You paid HOW MUCH for that?!

The currency used here in Hong Kong is the dollar, the HK dollar, that is. This has caused us some raised eyebrows, since the exchange rate is about 7.76, meaning something costing $1 here would cost about 13 cents in the U.S. That doesn't keep me from being concerned when I see how much my groceries are costing! For instance, the other day I went and splurged at City's Super, a fun shopping adventure after buying our usual stuff in cramped, crowded basement grocery stores with not anywhere near the variety back in Kemah. It's adequate, though, and fairly inexpensive. For this shopping trip, however, you will note that for 8 items, I paid with a 500 dollar bill, getting $245.50 in food with $254.50 in change. See how that bag of {imported} Fritos set me back 30 bucks? Not as extravagant as the Hormel pepperoni for $71.50. The cost of those same groceries in U.S. dollars: about $32, waaay too much to be paying for those items, unless you're splurging.