Palm Sunday Pickings

The Holy Week, the most important season in the Catholic liturgical calendar, began with Palm Sunday. As usual, the congregation waved palms like what the people of Jerusalem did when welcoming Jesus into the city. Immediately after that kingly welcome with cries of "Hosanna", the liturgy turns to his betrayal and the Passion. Thus begins a series of liturgies reenacting the suffering of Christ, His death, and ultimately His resurrection.



Been hearing about Jalan-Jalan Japan from my mother and sister, so I decided to go check it out after church. Traveled to their outlet at Subang Skypark, just beside One City Mall. My first time at that neck of the woods. The whole place looked half-dead, but it did have some food outlets on the ground floor. I had lui cha at modern-looking vegetarian joint called Fine Creative Cuisine. Think they are new there. Hate looking at menus with no visuals, and bad descriptions. Sucks when you have to ask and the staff don't know how to answer. Anyway, the lui cha was kinda good, and their coffee's recommended.



After lunch, we headed up to Jalan-Jalan Japan, Malaysia's biggest thrift store of Japanese items. Here's a breakdown of what you can find there. I'll start with the top floor:

1. Household and decorative items - dolls, ashtrays, stationery, posters, etc.
2. Soft toys.
3. Men's clothes and shoes - a horrible selection, don't bother.
4. Women's handbags.
5. Caps and hats.
6. Baby prams and strollers.
7. Musical instruments - guitars, recorders, melodians, Japanese zither, etc.

On the lower floor:

1. Women's clothes - a shitload of it. Racks of racks of stuff like T-shirts, blouses, cardigans, sweaters, skirts, dresses, shorts, long pants, etc. Mostly Japanese brands, but if you're lucky, you can find an Alexander McQueen.
2. Traditional costumes - kimonos, yukatas, haoris, and misc. accessories. Much cheaper than what I saw at a second hand kimono store in Kuromon, Osaka.
3. Sports equipment - Surfboards, golf clubs, tennis racquets, unicycles, etc.
4. Kitchenware - all sorts of plates, trays, cups, mugs, wine glasses, lacquerware.
5. Toys - train sets, character merchandise, model cars, Pokemon cards, button badges, etc.

After all that rummaging, mum did manage to find some stuff that she wanted. Not a wasted trip. And for every share on social media, they give an additional 5% discount. Another interesting shop there is Sewing World Gallery, a huge gallery dedicated to sewing. The machines that they sell there enable crafty people to create all sorts of intricate quilts, soft toys, bags, purses, portraits, etc. Amazing what can be achieved with thread and cloth, and an advanced sewing machine. According to the salesgirl, their Japan-made sewing machine can handle six layers of jeans at once, yet can also do intricate stitching.

An interesting day out indeed.