (Sunday).

Boy, you guys gonna be here for a very long time

Saw the Car Park D on the way back

My trophies for the day

There's still time...just do it! :D