Attack! - A tip to the grocery store

Since my RE agent on day one lost track of his schedule and we started later in the day, I took the opportunity in the morning to go to the "supermarket"; there is a Wellcome store right behind my building. It's not quite "super" by American standards but it is quite adequate for what I need right now. My impression is that it is not that common in Taiwan to whole heartedly cook at home. Kitchens are tiny. Some have one burner. Very few have ovens. So you can't quite cook a Thanksgiving feast. Therefore, I don't think there is a need for supermarkets like we have in the states will you will go and buy enough food to cook a meal a day for an entire week. Instead, it may be a combination of street carts, restaurants, and meat and veggies bought at local markets.

If you have never shopped for ramen in Taiwan, you haven't truly shopped for ramen. And, Yes, I mean shop for ramen. Even in a 7-Eleven in Taiwan, there is a daunting volume of ramen to choose from. You can sorta tell from the photo what flavor it is, but sometimes it is more complicated. They actually have ramen that comes with sliced steak in a foil pouch, stable at room temperature. I had it once and it was just a little creepy for me. Even the meatless ramen typically comes with at least 2 packets, one the spices and the second is usually some oil or paste.

After much deliberation, I settled on a few varieties of ramen for a quick meal in the apartment. I have a water boiling pitcher so it is quite fast and convenient. I also grabbed some fresh pineapple (which was awesome), apples, and a yogurt drink. Yogurt based drinks are quite common.

I was also determined to get some laundry detergent as I have a washer/dryer combo device in my room. It washes and dries the clothes in the same device, which looks like a small front loading washer. It was somewhat challenging to decide what to buy as the detergent labels were all in Chinese except one that was called "Attack!" I guess I was a little intimidated by the name and was afraid it would unleash an attack on my clothes so I settled for the Nice brand White and Shine laundry detergent. I haven't opened the bottle yet and have no idea what's inside but I predict, in a couple days, I'll be blogging about my first clothes shopping trip after destroying everything in the washer. I wonder if I should have bought the Attack!.