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

Ever so Popular Bookfair @ Carrefour Kota Damansara

After SPM (Malaysian Certificate of Education), I did a short English course at the British Council, Johor Bahru. The class did a lot of discussions, and one of them was the real pronunciation of ‘Carrefour’. In the end, we got to know four; ‘Care-four’, ‘Kaar-foor’, ‘Kiah-fooh’ and ‘Kari-foor’…the last 2 pronunciations were given by a French lady / student in the class. In the end, I preferred to use the one that most Malaysians prefer (the first one from the bunch…a very ‘warm-feeling’ pronunciation).

No matter what’s the pronunciation, Carrefour is a good place to buy things. There’s one at Section 11, Kota Damansara. One of the things that I love about Carrefour KD is that no matter what’s the time and day of the month, you will always find an ever-available carpark lot (The carpark area is empty most of the time). You can say the nearby Giant KD pretty much overshadows the place. It’s not that Carrefour KD is not a good shopping place. You can actually find a lot of things in the hypermarket. It just needs more promotions and events (and more opened shops). And a Secret Recipe. And a post office. And a donut shop (Ok2, I’ll stop here).

 The bunting at Level 1

 Since 27th July, Carrefour Kota Damansara was made popular again through this year’s Popular Bookfair. The event, which has started since 27th July, will end by 10pm tonight. Yesterday, Irtiza and I went for a visit to the place (Wifey has to work this weekend, so we got bored). When we reached the bookfair area (It’s near the entrance to the Carrefour hypermarket at Level 1), the venue was surprisingly small in size. But, the book collections were unexpectedly quite an interesting lot that can easily satisfy people of all ages and interests.

 It looks small from the outside...

 ....but quite a big collection of book from the inside

 There were lots of children books; illustrated ones, storybooks, workbooks, etc. There were also some exercise books to prepare for the big exams. I was personally interested with the motivational book section; with various topics that can be as cheap as RM5 per book. Irtiza was interested with a Chuggington book, but it requires a song-playing machine-thingy for it to works best (which was unavailable during that time). So, I chose one illustrated storybook for him instead.

There was also the religious book section…they have quite a collection such as Tafsirs (Quranic translations), on specific religious topics and etc. The Gempak books were also big in collections. There were cookbooks, that I prefer to stay away for a while (I’m on a diet…err, I think).

 Would have bought this book if I pursued my dream job in the past

 RM5 onwards

 In Malay, we call this as 'Rambang mata' (Spoilt for choices)

 Some religious books for the soul

 Ehem...This is a very dangerious area

Nice illustrated storybooks

 Popular novels by popular people

 This is a good book, but it's too wordy for Irtiza

 Reading away

Besides books, there were also school stationeries (a lot of Marvel / Spiderman ones…very up-to-date…and can be parents’ wallet-killer), a large showcase of different calculators, several fancy containers for your pens and papers, cute drinking bottles, and a portable scanner demonstration (the scanner costs RM399…but the brand was unfamiliar to me).

 How can you say no to this face? (*sigh)

 Pens and stuffs

 Young engineer set

 What I bought

In the end, I bought a motivational book, an illustrated storybook, and a Spiderman stationery set (Paid RM37+ for the whole lot). Stopped for a while at KFC before we left for home.

Dejavu di KFC (Alternate ending)

Irtiza's version of the term 'fasting'

It was a good event, and will come again if there’s another one in the future :)

I see a Sports Warehouse Sale @ Sunway Damansara Technology Park

In an ideal world, all people are fit and active in sports. In the real world however, a lot of people would be unfit and overweight, but nonetheless a sports enthusiast. You can really see this during a football season, when football fans come in different sizes (with jerseys ranging between XS and XXXL). It automatically shows that sport apparels are not just for athletes, but also for the rest of us BMI-challenged folks. That is why a sports warehouse sale will appeal to the majority.

The bunting near the warehouse sale

There is one going on at Sunway Damansara Technology Park from 31st July till 5th August. The event was made known to the people of Sunway Damansara / Kota Damansara through available buntings around the areas as early as May. The same organizer held similar warehouse sale back in 2011, so I’m assuming this could turn out to be an annual thing.

The partially-hidden name of the sale organizer

This is the main entrance. You have to go to the back entrance for the warehouse sale

Anyway, went to the place last Wednesday during lunch hour. It was a hot day, and it was hotter at the Technology Park (with lots of big warehouses / factories). It’s an interesting fact that although this is an industrial area, the area is also popular for several warehouse / clearance sale events. So, it was not a surprising thing to see a lot of people coming to the warehouse sale that day.

Apparels and sport equipments area

The opposite view

I believe the main attractions of the event were the shoes. I saw a large collection of Nike shoes, plus others like Li Ning and Asics. I was particularly interested to see the Nike collections; with prices that vary between RM80 to RM500, and offers of discounts from 20% up to 50%, plus other offers. I could see some cheap Nikes for casual wear, and also a big stock of Nike sport shoes (i.e Air Jordans, Nike LunarGlides, etc). The major turnoff was the available colours (Most of them are whites, with a few in grey and black).

Casual shoes

Boxes of LunarGlides

Air Jordans anyone?

More Nike sport shoes

Then I turned to the apparels. There were some thick Lotus jerseys and caps. A more interesting of the lot were the Nike shirts (for casual wear, plus the sporty ones that were more suited for athletes, with ‘dri-fit’, cooling when it’s hot whatchamacallit- fabric technology), with prices that range between RM50 to RM70. There was also a selection of Head shirts at RM69 each (with the ‘buy 1, free 2’ promotion). There were also a selection of Li-Ning and Nike bags (most of them were carry-ons), some rackets, and some other sports equipments.

Bags and shirts

The red rooftop made everything red in colour

I got excited when I saw a pair of Asics Gel (The very last pair), but it was 3 sizes too big for me. Would have bought a pair of Lunarglide if not for the colour. Guess I’ll be waiting for the warehouse sale at Hotel Sri Petaling to get my dream pair of sports shoes...*sigh. For the rest of you guys, you have until this Sunday to come for the warehouse sale...good luck :)