Okay, so this may not be as popular a minimart as, say, some of the others- like Prime (which has grown to become more of a supermarket these days) but if anyone asks what a "heartland of a heartland mart" is, there're only two that come to mind.
One is Golden (something) that's over at Serangoon Central.
And the other is Ang Mo, which has four locations islandwide over in Hougang, Sembawang, Ang Mo Kio, and one place else.
I can't say I'm very, very familiar with the shelves of Ang Mo.
But I can say I'm pretty much familiar with the food.
It's a place that speaks to The Family, and although I've not been there as much as I think I should, hey, I've got plenty of stuff in the kitchen- and the pantry- that hail from there.
Several weeks ago I had the chance to visit the one at Hougang.
And yes, there was a wee bit of nostalgia going towards there.
Maybe because it was a hot day.
Maybe because the sun was bright.
I don't know.
But I was interested in seeing what the place was like, and where it was that The Parent used to shop.
We had, after all, had quite a good number of groceries purchased from here.
One of the shelves that first caught my eye was actually outside the store.
I don't know how many types of noodles in the Family collection came from this store, but on the shelf out there I saw all the brands I knew, and oft ate. Whether they were the Maggi, the Myojo, the Nongshim, or the Nissin, they were all there.
Likewise the selection of biscuits on the shelves on the other side.
I don't think I'd ever seen such a huge variety of biscuits all along the same rows.
There were brands both familiar and unfamiliar.
On the shelves there were Ritz crackers of all kinds, Oreos of all kinds, Cowhead cheese biscuits in various flavors, digestive cookies from McVites, biscuits from the Munchy's brand, biscuits from the Khong Guan brand, and familiar sugared cream crackers from Hup Seng. Of course there were those from Julie's (can't miss those), those plain white little crackers from Meiji, and all the other sweet biscuits that kids and adults alike enjoy snacking on.
What charmed me were the flavors.
I don't think I'd seen that many flavors of sweet biscuits before.
Never mind the usual flavors of chocolate, strawberry and tiramisu from Meiji's Yan Yan, there was also a yogurt flavor, which I thought interesting and would have wanted to try, except that my eye was caught up by the snack shelves, and I headed over there.
Just the noodles, the biscuits, and yes, the bread, the snack selections were of no small variety too.
Most of them seemed to be of smaller sized packs, however, and a good number of them looked like they were of local flavoring and local variety. There were local snacks like prawn crackers, tapioca chips, chili tapioca chips, and vegetable crackers. There were also Twisties, Pringles, Jack and Jill's, Cheezels, the Bika collection, durian popcorn (which are delicious durian puffs really), and Super Ring too.
For old times' sake I was very tempted to get either the Bus Brand (I forget its name), Super Ring, or even a whole bag of Lay's, but then I got drawn to the selection of Korean snacks on the shelf and decided- what with it being the weekend- to go for a bag of Darda's honey butter popcorn anyway.
But if you thought I only hovered about on the outside, nope, I went inside the store too.
What the layout is precisely, I can't really recall now, but the ball-ball type of foods were on the extreme left.
So were the milk, the yogurts, the cheeses and the juices.
I attempted a picture of the ball balls.
Partially because I thought that for a heartland-heartland mart, their presence was unique, but also because in many a bowl of instant noodles back with The Family, I'd had cuttlefish balls, seafood balls, wantons, sausages, fish cakes and the like- and I'm pretty sure more often than not, they had been bought here.
There is a lot to be had here, by the way.
They've got all kinds, especially great for hotpot, and you won't be missing out on stuff like fish balls, fish cakes, fish rolls, meat balls, even tofu.
I also took a picture of the shelves right next to these ball balls.
Because I'm pretty sure I must have had a couple of yogurts, sliced cheeses and juice cartons from here.
Yep, there were the pink guava juices, the orange juices, and the mango juices on these shelves, which, at another time, would be paid for, put in the trolley, and carted off.
In front of these juices were the UHT packet milks, and whilst I did want to take a picture- I have a couple of F&N Magnolia Low Fat Milk and Fresh Milk packets in the fridge still- the staff happened to be restocking and so I went over to the peanut butter and jam section instead.
Perhaps one might feel curious as to why I bothered with a picture at these shelves, (I mean, it is simply- peanut butter)
But I cannot tell you just for how long, and how frequent I'd seen these jars of Singlong brand creamy peanut butter on the dining table, and just how many times I'd scooped huge spoonfuls out to have with bread, and sliced apples.
It's unlikely that I'll be back to Ang Mo Supermart for a while.
But in life never say never.
You don't know when, or where it is you might pop back into a store you said you wouldn't go.
Especially in this day and age where mom and pop stores like these actually have their ear to the ground, and they evolve easily, placing stock on their shelves that they know their (frequent) or (new) customers might want.
Like pistachio milk.
Which, in the keto and vegan community is fast gaining popularity because of its reasonable taste, its low sugar content, and its low calorie count as well.