Grocery Stores

Right now, as I am attempting to cool down my body temperature and working the kinks out of carrying heavy bags on my shoulders on the public bus, over the hills, through the woods, and into the apartment- I am missing my car (Jackie) and our Sexy Safeway on 5th and K. Though grocery shopping here in Singapore is quite easy to do, I do miss the convenience of writing my weekly grocery list, putting Dewi down for a nap, jumping into Jackie, driving to Safeway at 9 in the morning when no one else is around (but late enough that I can buy alcohol, since Safeway won't sell me my wine at 8:57 a.m.), finding everything I need, and then driving back home.

Although Singapore makes getting around town quite easy to do (with public buses frequently coming by and courtesy shuttles from nearby plazas), I have found that in order to find everything that we want on our list we have to make a couple of stops. Here are the stops:
1. Nanyang market- if we don't want to go that far and just need a couple of snacks, fruits, or a bottle of shampoo, we can head to this mart, right in our apartment complex. They have a lot of things, but not as much selection as a big grocery store. I like their selection of dried Chinese snacks: dried prunes, dried plums, and other assorted dry and sour stuff. But for formula, wipes, and other things you want for your kitchen, you have to leave the campus.
2. Sheng Siong- this is quite a hidden gem. One of of the moms in our meetup group told me about this 2-level Asian market. Wait a minute, aren't they all Asian markets, you may ask? After all, Singapore is in Asia (right?)? The answer is yes, these markets are all in Asia. There are markets and there are ASIAN markets. If any of you have ever been to a 99 ranch market, H-Mart, or GrandMart, you'll know what I mean. Sheng Siong is hectic, chaotic, in your face, and smells like dead fish, but the prices are reasonable and they carry a lot of things. This includes Dewi's favorite Baby Bites (this link isn't exactly it, but it's pretty close), a nice selection of pasta, and Mexican products. Though I love the Mexican section, I will probably never purchase any of them during our time here since it's so expensive. For example, a box of Old El Paso Taco Shells is 10 bucks! But Sheng Siong doesn't carry much meat or grated parm. Which brings us to...
3. Cold Storage- This is a nice, smaller version of the sexy Safeway. It is not as hectic and feels like any Western grocery store (just 1/5 of the size), but one has to spend some time comparing labels in Cold Storage. You can leave there spending a lot of money or an average amount. Cold Storage does carry grated parm (which is pretty pricey here), and other things you may need for your western meal or superbowl party (Cheeseheads, please note that Johnsonville brats are 10 bucks a pack here). They also have deli meats, beef and turkey bacon, and a little Swiss bakery right outside of it in case we are craving a nice loafy bread.

After those three stops, I trek to the bus stop, get on the bus, then head back home. By the time I get into our apartment, I down three glasses of cold water and sit still for about 10 minutes so that I can cool down. Oh yeah, and did I mention the fruit stands and wet market as well? I could use a nice bottle of beer right now. Oh yeah, those are expensive too :)