Weekend shopping at Pekanbaru

Every weekend, we visit Pekanbaru to buy things which are not available in Commissary. Actually the true reason for this trip is to get out of the camp to see the real world, new faces, have outside food and to break daily routine. Vrush does her shopping for cloths & Adi looks for his toys / books. We generally use pool car & travel with other friends like Sanjay, Bharat, Rajesh & Tony.

Generally everyone’s preferred place is “SKA Mall”, which is the biggest mall of Pekanbaru. I prefer to visit “Pasar Bawah” (traditional market). Friend Devi introduced me to this place in March. This is a roadside market, spread across two small lanes. Typical to the ‘bazaar’ of any small town in India. We can find the things which are not generally available in other supermarket (Eg: Okhra, coriander leaves, freshly grated coconut etc). Also we found the vegetables & fruits are very fresh here, lasts longer compared to the ones bought from supermarket / Commissary.

I found this a great place to buy fresh fish / prawns. Specially the Pomfret ‘s (known as “bawal putih” locally) & king size prawns are very good. The price is cheap compared to Mumbai. Lately I am a regular visitor in this place, I made friendship with some vendors & get a good deal (I believe) every time.

Some of my colleagues got surprised to know that I visit Pasar Bawah regularly, since expats generally don’t go there for shopping. They were concerned about my safety. However, I never felt unsafe in pasar bawah. Instead, I feel like I am in my home country.