The Search for Housewares

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"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."
                                                                                                    - Old School

 “Behind every successful shopping expedition there is a good shopping list.”
                                                                                                   - Anonymous


The Essentials
The housewares frenzy came on suddenly. It was a Thursday. We had an appointment at the leasing office the following morning to pick up the keys for our new apartment. With only a couple of backpacks, one suitcase and a few other odds and ends it would be the easiest move I have ever been a part of.

I started making a list, tackling our apartment needs one room at time. It quickly spread over two pages of my notebook. I let Jean take a look.

“That’s great,” she said, “now what about an essentials list?”

“That is the essentials list.”

“Oh.”


That wasn’t completely true. An ice cream scoop had edged it’s way into the ranks. That could be cut. However, I was prepared to defend the inclusion of a garlic press, wooden spoon, and paltry assortment of spices(oregano, basil, cinnamon).

And so, our quest began Friday afternoon. At the local supermarket we picked up all we could carry of groceries and dry goods. Dropping that off we caught a bus to an area where we had seen a concentration of thrift stores. They were all closed except for a Salvation Army outlet. As we strolled in, the blue-haired old lady behind the counter announced that she would be closing up in 15 minutes. Jean and I hustled over to kitchen wares and loaded up on bits and pieces of crockery and utensils.


The Kitchen
On Saturday morning Jean and I mustered our courage for a journey to the Mount Doom of housewares. Our odyssey came in the form of a bus ride followed by two trains trips with a subsequent bus ride and spanned well over two hours. Close to noon we were standing at the blue and yellow portal of Ikea. We stopped over at the cafeteria. Apart from quelling the rumbling in my my midsection, my primary objective was to investigate the much hyped Swedish meatballs. After quickly dispensing of a plateful of the morsels them with a side of mash potatoes I judge them worthy of praise.


Be afraid, be very, very afraid...
Worthy of the hype
With our bellies full, Jean and I commenced with our shopping and things quickly went down hill from there. We quickly discovered that we lacked the mettle and spatial awareness to handle the colossus of a mega store. Hugely disoriented we wandered around in bowels of the beast for what felt like a week always surprised to find ourselves mysteriously back where we started from.

Some four hours later we emerged into the dazzle of natural light and planted ourselves on the curb, to wait out our bus. As our zombie trance state abated Jean and I took stock of our accomplishments. We had come away with several bags and a backpack full of kitchenware (including a very essential garlic press). We also had a list bizarre sounding words like an Aneboda, Vikarmon and a Karsten. As Jean and I were currently dependent on public transit we opted to forgo any furniture purchase and order online. Hopefully, we could make some sense of that list when the time came.
Laos is looking pretty good

Comments

Anonymous said…
Colin and Rose would agree with you about IKEA, but many of us( including me) are huge IKEA fans!! You can get brilliant furniture and kitchen ware at great prices. I think you just have to keep going back to get the hang of the geography of the store. Practice makes perfect! ( Rose's tip is go in the exit and you get straight to the storage area missing all the places to view items!)
25 April 2011 at 06:30
sly said…
Mount Doom???? I guess one man's Mount Doom is another's Mecca. I even love the displays, especially the whole house in 265 square feet.
25 April 2011 at 10:36
Debbie said…
Matthew's favorite thing at IKEA is the meatballs. It can be a little overwhelming though, I will give you that!
25 April 2011 at 14:25
sly said…
I have re-read this post and am floored at the irony. You two can navigate the jungles of Cambodia, find waterfalls with little hand-drawn maps, negotiate motorbikes around cobras. But IKEA, in an English-speaking country???? Hmmm.
26 April 2011 at 08:29
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