Fly Away Empty Bring Back Loaded

Just like a Mackers Burger or a Prada handbag can be charged with varying prices around the world, so can an Apple IPhone.

Would you factor in purchases as part of your next holiday agenda? Shopping in the USA is a significant activity for sports products, clothes and accessories. Local taxes, tips and currency exchange do figure well into such decisions of buying away from home. 

There may be no need to travel as cyberspace does offer a huge convenience and discount on prices and physical delivery. Where nations require you to be a local to be entitled to those attractive prices, there are also ways and means for foreigners to pose as such locals to qualify. The meaning of market bargaining has been expanded with various strong tactics on discounts during a tight time window, bulk empowerment and cutting out on retail front costs. 

Commercialism thrives on convincing a buyer of not to miss obtaining a product, whether through the need to have the latest version, to keep up with trends or with making passé workable but previous editions of the same product. This churns turnover, vital to pump up revenue and meet performance targets to meet shareholder approval and senior executive bonuses. The world is now the endless horizon for possibilities, requiring smart play offs in pricing and availability on markets that can increasingly have higher purchasing power. 

The Technology price Index of 2017 lists an attractive average price of around $414 for an Apple IPhone in Japan, compared to $575 in Australia. Figures for Malaysia are $532, India 505 and China $471. (All US Dollars quoted). Does that mean just visiting your chosen foreign country to buy at a lower price? It can be more complicated than just this. 

There are product specs that can make technology products not so easily usable in another market or nation. Unlike clothes, barriers do exist to allow a typical consumer access to the best possible price with the most features. They can be compatibility, market protection of margins and economic factors like inflation. 

Overall, it makes for a very interesting and varied field when trying to secure your top ten most exciting personal purchases. A rare book, a motivating sports shoe, a car model or a unique orchid. The best markets to secure products usually synchronise with environments with high governance standards, more open trading conditions and more stable political climates. Where trade and commerce is encouraged, you can usually bet on your best prices for your personal pet list of purchases. Countering this is the high cost of living, unusual constraints on personal freedoms, state of civil unrest and small size of markets in the nations where you want to buy.


The greater ease of mobility, either in physical reality or in virtual cyberspace, has contributed to the consumer culture, apart from its impact on job transfers, lifestyle locations and movement of skills and labour.   One may have to fly on an aircraft to buy things under so called duty free prices, but deliveries can be made  directly to your home or other physical address.     Consumers do want a holistic retail experience,  soak into a hall with an attractive lay out and get attention from human assistance  - but  can also be lured into cost effective and good value packages of price, ease of delivery and comfort of the purchasing process.   Several products need to be examined and hand handled before making a decision to buy or not, whilst others are reliable as standard designs in any place you buy from.     It is the latter that makes it more captivating to purchase, for the risk of returns is lowered.


So if one buys from an overseas location, the policy and treatment of purchase returns can factor in significantly.   Warranty and guarantee provisions may be helpful, but what actually occurs to your consumer rights when a problem arises is all important.     Can you return the product physically for exchange in your local country of residence?   So the fun and hype of purchasing from an overseas holiday can turn into a stressful process.   The talk and practice of loading shopping stuff into new luggage on your flight home can be countered by the realisation that some of the stuff are dudes, although one may not fully get that extreme experience.  The best approach I reckon is to be realistic about what happens if you find the purchase you made is not what you thought it was when overseas  - can you let it go, can you cop the cost or can you have options for reasonable remedial channels?

Sydney - Louis Vuitton George Street Maison

Louis Vuitton, the harbinger of expensive but potentially rewarding experiences, the symbol of quality and elegance, and an European tradition hallowed by many of the new rich in rising China and India economies, has opened a flagship outlet at the corner of King and George Streets in Sydney CBD. Officially it is known as the Louis Vuitton George Street Maison, opened on 2 December 2011. This follows the opening of another maison in Singapore's Marina Bay precinct. Its neighbour in Sydney is the second largest Apple store in the world. Its staff attending to clients on the floor are minimally university graduates. On the morning of my visit, the scene could be summed up by Indian sales staff taking care of mostly China buyers. There was no rush at the entrance, but two well dressed staff members controlled the flow of visitors by opening and closing doors. When you enter the three level delight, you first notice the high backlit ceilings, sense the buzz of eager buyers (mostly women) and know that you are going to enjoy a very well planned and thought of experience in checking out both clothes and accessories for both genders.

