I Miss Costco! Kinda...

There are few things that I truly miss from America other than people. One of those things is Costco. If you have never been to Costco, let me tell ya, you are missing out! One giant store with everything from computers to coffee makes life pretty convenient (way better than Wal-Mart); plus who doesn’t love the samples? The reason I miss Costco so very much is convenience. If you shop on Friday night, everything can be purchased for the week in less than 30 minutes, unless you want to browse, which is a must in my books! Shopping is a lot different in Shanghai, and although not as convenient, a whole lot more entertaining! 

Even though going out to eat is super cheap, we try to limit that to once or twice a week. We learned the hard way that a carb-based diet (noodles, rice, etc.) leaves you drained with no energy and makes Tim lose weight like crazy! For this reason, I cook just as much as I did before. One big difference is that produce doesn't last nearly as long, so I have to shop three times per week. I have thrown more chicken away because it has “gone bad” in matter of a couple days! We could shop at big grocery stores, but I prefer the outdoor markets. 

Every Saturday morning, Tim and I go to a market close to our home to buy groceries for the next few days and every week we see some pretty interesting stuff.

Like turtles and frogs (to eat, not for pets):

Or this pork stand with a pig staring at you ... creepy. 

Or how about a live duck? 

So some of the stuff we see at the market is not so awesome, but we have formed relationships with some of the stands like our egg lady. 

Our meat lady

Our vegetable lady. 

You can also buy things like beans, oats, flours, nuts and rice

Different kinds of tofu

and a bunch of seasonings. 

So yes, I do miss the conveniences of Costco, but this is a whole lot more interesting!