See my money stretch in Indonesia

One of my favourite shopping activities is to visit pharmacy or personal stores like Watsons and Guardian whenever and wherever I can.

Now my favourite item to purchase from Indonesia is eye drop because my eyes tend to be more dry in Indonesia (partly due to bad pollution there) and eye drops are cheaper there. But plus points are the packaging! I liked that it's clear, transparent see through bottles.

My recent purchase is this Rohto brand which costs Rup8,600 which is about RM3.00 but there's discount so I paid about RM2 only. Made in Indonesia under license by Rohto, Japan. This could explain the low price but I believe there are many brands manufactured in Malaysia too but sad to say consumers are paying higher price for eye drops here.

Not only that, I also notice that all the eye drops in Malaysia will tell consumers to discard the drop after 1 month of opening but surprisingly, no such warning in the one I bought from Indonesia.

It just says to discard if contents turn colour or becomes cloudy.

Hmm… interesting.. I will check out other brands on my next visit to Indonesia.

UPDATES: Managed to checked most of the eye drop brands in Indonesia... YUP!! No mention of discarding within 30 days... which leaves the question, why does the ones in Malaysia ask us to do so?? Interesting...

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My 2^nd favourite item is sanitary pad. There are many other items which are cheaper in Indonesia like shampoo, tissue / toilet paper and pantyliners.

Again one might say that it’s cheaper cos manufactured in Indonesia but I found out that Carefree Breatheable pantyliners, even though it’s manufactured in Thailand, the price is almost half in Indonesia. I pay about RM9 in Malaysia but I can get for about RM5 in Indonesia for the exact same product cos the one in Malaysia is also manufactured in Thailand!!

This is really disturbing.. cos one might argue that Indonesians pay lower cos the have lower standard of living.. but Singaporeans with higher standard of living are also paying lower prices for their daily personal use products.. So where does that leave us??

It is really disheartening to see our ringgit shrink.. till some even call it Shringgit. It's time that people know that they are paying higher when we shouldn't be... Till then I will continue to stock up on these products whenever I travel overseas; limited only by Air Asia baggage allowance ;p

Lucas PAPAW Ointment

FERMENTED PAPAYA CREAM FROM AUSTRALIA

Read some very good reviews on this product and decided to try it cos I have a very bad case of dry skin, almost eczema like on my feet. The review says that it is very good for cold sores meaning dry skin due to cold and dry weather.

After just a few applications (about 5 times) my skin is totally restored without those awful cracks. So I am a total believer.

Pricewise is very reasonable for such an effective cream, provided you can get over the smell since it's fermented papaya.

I tried it on my chapped lips and it works like a charm.. I have some darker spots on my lips.. though not totally gone after 5 applications, I do find it lighter.

My sister who studied bio-chemistry was of the opinion that any fermented product is good considering it is a powerful anti-oxident and disinfectent. How it helps, I dont know.

The instructions on the pack reads:-

Traditionally used as a local topical application for symptomatic relief of minor cuts, wounds and insect bites.

THE OINTMENT RELIEVES AND CLEANSES.

It's available at VitaCare pharmacy at Gardens, KL. A 25gm tube sells for RM18.90 and 75gm for RM49.90.

But recently on 4th March 2011 I bought another 25gm but the price has increased to RM22.90 and RM53.90 for the 75gm. Sigh... our malaysian ringgit is really shrinking...