Could there be a special demi-deity that looks after the rideshare/delivery well-being of virtuous, deserving elderly travel voyagers? Read below and tell me there is no Mystic Adolescent Gecko Spirit of Rideshare Travel.
Saturday was the 31st, New Year's Eve. We arrived after a very fortuitous capturing of a Grab rideshare at the airport (as noted in yesterday's post) with little in the way of provisions. Shopping was a requirement. Unfortunately there was no Aeon (the only large supermarket chain we are familiar with) very close to us. After ordering our (now) standard delivery breakfast of Roti with egg and cheese we got ourselves ready to go to the market which was located in a large mall.
I ordered our Grab as we were getting ready to leave our apartment because our experience in Melaka was it would take a long time before one picked our order up and then arrive. But no! I no sooner put the order in, than it was accepted and on the way. The ride arrived and left before we could even get our shoes on and make it to the elevator. I ordered another and it came just as quick.
We got to the mall. The first order of business was buying a yoga mat (it costs $7 here compared to the $29 we paid in Sicily for one) and got some lunch. Then it was on to finding the supermarket. It was on the basement level. We started shopping. I realized there was no place to exit with your shopping cart where a Grab could pick you up. Evidently most shoppers took their carts up to whatever level they were on in the car park. We might be carrying our bags quite some way. We made an adjustment in our shopping plans. Anything heavy we decided to order for delivery. We would only buy the lighter things in the store.
(You are asking why didn't we just do the whole order for delivery? The problem with that is if they don't have the specific something you asked for, they just don't give it to you. They don't call you to ask what else you might want. There were certain things we needed and did not omitted.)
Shopping completed, we wandered through the mall with our shopping cart until we realized we had to go up a floor to get to an exit. We ditched the cart, took our two bags, found the exit, ordered the Grab, fully expecting a long wait. NO! It was there in minutes. Back to the apartment we went. Arriving we did our online purchase. It was 2pm and I requested delivery between 5 and 6pm.
After a nap, I was contemplating the fact we'd been unable to secure any alcoholic beverages. Grab does all kinds of product delivery. I found some stores. The prices were expensive, even by Malaysian standards but I put my order in. My method of payment was denied. I tried multiple sources of payment with multiple vendors. All denied. It was getting late in the afternoon. I looked where the closest one was. Did I want to take a Grab, go into town when I had yet to set foot there, hope the store was open, and hope I could get a Grab back and hope to be back in time for my supermarket delivery? I dithered for quite some time, seeing myself stranded in some not so great part of town. Finally at just before 4pm I decided to overcome my fears and go for it.
I went downstairs, I ordered my Grab, it arrived in minutes (the message saying it had to drop off passengers first, but that drop off was at my building!). As we went down, I asked the driver if he could wait (I now know that is actually a feature you can request when you order but didn't at the time). He agreed when I waved a nice amount (in Malaysian terms, hardly more than a few dollars in our terms). We get to the place pretty quickly given the traffic. It is on a narrow, one-way street with cars parked on both sides. My driver warns me he will probably have to go around the block because there will be no place to wait. But NO. There is a parking place right in front of the store. While we've been driving down, the supermarket calls me and tells me they are going to be on their way to deliver.
I go into the store, which is small, modern and nice. I start to look and the proprietress asks me what I am looking for. I tell her and she points it right out. It is at a reasonable price. I purchase it and am out in literally 7 minutes. I jump back to the Grab and we dash back to the apartment. As I walk in the apartment door, the supermarket delivery calls and says they have arrived. Wife and I go down and pick things up.
I am astounded. Could everything have come together that seamlessly?
You may tell me there is no Mystic Adolescent Gecko Spirit of Rideshare Travel watching over me.
I know there is.
1 comment:
clearly in the pantheon of wayfinding deities there must be a deity who answers the prayers (if not the orders or calls) of those in seek of rideshares during peak hour. It makes sense that this is a newer, younger deity, the MAGSpRT.
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