The outfit is thought to have cost around 10 million Aussie dollars to set up. This is the tenth LV store for Australia. Another good reason to drop by this store is the choice of personalising your selection of an LV purchase, an option not to be taken lightly as it may not be available elsewhere. Japanese tourists have been in obsession with LV for so many years, and this may draw them back to Sydney. Above, one of the several wide-sized shopping display windows that stand out in striking red. Below, a bicycle on an upper floor that caught my eye, combining perhaps the best of French daily life and the exquisite LV touch.

LV is a master of catching attention, celebrating the unique and providing excellent taste. I immediately fell for the rooster (picture above), active, inquisitive and purposeful. The contraption was made of various LV products, cleverly combined and created into a wholesome piece having a separate life of its own, so to speak. Individual items, glowing and beaming, are carefully placed in clear glass displays over the various floors, suggesting more of the Louvre in Paris rather than a fine jewellery shop. There is space, plenty of it, in this magical retail outlay, space to walk, space to admire and space to contemplate. Staff wear dark suits, carry themselves with both a purpose and a smile and the result is to make the client comfortable enough to make a decision. I came across a young Caucasian lady of not more than twenty years old, holding a beautifully wrapped LV box, beaming to her parents, as the latter had to take a picture of this important moment in time, in this young lady's life. I felt that truly, madly and deeply, this roadside take was as important as her prom, her graduation and her first kiss.

Spring in Sydney City

The Kinokinuya bookshop in Sydney CBD's Galleries Victoria is always a pleasure to visit. This time around, on the cusp of spring, there were significant discounts offered. In the age of electronic and online reading, the ambiance of this sizable retail outlet harks back to traditional scenes - people huddled over the magic of print on paper, eyes scanning an organised bookshelf and book covers shouting out for attention - pick me, choose me. The variety of books in this store perhaps epitomises the meeting of both so-called Western and Eastern cultures.

Dymocks at Broadway shopping centre (south of Sydney CBD) is smaller but nevertheless, invites one to a lazy afternoon of imagination, refuge and chilling out. I love the cushioned seats beside windows and its cafe, but am especially taken by the welcome foyer - how it arranges its displays is an achievement of psychology, marketing appeal and building up the passion of its customers in the world of publications and electronic media. Everything has been precisely arranged to catch the eye and heart.

I was delighted to discover the Brooksfield boutique in the recesses of the World Square shopping precinct. Peter, the sole staff member taking care of this unique experience, was very knowledgeable in chatting about the materials, sizes and unique perspectives of the shirts, trousers and other wardrobe items on display. I was reminded of a choice between slim fits and full form fits. The store has been fitted out to provide a pleasant walk around.


I did not know what to expect about a selection of performance extracts staged live by the
Russian Imperial Ballet at the State Theatre in Market Street. I need not have worried. The enactment to the accompaniment of the theme from Bolero was most enchanting. The festive and humorous air of Don Quixote was infectious and lightened the hearts of the audience. The finale with the can can underlined the fact that ballet is meant to entertain and reach out to the masses, and not necessarily an elite preoccupation.

The lead dancers, male and female, changed my perceptions; gently built up my sense of thrill at hard earned dance steps and postures; and made me realise how classical can be transformed to innovative. The elite of the Russian community were perhaps present for this Saturday night's performance. One of the leads, a tall and slim blonde-haired dancer, was hanging around the audio-visual control box area during the second intermission. My group of four were all satisfied with the high standards offered by this performance.


