Of what business do you speak?

I think I may have seen a CEO carrying one of these on a business flight the other day.

Shallots!

Sam wanted to make sure I posted this, especially for my brother and my mother.  These shallots are not only fresh and tasty, they're also only about $1.50 USD in the local market.  Sam says they're slightly more expensive in the US.

Grocery cart

Matt and Michelle brought Sam a rolling grocery cart from the States when they came.  It's been just the thing for Sam when she goes to market or grocery shopping.  Who needs a car, anyways?

I haven't actually seen her using it since I'm usually at work when she's shopping, but I bet she looks really cute rolling it around.

Coupon stamps at the grocery store

I remember as a child my mother collected stamps with each purchase, which she then pasted into a book and turned in later for discounts.  In Bangkok, the practice is alive and well - here's Sam saving up for discounts on a Snoopy watch, and said watch, after she got enough.

Carrefour is an excellent grocery/department store, by the way.  It's French, but serves up the goods a la Wal Mart quite well in Asia.  Hurrah for Carrefour!

Strange brews

Was at a Carrefour the other day, and a few odd things jumped out from the shelves in the liquor department.  In these photos, you can see for yourself.

American wine is predictably expensive, but who would have guessed it would be about $30 USD per box of Franzia?  (current exchange rate is about 35 baht to 1 USD)

There is a whole shelf of herbal liquors - liquor infused with Chinese herbs.  It's supposed to have medicinal value, and it's cheap, hence its popularity.

Lots of local Thai whiskeys, which are actually rums.  They stack up well against other rums of the world - if there's one thing Thailand has it's good quality sugar.

Bacardi mixers also come in lychee flavor here.  Can't say I've had a Bacardi mixer, but I would guess lychee flavor isn't that common elsewhere.

And last but not least, saw some firewater for sale.  'Red Cock' claimed it was distilled fermented rice.  The one bottle next to it wouldn't even say what it was fermented from, or what was in it, it just claimed it was very Thai.  Taiwan has similar local liquor on offer, and mostly it offers to kick you a few times in the head.

Grammatically correct

There is plenty of grammar of questionable provenance in this town, but sometimes the grammar is spot on, it's just the context that is surreal.  "3 way" is perfectly grammatical, and "Pump Man" is a grammatically correct name, but - you just might not see either of those terms in the store in the States.  At least - not at the grocery store.

Why pay more?

We bought a printer/scanner the other day, and we needed some printer paper.  We wandered over to the printer paper section of Carrefour, and I had a choice to make.  What brand?  What price?  I started with the cheapest one - the 'Shih-tzu' brand.  The package said this paper was clean, well-balanced, and faithful.  Did those qualities meet my printer paper needs?  Could I go with a different paper brand, perhaps one that was unclean, or poorly balanced, or unfaithful?  What would it be to invite unfaithful printer paper into my life?

I checked out the prices - 'Shih-tzu' paper was the cheapest on offer.  There were other brands, but some were two or three times as much (including the 'Siberian Husky' brand, which had only a picture of a dog, and no advertised qualities - are Siberian Huskies self-explanatory?  Does everyone know whether they are clean or not without being told?).

So we went with the Shih-tzu paper, and didn't look back.  We figured - with a dog this adorable staring back at us, why pay more?

Limes

Limes in Bangkok are very fresh and delicious.  They are also, compared to the States, super cheap.  About 4 baht each, to be exact.

Yum.

Some grocery store food

Love the names - "Dr Hen" eggs, and chicken which claims their chickens are happy.  Very enjoyable usage of English around town.