DDD, Don Don Donki, is one of the places I come to whenever I want a bout of immersive grocery shopping.
Doesn't matter which outlet I go to.
It can be the one at City Square, the one at Orchard Central, or the one at Harbourfront, JEWEL or Suntec City.
Whichever it is, I know I'll leave with the sound of its in-store jingle ringing incessantly in my ear, and a happier, cheerier mood overall.
We happened to be at Vivocity this particular afternoon, and because we hadn't been to DDD for quite a while, decided to hop over to their outlet at Harbourfront above the Cruise Centre up on the third floor.
The place wasn't crowded, and even though I was a little surprised, it didn't take long before I found myself wandering happily between the shelves stocked full with foods, snacks, toiletries and household.
There is a lot to see at DDD, and anyone who has ever been there will understand what it means to have nearly all your senses (happily assailed) by the colors of reds, yellows, blues, pinks, greens, purples, oranges, browns, and the music of their piped-in jingle.
Anyone who has ever been to DDD too will not forget the picture of their cute penguin mascot on the shelf labels here, there, everywhere.
I tend not to pay a lot of attention to the mascot.
Not because I'm disinterested, but because I'm usually more caught up by the sight of all the instant noodles, the bags of snacks, the pretty looking shampoos and the packets of sweets arranged on the shelves.
There's never been a time that I don't find myself looking at the Nissin instant noodles on the shelf, wondering what new flavors there are, and whether I should stick to the cup noodles, or go for the UFO range of truffle carbonara that reminds me of pasta.
There's also never been a time that I don't find myself looking at the sweets and chocolates and drinks and snacks, wondering if I should get myself a bag of potato chips, or those gummy sweets, or the KitKat chocolates that look so pretty in their uniquely designed bag.
Some of the drinks I've got from DDD have been the UCC bottled sugarless cold brew coffee, a beautifully bottled lavender tea, and a bottled salted lychee drink that's delicious and surprisingly cools your body heat down on a very hot day.
Another thing that I've got a couple of times is their rice topping which, having already tried, I can tell you greatly enhance the taste of even just a bowl of plain white rice.
But it's not just the instant, packeted, processed and bottled foods that I buy.
I've bought milk.
I've bought juice.
And when it comes to their raw foods, I've had lots of their beef slices for shabu shabu and yakiniku.
One, of course, cannot leave DDD without taking a look at the cooked foods that they offer.
There is their salmon sushi, salmon sashimi, salmon belly sashimi, and aburi salmon sushi that you must seriously consider, especially when they stick the Special Price sticker on it.
There is also their desserts, daifukus, mochis, ice creams and crepe cakes, all of which are affordable and great to snack on.
And then their yakitoris and their bentos.
I think I've had a daifuku several times.
And more than once I've gone for their cream puffs (perfect when eaten cold) and their mochis (dusted with all flavors of powder)
There're still certain foods I've been eyeing a while but haven't had a chance to try.
Like their pre-packed, pre-prepared bentos.
And their cups of fruit jellies.
For the fruit jellies, it's the peach one and the orange one that I want to try.
Then for the bento boxes, I want to try the omurice. (The egg omelet looked so good), the takoyaki, the huge piece of tonkotsu (with rice) and the one that came with the fried udon.