So hearing mass was the first part of the Sunday night. After the priest dismissed the congregation, Alfred and I parted with Joy. I would have wanted to take Joy up on her invitation to her new apartment and have some pasta that she prepared that afternoon. We had to turn her down though, for two reasons: Alfred really really wanted to eat at a particular restaurant, and we had some grocery shopping to do.

We’ve been to ShopWise several times already, mostly when we needed to buy Pedigree or Alpo for Zune. There was a also a time that we bought vegetables and fruits there for my week’s diet. I’ve seen the banners and adverts they have regarding their reusable eco-friendly bags and always thought that that was a fantastic idea. I never bought one before because we had no real intention to make ShopWise shopping a regular activity. Last night, we decided to buy the bag because, well, as it turns out, we do visit ShopWise almost every other week.

I took pictures of the bag but I’m having a hard time uploading using my mobile phone. Argh.

So we got the bag and the cashier started filling it up with our items (it’s a big bag) and then I read about the reusable bag and their double points promo. For ShopWise card holders, much like SM Advantage, you get points for your purchases. For people using the bag, they get double points for all items that fit in the bag. So the reusable bag has three purposes : 1) reduce the amount of plastic used by Shopwise customers; 2) have a sturdy big bag for your grocery items; and, 3) earn double points for your Wise card.

I really just bought the bag for it’s eco-friendly purpose. I’ve also been declining plastic bags from Ministop, often just carrying or pocketing the stuff I purchase. I also wish they would allow us to bring our own canvas bags when shopping at SM. Or perhaps SM should have their green bags available for clothing purchases, etc., and not just for use in their Supermarkets and with conditions at that.

Anywho, we’ve been really conscious about plastics and waste lately, it figured in quite a number of our recent conversations. I’ve mentioned that the Choco Oreo Truffles ala Bakerella are a big hit and people are actually ordering it from me now. I can’t help but think about how wasteful the packaging is. Yes, you’ve guessed it, it is plastic. So Alfred and I were thinking of alternatives and paper bags just don’t seem a good idea so we got the microwavable plastic stuff (more expensive than the ones I’ve used) and then we’ll just put tags on it to encourage buyers to reuse the container or give it back to us to take a small amount off their next purchase. We’ll see how that goes.

Finally, we could sit down for dinner after running around that massive grocery store. Alfred originally wanted to eat at Hap Chan but I wanted a Boodle feast at Seafood Island. Either way we would be spending around 500 pesos for the meal. Just as before, we thought about how gluttonous we looked ordering a feast for 3-4 persons, while there was just 2 of us. We looked at a family of about 3 adults and 2-3 kids who also ordered one of the boodle feasts. Are they having the 3-4 version, or the 5-6? Hopefully the latter. In fairness, they had additional orders.