In search of a supermarket

Amazingly enough you think a supermarket would be easy to find. In Singapore many supermarkets are housed within malls. They are often on the 1st floor on a 5 story mall that has shops . There are some that are in "strip "type malls but not many. So it has definitely been a challenge to locate a place to purchase food as I wanted to investigate a number of them to see which had the best variety and pricing.

Pricing, all I can say is unbelievable. Today we venture into a market called Tanglin market. It was a beautifully laid out store with everything you could ask for within its walls. It has a meat market, wine area, cheeses, fresh fruits etc... So We strolled down the aisles to get a feel for what is available and what the cost would be... Nestle choc chips s$10+ a bag, salad dressings s$8+ a bottle, Spaghetti sauce s$10. raspberries were very expensive - s$8 a pint, strawberries s$7.25. A couple of steaks would cost around s$50-60. I bought chicken for s$10.20 which was not so bad. A box of cereal was s$10.85. I am not sure of anything I bought that was a "bargain" by any means. No use your card and get 2 for $1. There are a couple more stores for me to investigate but from what I hear, anything you purchase from the US will be expensive.

One of the many challenges is finding brands that are familiar. Others have told me that once you find a certain product, it may disappear for months. Food is packaged differently as well. Cereal and many other items come in smaller portion sizes. One reason for this is that food here spoils more quickly due to the heat and humidity. Fresh fruit, like cantaloupe or strawberries, last for a couple of days. You can not find what we refer to as a stick of butter. They come in blocks, some small, some large. They also are measure in 50 grams increments (as opposed to our butter measured in Tablespoons) which makes it especially challenging when an American recipe calls for a stick of butter!! I have taken to ordering my cold cuts by the slice (I will have 6 slices) because, as I yet, I have no idea how many grams of meat I would order!! All these things make what would be a 10-15 minute trip to the supermarket about double the time. I am slowly getting more familiar and will soon be a metric shopper!!

Another option that I need to investigate are the wet markets. Wet markets are like big farmer's market except they include fresh meats, seafood etc.. as well as fruits and vegetables. Our helper, Zeny is very familiar with the wet markets. She says it is a great place to buy fresh fruits, veggies and meats at more reasonable prices. There is a lot of bargaining going on at the markets, so I will have to go with Zeny to know that best way to shop there.



note s$ denotes sing for Singapore money. The exchange rate is about $1 American = s$1.33 Sing