Ann on Eating

 On our walk to the grocery store, we passed the fruit and veg stand, so we stopped there first. We picked up some local apples and pears and a few veggie options for dinner. I really have to get a cheat sheet that converts metric measurements so I can have a clue about whether or not a price is a good deal or not. When we got to the grocery store, we started to get a grocery cart, but you have to pay for them (just like smartcarts in an airport) so we used a basket. A basket of groceries was just fine as we had to carry it home (in our ChicoBags) 7 blocks. We perused the meat case for dinner options. Small pre-roasted chickens were $11! Raw chicken was between $10 and $20 a kilogram depending on the cut – I had no idea if this is expensive or not. I looked for steel cut oatmeal, but could only find rolled oats and "porridge" so will look elsewhere for that. We perused the cereal selection, and by that I mean the 12 feet long display of sufficient choices, about 1/8 of what we have in our Safeway. We decided on bran flakes with sultanas (raisin bran). I was led to believe that no other country has peanut butter, so I was prepared to go without it for 10 months. However, today I found Kraft peanut butter on sale for $3! The total bill was rounded down by one cent, as they don’t use pennies here. The clerk asked us if we had any “flybuys” and we blinked dumbly back at him. After looking at the tax invoice (receipt), I learned that this was essentially a Safeway card. I also noticed that food prices in the store were not as high as I was expecting, though eating out seems to be a bit more expensive than in Chico. Even when you factor in a 20% tip in the price (they don’t tip here), the restaurant prices are still a bit higher.
Everything is smaller here. Remember how big a small drink used to be? That's how big they are here. The grocery cart, had we paid for one, was half the size of one in the US. More on how NOT super-sized things are here later.