Shopping for some scary fun

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For children from the Nakorn Sari Nursery in Petaling Jaya, their annual Halloween party came early. They literally had a party while accompanying their principal, Nancy Boyd on a shopping trip to buy Halloween paraphernalia at Cold Storage, Solaris at Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Boyd who always goes shopping this time of the year for the school’s annual Halloween party said: “In planning for this year’s party I decided to bring along a few children to see what they would like for Halloween.

“Most of the children, especially the older ones, truly enjoy Halloween because it is something different from the Malaysian festivals such as Hari Raya, Deepavali and Chinese New Year,’’ she explained.

Fun outing: Boyd and several children from Nakorn Sari Nursery shopping for Halloween at Cold Storage in Solaris at Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Boyd said the party has been growing in size over the years because the nursery also invited former pupils, their siblings and friends.

This year, she expects to have about 100 people at the party which has been scheduled for Nov 4.

“I try to get something different each year, as we have the same children coming year after year,’’ said Boyd.

Trick-a-treat is a customary practice for children during Halloween in many countries where children in costumes, either in large groups or accompanied by an adult, travel from house to house to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the question “Trick or treat?”.

The “trick” is usually an idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.

Boyd said in keeping with the practice of Halloween, she allowed the children their share of trick-a-treating around the neighbourhood.

“All my neighbours get roped in. They are told beforehand to expect the children and they have been extremely supportive and sporting.

“I would say the adults enjoy it as much as the children.

“The children will get dressed in costumes complete with painted faces; then they will carry their witch’s brooms and trident’s sticks, just like the ones available at Cold Storage before we send them off to the neighbourhood,” added Boyd.

Cold Storage at Solaris carries more than 80 different items of Halloween decorations and 30 types of Halloween food items like skull lollipops, glow sweets and gummy critters.

A similar range of costumes and paraphernalia are also available at other Cold Storage supermarkets throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

The prices for food and non-food items for Halloween range from RM4.99 to RM49.99 respectively.

Cold Storage is also organising a “Trick or Treat Contest” in conjunction with Halloween.

Shoppers are dared to name which ghoul or monster hides behind the doors on the contest panel which is located in-store.

The grand prize winner for this contest will walk away with an iPad 2 (32GB), while the second prize winner will receive a Garmin Nuvi 2565. The three third prize winners will each receive an iPod Shuffle (2GB). The contest ends on Oct 31.