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!)
So, eat the buffalo. I've had it here and it is very good. I loved the toy pictures, having worked in a toy store it was fun. So fun to read about all your adventures.
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