Grocery Shopping, Part 2

You may recall back in October the receipt spotlighted here, where we spent almost $250 in Hong Kong dollars for just a few select imported items. That really was only part of the story, so here's some more of it. Everyday items are comparatively inexpensive, unlike those rare American items; in fact, groceries are much cheaper here. Remember, HK$100 equals about US$12.88, so when prices are mentioned, it just sounds like a lot. For instance, on a recent trip we got three peppers in a package, (one green, one yellow, and one red), for HK$18.30; US=$2.35. Bananas were HK$2.70/lb; US=35 cents/lb. Oranges, HK$3.60 each; US=46 cents each. Ground Australian beef (imported since they don't have cattle in Hong Kong) HK$19.90/lb; US=$2.56/lb.

My favorite: Park'NShop; you will notice
it's in the basement of a building, like
almost all grocery stores. The funny
thing about the name? NO ONE drives to
this store; we all walk!

There are three things we have to remember when grocery shopping in Hong Kong: first, bring our own bags, or they charge 50 cents per bag. Second, only buy enough to carry home comfortably in two bags, or our arms ache. Three, there are  at least 4 grocery stores within a couple of blocks, but none of them have everything we want, so we go from store to store. It's an adventure! Coming soon, a description of the wet market.