UCC Coffee

UCC coffee
$6.80
Great! (Admiralty)

$9
Cafe Balencia (Mong Kok East KCR station)

Further to my previous post on shopping around for canned coffee, while I was enthralled by the pricing of Nescafe at Great! I nevertheless failed not to notice the UCC coffee selection close by, marked prominently by fluttering orange signs. In fact, the price for the original milk coffee was about as low as it could possibly go, almost reaching the bottom, 3 for $20 steal at the HK Food Expo! Compare this with the $9 that Cafe Balencia charges and indeed, if you are a fan of UCC products, there is no excuse to not rush over to Great! to stock up and save!

Hong Kong Food Expo 2009

My Pricing Notes
Aisle 1 - Colavita Spaghetti 1/$16; 4/$55

Aisle 2 - A) Deblenz instant coffee (8 sachets) 2/$42
B) Delverde pasta 1/$16; 2/$30; 3/$40

Aisle 3 - A) prince of peace American Wisconsin ginseng root tea with honey 2/$100
B) sunsweet pitted prunes (500g) 2/60

Aisle 4 - A) Kruger cappucino (10 sachets) 2@50
B) Mat Kimchi (1.2 kg) 1@65

Aisle 5 - A) G7 coffee (12 sachets) 2@50
B) UCC coffee (10 sachets) 2@38 3@20 (cans)

Aisle 7 - Super 3in1 coffee mix 3@40

Review
The Hong Kong food expo is a paradise for the palette, and certainly the place for succor if one is hungry.  Free food flowed like a buffet; such a prodigious selection of snacks, drinks and sweet meats abound that one could spend the entire day gorging on those delectable victuals, at no charge actually, save for the $25 entrance fee.  It's definitely not bad for the gourmand, whether impecunious or not, because the variety was there, and the pricing points, I believe, were quite competitive, as my notes attest.  My aim being to buy for quality and quantity, I at length settled on purchasing the kimchi, the prunes and the UCC coffee.

I must confess, however, that negotiating the narrow lanes, clogged with desultory, ambling locals, was terrible to say the least.  This, like so many other shopping "events" which combine conspicuous consumption with the local Chinese culture, was a rubber-necking hell.  So many bodies crashing into each other as though human waves breaking upon an unforgiving shore, it was a test of both my tenacity and patience.  To be sure, grunts, glares and "ai-ya's" whizzed around my head like bullets - it's best, I think, not to catch one!

Ah, the industrious Hong Kong people, they set up a red minibus stop right at the exit of the convention center, on the corner of the street, brazenly in front of all the taxis and buses queueing in traffic.  The driver of the lead mini bus acted as the tout, standing outside his vehicle and screaming for people to hop into his ride - for $15hkd from Wanchai to Mongkok, I too would be entreating passers by to get in, to savor the convenience and most importantly, to pay up!  He then eyed me and I willingly acquiesced to his unspoken command.  It was time at last to end a successful trip to the food expo!