I can do without you…

My good friend/ex-classmate, Robert, sent me a photograph of the Korean-made luncheon meat…

…via Messenger on Facebook. Of course, I responded promptly and told him it was good.

Yes, it is indeed very good – it has the taste and fragrance of the made-in-China Ma Ling luncheon meat that we grew up eating and enjoying before the quality started deteriorating. Other than that, I also noticed that this one is not as fat as some of the other brands.

If I remember correctly, he went on to tell me the price, around RM12.00 or something like that, and yes, I told him that my missus told me that was what she had to pay for the ones she bought, something over RM10.00. We still have a number of cans in the pantry – my missus did buy quite a lot and for no particular reason, we have not been eating it.

It seems that one can buy them at cheaper prices via Shopee, provided one has the free shipping voucher. I saw friends sharing the links on Facebook but I did not bother to click and check it out.

Robert also sent me another photo – this one…

…of Porkies, my favourite Danish luncheon meat. Not only is it nice but it is also a lot more affordable than all the rest.

He told me that somebody was selling it at a promotional price of RM8.80 a can and I replied that that was what I usually paid for it, over RM8.00. So far, I did hear from my friend, Annie, in KL once that her mum bought it for RM6.00 a can only at a supermarket on the other side of town but since I never made my way to those parts of the woods, I never bought it at that bargain price.

Anyway, since I still have so many of the Korean ones, I have no intention of buying any at this point in time. I did have corned beef in mind though, this particular brand…

…that I used to pay around RM10.00 for one can, a little cheaper than some of the rest. I had cooked the last one that I had in the pantry not too long ago. I remember I got them from the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket along Jalan Ruby, the lane right next to the one where I am staying so I hopped over in the hope of grabbing a few cans.

Unfortunately, there was not a single can available but I did see a lot of the Porkies luncheon meat. I thought that since I was already there, I might as well take two…but I changed my mind right away when I saw the price tag. They were selling it for RM9.20 each. Of course, they are a lot cheaper than these…

If I’m not mistaken, the last time I took note of the prices, they were going for around RM16.00 a can. Frankly, if I were to spend that kind of money, I would much sooner buy half a roast chicken and enjoy myself till kingdom come. This is one thing I can do without…even if it had been a whole lot cheaper.

I still have not bought any of the corned beef. Hopefully, some new stock will come soon and fingers crossed, the price will not soar sky high like most everything else these days, in which case it would also join the ranks of those not-very-affordable things that I can do without! Sighhh!!!