a.mart

Button on door

What to eat for dinner?  I looked at my list and picked a new recipe then watched the video I had found to make it.  Shoot, I was missing the vegetables.  I'm sure I thought, "I'll get them fresh when I'm ready to make it." last time I did my shopping and of course I didn't bother to figure out what I was making for dinner this morning before I went to the grocery store, so back to the store I needed to go.   Since I needed only Asian ingredients I thought I would try the grocery store I had been avoiding, a.mart.  It's only a block away and closer than Carrefour by a smidgen, so when in a hurry, it might be a good idea to know what they have.

I've been avoiding it because people seem to think that it's the Chinese store in the area.  No English.  No recognizable products.  I've been afraid that I would feel completely lost inside, so why bother?

I can see the back of the store from the end of my street.  It's right there, across a large, vacant lot.  Should I go left or right?  Right looked shorter so off I went.  I found a sketchy looking parking lot and cut through and ended up in the loading area.  I dodged delivery trucks and garbage dumpsters and walked around to the front.  Turns out there is a whole mall there.  I have found this to be typical overseas.  Grocery stores are located in malls and here they seem to be located on the second floor.

I found the main entrance and walked towards the sliding glass doors.  I haven't gotten used to pushing the button that makes the doors slide open.  I usually stand there, like an idiot, waiting for them to magically slide open.  Typically someone walks up, pushes the button and I meekly follow.

I wandered in and was delighted to find that there is a McDonald's in the mall, just around the corner from my apartment.  Right there, easy to get to when I have that need for some greasy fries.  Next to McDonald's was a donut shop.  Why do people avoid this place?  

I found my way up to the second floor and entered the grocery store.  Neat, clean, wide aisles and logically organized.  I walked down a random aisle and found the brown sugar and yeast that have been alluding me as well as several choices of flour.  They had cake flour, waffle flour, fine ground flour, standard flour, tapioca flour and just to spite Americans, they had extra gluten flour.

I grabbed the fresh veggies I needed for tonight's dinner then walked through the freezer section.  On my way to the cash register I saw the most interesting ice cream delights.  It's always fun to try the products in a foreign country so I picked a box of white covered purple ice cream treats.  Who knows what flavor that will be?  I can't even imagine, but it will make for a fun ending to our meal tonight.