in utah, i was spoiled. we lived right next to a neighborhood grocery store. it was so convenient. if i needed something for dinner, i would walk on over at 4 pm and grab it. i would be back in 10 minutes, tops. if i was making dinner and needed something, steve would volunteer (just so he could ride his skateboard) and before i knew it, he would be back. easy.
if you ask me what i dislike the most about singapore, it would be grocery shopping. here's what it looks like.
all of the grocery stores i go to are in malls. the first obstacle is parking. find a green light and back yourself in. i am pretty proud of myself now. it usually takes only one or two times of reverse, drive, reverse to get it right. it was comical at first. now i'm a pro at backing my rear up. :)
singapore is quite ingenious when it comes to shopping carts. a dollar is all it takes to rent one.
grab some groceries. i've already posted a few times about how expensive things are here. not only that, but finding what you need is sometimes difficult. one day they'll have it, another it's gone.
go to this store for buttermilk and cilantro,
this one for cheese.
the best meat is at this store.
you get the idea.
one thing's for sure, there are lots of asian takes on traditionals.
seaweed? soft-shell crab? grilled shrimp? bangkok grilled chicken?
the best time of day to go shopping? early in the morning. "early" as in 8-9 am (right after dropping daddy off at work which is why rhett is still in his pjs). nothing is open here that "early" so it's the best time to go. no lines or crowds. DO NOT go on a friday night unless you want the city's traffic to follow you indoors.
these handy little travelator-escalators are magnetic, so the cart sticks to it down to the parking garage.
find your car and load up. our's is customized with a dent in the back (a story for another day, right steve?)
return your cart. get your dollar back. i've only left my cart one time - that was a really bad day.
pay for parking. love our little shopping plaza with how cheap parking is.
drive home and feel happy you don't have to do it for another week.
7 comments:
I agree! Grocery shopping is awful! I always have a list going because I don't find everything at one place! And Parking, well you know how I feel about that one!
I love this post! It's so true! I used to wait to go and still often do until we literally had nothing to eat in the house and then we'd already had hawker for several days for dinner. two things that have totally helped me which you may know about it are--chicken man and going to giant. I do a huge run of all my paper stuff, juice, milk, oatmeal and they deliver. even with a car I think that would be so nice and it totally makes my weekly grocery day easier.
You are a pro a backing your rear up! I'm impressed! :)
Wow, I had NO idea how crazy that was! I keep telling Chris, I'd love to move to Singapore, I can only imagine how crazy we'd look with 5 kids grocery shopping!
Malia, you are such a trooper! Seriously. and I'm impressed with your parking skills.
Correction, I would ride my longboard, not skateboard. And as for the bumper, I don't think we need to go into why I was so distracted... Plus it is how Ty i'dent'ifies our car.
reminds me of italy - same set-up. :) do the grocery cart wheels all move independent of each other, too? great in theory - hilarious in practice. :)
bess
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