In the rush hour street side before sunset, near the Broadway shopping centre, I came across three puppies in a baby pram, pushed by a slightly embarrassed guy. Earlier, there were two groups of prancing lions parading past shops in Chinatown, accompanied by the all expected din of banging cymbals and fanfare. The Lunar eighth moon had commenced in the East Asian calendar, and this coincided with the arrival of the Australian spring. Beside the cinema complex along the main thoroughfare of George Street, and leading into the Spanish quarter, an unassuming lane revealed a delightful mural of images from the past century, detailing the balls and functions held by the Chinese-Australian community during the second century of this nation. Most interesting were references to volunteering by this community to the war effort during the 1940s.

Chatime at George Street near Broadway offered this passion fruit flavoured tea. It was thirst quenching after a whole day of literally criss-crossing the streets of Sydney City centre. I was surprised by the lack of custom at this outlet at this evening hour. The LCD screens offered had Mandarin language music videos as if you were in downtown Taipei or Nanjing.

I stood a road away from the construction site for the emerging Sydney Central Park, a massive residential development coming up from the grounds of a discontinued abattoir and brewery. Men in hard hats and bright coloured vests were walking around the place, soon to house hundreds of residents in cubicle units rising over the skyline of the southern end of the CBD. This development by Frasers of Singapore is in an ideal location, the epicentre of the lifestyle for city dwellers. It is ten minutes by car each to Newtown, Glebe, the campuses of UTS and Sydney University, Chinatown, Broadway shopping, Darling Harbour and Surry Hills.

As expected, I could not resist the offer to drop by two food outlets - Malacca Straits, where I tried the nasi lemak with Malaysian styled chicken curry and ice kacang, and then Spice I Am, where the homok and tom yum kung stood out well but the egg noodles were not al dente.

Swinging Through Shopping

It was early September and it felt just right good to just shrug off the demands of the past week and go walkabout in retail land.

The devoted Calvin Klein store was on sale. May be a rare occasion, but it was obvious they were clearing old stock for new. However, CK products can be timeless, and this time it was a bargain moment.

Thompson green seedless grapes were so crunchy sweet these days, and it's not even the full swing of the season. Deep reds are gorgeous looking, but somehow they have not managed to produce seedless ones for retail, or it's just me who have not encountered red skinned grapes that I can swallow whole. Mandarins continued to be available in abundance, whether they are the honey murcotts or others, and they can be so refreshing after a meal, even if some quarters now hold the view that fruits should be eaten before one.

The Body Shop has its classics, and an orderly fashion in its displayed lay out. Spurred on by consumer preferences for better treatment of animals in product research and development, the brand continues to thrive despite new competition. I loved the eider-based below eye lotion best, a soothing balm for computer screen laden eyes!

I had not stepped into Myers for so long, not even in Wollongong, I had to check out their flagship store at the Chatswood Westfield.

A break from shopping for lunch found us in Vietnam Bo. Rice noodle soup can be found with more adventurous ingredients, though I only took one step away from the comfort zone and had pig trotter slices for a change to relish with the rich stock. It may not have been sufficiently confronting.

The label Country Road has been reinventing itself and evidence of this can be found no better than in a flagship store in one of Sydney's northern suburbs. Although most of the line are now made outside Australia, I found a finely made shirt that cried out to me to be rescued. The sales guys were polite and friendly. One was a typical Aussie twenty something who obviously had a late night out the evening before, with dishevelled hair but he looked so attitude-cool. The other held himself in stylish cool, neatly attired, with a kind of Japanese-Hong Kong air about him.

Pearsons Florists was welcoming - I could not resist getting into the mood for the southern spring and get two petite growing bouquets, not those which survived on sponges but in real soil packed in little pots brimming with blossoms.

Teatime had us trying the Japanese run Cacao chocolate cafe, upstairs in Chatswood Chase, where the beverage quality can stand up to any other in Sydney's line of fancy upmarket stores. Chocolate led to thoughts of books, and the sales guy at the new Angus & Robertson store in the Chase told me of the new concept outlet the chain had implemented in certain suburbs. I reckoned the bold and more open layout is a winner in attracting people to walk in - I fell for it myself. No more cramped aisles and hidden corners. It may look more like a Borders store, but I thought this is the trend for the future.