MAY 24, 13 .. PONDICHERRY AND HONG KONG SUPER MARKET

On this trip I found two (2) really quality U.S. caliber Super Markets.  One in Pondicherry and one in Kowloon.

I will start with the one in Pondicherry .. then I will move to the one in Hong Kong.

Do you all kind-of-sort-of vaguely remember the phenomenal (for India) Super Market in Pondicherry .. Tamil Nadu .. Southern India .. called Nilgiris .. pronounced .. Nil - Gree?

Below are four photos of Nilgiris Super Market in 'Pondi' to assist your memories. Sigh!  It seems like I was 'just-here'!

By-the-way .. Nilgiris' Super Market's name is associated with the Nilgiri Hills (Mountains) in the Western part of Tamil Nadu state in Southern India.  

Ring any bells?  OOTY and COONOOR are both located in the Nilgiri mountain region.  Food and produce and dairy products from Bangalore were carried to OOTY and COONOOR to eventually (in the year 1905 I believe) open a Nilgiris Super Market in those cities.

Now moving forward to HONG KONG and specifically to Kowloon across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong and my visit from May 13th to May 20th.

Below are photos of .. The MARKET PLACE Super Market in Kowloon.  And .. you will see .. it is very comparable to our super markets.

Below you walk under the above sign into the super market .. and the below lady 'scolds' you for 'even-thinking' of snapping a photo!  You shyly apologize .. and 'make-like' you are putting your camera 'away'.  She smiles and turns away and you shoot a photo!  I 'know' her and I can also read minds!  She is thinking .. "I did my job and now I'll look away and you can shoot your photo!" .. "When you get upstairs WATCH OUT and be careful of your photo taking." 

Gullible!  YOU are so naughty teaching me these tricks!

IT REALLY IS up to our U.S. standards!  Much larger than the above Nilgiris Super Market in Pondicherry.

On the very lower bottom right of the below photo you can see the five (5) litre quantity bottles of drinking water. In Hong Kong the five (5) litre bottles of water are the-only-way to purchase your drinking water IF you want to save money. They sell the FIVE (5) litre bottles of water for $18 HK ($2.32 US).  Some stores sell one-and-one-half (1.5 litre) bottles of water for $21 HK ($2.71 US)!  Outrageous huh!

Walk straight ahead in the above photo and see a close-up of that area in the photo below.

It really is a SUPER MARKET !

Joy .. Cap   

MAR 12, 13 .. WE REVISIT NILGIRIS .. PONDI'S MOST SPECIAL GROCERY STORE !

Gullible 99631 'This one's for you' !

Nilgiris Market is a major landmark for all visitiors to the French Section of Pondicherry!  

Nilgiris is pronounced .. Nil - Gree (by some employees) and Nil - Greez (by other employees)!

Nilgiris is not confined just to 'Pondi' .. with over 90 stores across India's southern states ..Nilgiris IS South India's leading chain of retail stores!  

As seems the usual case in India, their name is spelled several ways!  The sign on the front of the store spells it as Nilgiris.  Their cash register receipt spells it Nilgir's.

Say it .. Nil - Gree ! 

Nilgiris has a self-proclaimed nickname of .. Green Field.  Of course they spell the word Field as Fieeld and this spelling (Fieeld) is printed formally ON the cash register receipt!

OH-MY!  And you wonder .. "Cap?  What is it you love about India?!"

Welcome to my neighborhood of 'Pondi' !  Looking straight ahead you see a blue-green building.  This is Nilgiris ! 

Now I have moved across the above street and in the below photo face Nilgiris straight on ..

Nilgiris truly is more like our super markets than any others I have ever seen here in India !  

Nilgiris is shown in the Lonely Planet Tourist Guide as a highlight !  THAT IS SPECIAL !

Nilgiris is open seven days a week from 9AM to 9PM.

Now Gullible 99631 .. let's go inside !


What you are seeing in the photo below you might be thinking .."Ho Hum So What !" .. because this is what all of our usual super markets look like !

Patti will tell you all !  "In 1996 with Cap here in India .. I NEVER once saw anything to compare with this !"

In my 22+ years of traveling in India .. these photos of this store are totally unique !  This is not-to-say there are no others !  I point out above that Nilgiris is a CHAIN OF NINETY STORES !  So obviously their other stores must look like this 'Pondi' store !

In the extreme upper right corner of both the above and the below photos you see the stairs leading up to Nilgiris second floor.  I have inserted a photo of this stairway two photos below for you to see it more fully.

I shot the above photo looking down from the stairs to the second floor shopping level.

Here is a photo of the stairway itself!

In the below photo we are now upstairs looking at 'general merchandise'.  NO this is NOT a United States BIG BOX store but it is far and away the best I have ever seen in India.

And below I take a 'peek down' at the front of the store and the cash registers.  They have a modern-up-to-date 'scanning' system for quicker checking out !

The upstairs shopping area is totally-new-to-me since my visit last January and February 2012 !

I truly LOVE INDIA and I am SO PROUD of Nilgiris and the state-of-the-art of this 'Pondi' store !

One last look from outside ..

Well Gullible 99631 .. There you have it !  

With Much Joy ..  Cap ..