This ‘displaced’ Asian is in a quandry: the Singaporean in me rub my hands with glee at the convenience of the mega supermarkets that have been popping up on the island ever since returning here in October 2007, yet the faux hippie side of me mourns the loss of greenary on this paradise island.

The mega supermarkets – Carrefour on Sunset Road, Carrefour on Jl. Iman Bonjol (former Alfa supermarket), Matahari Hypermart at Mal Bali Galeria, Giant on Jl. Kartika Plaza near ACE Hardware – has made available many comforts that I was familiar with at the Cold Storages and Watsons of Singapore, and that were previously not available at reasonable prices or as easily.

This means a variety of fresh vegetables, fruit and poultry at comparable prices; easy-to-assemble plywood furniture (not as lovely to look at like Ikea ones, but equally functional); wider choice of dried goods and herbs for cooking; wider range of over-the-counter beauty products (with brands like Olay, Maybelline, Ponds, Garnier); slightly better selection of homewares as compared to smaller marts like Nirmala, and the latest electronic goods on offer, without having to make a one-hour drive to Rimo Computer Center in Denpasar.

The presence of these huge marts means that grocery shopping has been so much easier for the family, and much faster too, as we can get so many items at one stop.

The downside of this is that in some cases, empty green land had to be used for expanding the physical structure of the marts or transformed in to car parking areas. Or, if no land was claimed for the construction, the building will either totally or partially block views of green land or rice field paddies.

I guess one cannot have the best of both worlds: convenience of one-stop mega marts that do not damage the scenary of Bali. Or are there alternatives that we can all consider?