Monday, June 09, 2008

Grocery Shopping



Bee took me on my first "official" grocery shopping trip in KL today.

I only started doing my own grocery shopping (and cooking) when I left home to study in Oz. My first flatmate was absolutely shocked to find out that I didn't know the difference between garlic, onion, and ginger. :p

Most of my grocery shopping and cooking experience happened during my uni years in Apple Isle. Since I relocated to Melbourne, I had hardly stepped foot into a supermarket or my own kitchen. Especially for the past year when I started working 7 days a week and my flatmate's mum came to live with us to become our full-time live-in maid. Haha.

So, my knowledge of supermarkets is really very much limited to Safeway and Coles (not even IGA), and I have to admit that I felt a lil outta place today at Carrefour and Jusco.

For example, I didn't know that things like veggies and dried food have to be weighed at their own sections instead of the check-out counter; or that there is a separate Halal section, and I have to get a voucher to pay at the main counter before I could collect my dumplings and roast sweet potato.

The absence of all the familiar brands made it difficult to identify the exact product I was looking for, and the different isle arrangements cost me double time walking around in my heels. The only place that made me feel slightly better today was Cold Storage, where I found my breakfast cereals.

It's weird how sometimes I feel like a stranger in my own country.

Oh well. Maybe it just takes a lil while to get used to it.