tihZ_hO wrote:johnny_tropicana wrote: Skippy is on sale at Walmart for $1.99 this week
That's actually good!
wow
In Jakarta, as I was shopping today (at a local supermarket nothing special about it) here's a quick comparison...
1) Smuckers jam here is about $2.50 and its everywhere (2)Skippy is about $3ish) 3)1kg raw peanuts I was wrong its $2.50ish
4) USA Pancake mix is about $5 many other brands including local which is about $2
5) Canadian 100% pure maple syrup is about $8~9
6) Hellman's Mayo $2.50ish (Small jar) Really good (not sweet) local 500ml is the same price
7) 1kg pasta - spaghetti $2.50ish - its local and I can't tell the difference from imported
8) 500ml Fillippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil about $6.50
9) 8 thick slice multi-grain bread $2
Do I miss Shanghai?
1) Looks like ya win out on that one by about $1.30... but you can get a lot better stuff than that junk
2) Actually got this at the store a few days back for 15 - 510g thing of it.
3) With or without shells? without em, they cost like 10 kuai a kilo here at the market (seriously, like half of all peanuts are grown in China.. why would anyone import from a country that pays farmers to
not grow peanuts?)
4) God knows why people actually pay $5 for 2 kuai of ingredients that take 1 minute or less to assemble
5) US price for 1L: $20, China price: 200 kuai - overpriced but reasonable
6) Get in bag, dump in jar. 30 kuai for 1kg
7) 1kg imported pasta - about 30 kuai
8) 1L for 80... so 500ml for 40
9) Hello bread machine and unlimited fresh cheap bread of my own design and choosing every morning. About $50-60 and it'll pay itself off in 2 months assuming you really like bread.
As for my list:
1) Old Spice Gel Deo - Got em at $1 a pop a long while back and brought over a quarter suitcase of it.
2) Clothes - Mostly Tshirts and Jeans and socks (oh how i love my cheap hanes ankle socks!)... everything else is easy to get the way I like it for cheap.
3) Amazingly good coffee - Seriously, spend real money on this
4) Port wine... correction, GOOD port wine. You can hit up just about everything else in duty free
5) Vintage cast iron - yes, I have some of the newer stuff over here, but i loves my 100 year old 10" frying pan
6) Home phone. The models here are crap, I have a 5-handset DEC6 Panasonic with bluetooth and all the bells and whistles I grabbed up for $75 and is better than anything they have here yet... tack on another 30 kuai for adapters and 20 minutes with the soldering iron to make it look nice.
7) INSTANT pistachio pudding... good luck ever finding that here... it's my guilty pleasure
8) Glass & Steel Portofina LS L-Desk. Was a pain to do it, but totally worth it. Impossible to get over here and everything close is expensive.. mine was $50.
9) San Fran Sourdough starter... sure, you can start your own over here, but this stuff is great.
10) (didn't bring it, I am an idiot and sold mine years ago) Cheap, round waffle maker... no, not belgian! not hearts! not square! yes, you will have to get an 220->110v supply for it and it will cost you more than the damn waffle maker did. yes, it is made in china... no, you will never find one here no matter how hard you look unless you are willing to go cast iron old-timey and burn yourself repeatedly while making a huge mess.
11) Tall Kitchen garbage bags with the drawstring. You can get a western kitchen, you can get a western-sized kitchen trash can... but good luck getting the 13 gallon bag to go with it! I have an offbrand, but it was like $5 for a roll of 200 of em (so I got 2 rolls).
Spices and whatever, it used to be a pain, but now it's easy to find and only rarely is something even close to pricey. I remember the days when dental floss and decent qtips were on the list. Those days are long since past. Meds are rather similar, either there will be a domestic brand for dirt cheap, an imported brand for far less than it is in the US, or it'll be something that isn't really even medicine and you can get online.
