Edward sings "Lulu's, Lulu's" the name of the grocery store we end up at two to three times a week. I thought I would share more about shopping here.
Most of the stores have a parkingup- garage under them- on the ground level- so your car isn't so hot when you come out. Almost all the grocery stores are in a mall complex- most are more strip malls, but others have a GAP and Gymboree, etc. next to the grocery store.
The Lulus complex we go to has an Italian place, dry cleaning, bank branch, Western Union, cupcake stand, carpet dealers, aquarium store, perfume store, Burger King, herbal store, pharmacy, accessory store, a few more restaurants, etc.- most on the ground floor. You have to take this escalator to the grocery store- but the escalator is flat- no stairs- so you can push a grocery cart on it. They all have magnetic wheels which lock it into place on the escalators so they don't go careening down.
Also, none of the carts drive straight- everyone has perfected this diagonal leaning method of steering their carts. You also have to put 100 fils, like a quarter, into the cart to unlock it from the other carts to be able to use it. You get your fils back when you take your cart back and insert a key from the cart above into the slot on your cart- popping out your coin. The keys aren't long enough to reach the slots on its own cart- just connect to other carts- if that makes sense. I've had a few not so fun store trips where I didn't have a 100 fil coin on me!
Here the first floor is the ground floor and second floor is the first floor. So the groceries are up on the first floor and the clothing, sporting goods, school supplies and housewares are on the second floor. If you need milk and pencils, you go to the second floor, get the pencils, pay for them, then check your bag at the security desk / bag check on the first floor, get your milk, then go claim your pencils.
It is pretty much the same as a regular grocery, but there is a large bulk foods section manned by helpful staff. The deli is a lot larger. There is the hot prepared food counter- like chicken, etc., the meat and cheese counter, the pickles and other cold prepared foods counter, the bakery deli section- with individual pot pies, pasteries etc., and the Indian food deli counter. In the produce section, you pick out your produce then take it to a counter to be weighed and priced. You must do this- if you take unweighed and unpriced produce to the checkout they freak out because they don't know the prices and don't have scales. Other than the huge rice aisle, shelf stable milk aisle, and a few unfamiliar things- it is pretty normalish.
Question though, in the ground meat section, you can buy buffalo from India. I'm assuming this is water buffalo. It is cheaper than beef and looks really similar- should I give it a go? (I don't know why but this seems less gross than camel meat to me!)
This is one of my more successful attempts at Middle Eastern cuisine- a dish of eggplants, onions and tomatoes called The Iman Swooned.
But I passed.
Promotions are my new coupons! I got these free mugs buying milk, the 9 x 13 pan from buying a two pack of canola oil, two butter knifes with a double pack of butter, the Spiderman pencil set with some chocolate milk boxes and the beach ball with a pack of Capri Suns. Promotions are usually double packs at a discount, buy two get one free, bonus item with purchase- and I love them!
And this is what the oil pipelines look from the road- they are everywhere just running on the sides of the streets.
This old girl let us sit on her back- most obliging!
Some of the young ones and babies check out my baby.
They are kinda cute! Love their lashes. These are the camels that belong to the royal family. They have a heard of 100-200 that they keep for prestige- that the public can go visit. These are all dromedary or Arabian camels. The males are more bad tempered so they are kept away from the females and babies. The babies are huge- a three week old was about four feet tall. The mamas were all around six feet-ish. 
Evelyn looks nervous here because she had just gotten her hair eaten for the second time. It looks like golden straw! The camel keeper is keeping the muncher back.
