Grocery stores as a tourist attraction?

              Think about it.  Have you ever walked around your local supermarket and stopped at the ”international food” section, looking at all the different uses for rice or the cool/odd/disgusting/unpronounceable sauces on offer?  It’s fun, right?  Or at the very least, interesting.  Possibly even enlightening.    Multiply that by fifty and you get why I always try to swing by a grocery store in every country I’m in.   

             Doing  a bit of your own cooking (and by “cooking” I mean mainly buying bread and meat and making sandwiches or pouring your own bowl of cereal, unless you have a kitchenette) is always a great way to save money.  Even if it’s just snacks, bringing your own granola bar and water bottle can easily save you $5-$10 a day, depending on your destination and appetite.   That’s valuable souvenir money!  So while you’re at the grocery, you might as well take a few minutes to walk the aisles and see what culinary treasures you can unearth.  You never know if that brand of beer you had once ten years ago and could never find again is hiding around the corner, or if the chili lime chicken bouillon you find in aisle four is going to become the centerpiece for your new signature dish back home.  And when someone asks you where you got it, you can be all mysterious and say “it’s imported.”

           When in London, I’m all about finding the cool flavours of crisps.   We have your standard salt and vinegar, ketchup and nacho cheese in Canada, they have roasted lamb and mint, chargrilled steak, pickled onion, seafood mayonnaise, crispy duck in hoisin sauce, turkey with paxo sage and onion… if you can braise, boil or bake it, they probably have chips to match.  Southeast Asia is also good for this, though they have substantially more seafood options and their packaging usually involves more google-eyed animated characters.  One of my coworkers in Spain said the prawn cocktail is great, though I’ll have to take their word for it.  On one trip I actually kept a list, and found no less than 25 different flavours in one country in the space of a week.  Think I tried two of them.  And these flavours are, for the most part, incredibly accurate.  The chargrilled steak I tried smelled like nothing, but once on the tongue, you were just looking for the side of mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.

            I’m always drawn to snack-type foods, like chips, gum (oooh, there’s this applemint Dentyne in Thailand I loved so much I brought like 10 packs home with me) and candy, mainly because they’re cheap and small, so you can try something really experimental and, if it’s totally revolting, you can throw it out and you’re only out a buck.  Meat always intimidates me (especially since you can’t always read the label), but one day I’ll have a place with a stove in some far-flung destination and I’ll go for it.  It’s all about embracing the local culture.  In Singapore this past march we discovered pea cheezies (for lack of a better comparison).  They were made entirely of peas, green and shaped like a pod,  but puffed up, deep fried and lightly salted to the cheezie consistency.   Sounds strange on paper (hell, it looked strange in the bag, too, that’s why I bought it), but these were surprisingly good.   In Costa Rica, tamarind drink, once you get past it’s industrial-waste brown colour, is incredibly sweet and yummy.  I got all excited here when, on a day trip across the boarder to Seattle, I found some Tamarind Kool-Aid, but when I tried it back home it tasted kind of like cardboard.  Total let down.  Oh well, it’s a reason to go back to Costa Rica! 

            Also in Costa Rica I discovered my beloved coco pops (there is not a breakfast buffet worldwide that doesn’t have coco pops) are endorsed there by a space elephant named Melvin.  That was just funny.

            International grocery shopping can be a fun thing to do if you’re traveling with kids, too.  While you’re picking up the necessities, you can challenge young Jimmy to find the craziest looking fish in the seafood department or weirdest-sounding product name (this one can be particularly fun if you can’t speak the language).  Kids usually seem to gravitate to the gross, or what they think is gross, anyway, and this is where the cheaper options like candy come in handy.  Treat them to one small thing, but make it the grossest they can find, and hear the giggles start.  This can also be done locally, just check out the various ethnic food stores around your area and keep the kids entertained on a rainy afternoon.

          For me, I think this all stems back to my Grandparent’s travels when I was a little kid.  When they’d come back from driving across the US or touring Europe they’d bring me something we couldn’t get in Canada, like Barbie breakfast cereal, or Swiss cow-shaped chocolate, so now I always want to see what other surprises the world has to offer.  This can also be a good way to buy a gift for that impossible-to-shop-for person on your list.  Nobody ever turns down food, especially if it was brought into the country especially for them and you know it’s something they’ll like.  The one exception to this was when my BF got a bag of dried bean and anchovy trail mix from Hong Kong.  It’s been months and that’s still sitting unopened on his desk, but I can’t really blame him, the fish are dried whole in there, complete with the little dried heads and eyes.  But still, because we got it at a grocery store as opposed to a souvenir place, the cost was low enough that I don’t give him a hard time about *sniff* rejecting one of my gifts.

            Ever found anything spectacular/weird/memorable in the food aisle when on vacation?  Let me know.  But if not, try spending an hour of your next vacation at the supermercado and see how much culinary trouble you can get into!

Tags: Asia, BlogSherpa, budget, chips, coco pops, cooking, Costa Rica, Food, grocery stores, Hong Kong, kids, London, odd, souvenirs, Spain, tamarind

Disneyland smackdown – California v. Paris v. Hong Kong

           Yep, I’m a dork.  Let’s just get that out of the way right off the bat.  I unabashedly love Disneyland, have been more times than I care to admit - and counting.  It’s pure fun.  Hell, just hearing the Disney music playing as I wait to enter brings a huge grin to my face.  Through my travels I have been lucky enough to visit parks on 3 continents (Disney World in Florida and Tokyo Disneyland are still on my hit list, but I’m sure it won’t be too long before I have them chalked off, too.  I’ll keep you posted) and am qualified to compare them head to head in this, my first Disneyland Smackdown.  

           For the purposes of this smackdown, I’m going to stick with just the “Disneyland” and not include the California Adventure or MGM Studios Paris, as they are  each so unique, and would put Hong Kong, a place with only one park, at a disadvantage right off the bat.  Also, I’m going to focus more on the differences between them than the similarities.  This is because, to have the “Disneyland” title, there has to be a huge amount of similarities to keep the Mousketeers happy.  If the formula ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?  Every park has a Main Street, Tomorrowland,  Fantasyland, etc. and honestly, if you need a bathroom on Main Street, they’re in the same place in all three countries.  And so it begins…

          The first major difference any guest would notice is the Castle.  It’s smack in front of you and will undoubtedly require a photo stop at least once in every visit.  In California, the castle was intentionally built smallish and done in pastels as to be friendly and unintimidating to visitors.  In Paris, where the guests are going to be accustomed to insanely large and ornate realcastles in their home countries, the castle is much larger, more gothic in it’s architecture, and bright pink.  Oh, and it has a giant animatronic dragon beneath it.  Hong Kong tried to recreate the cuter California castle, and they did a good job, but it’s small-scale is highlighted by the mountains surrounding the park, making it seem, well, dinky.

           The coolest things to compare are the coasters.  Big Thunder Mountain in California is big and classic with the focus more on the animatronic goat chewing dynamite and bat-filled mines than the speed or the drops.  You just enjoy this ride, it’s not particularly thrilling.  Paris once again took this idea and cranked it up to the extreme.  Their Big Thunder is hands-down my favorite Disneyland ride in any park, as it takes up the entirety of the island in the middle of the Rivers of the Far West, and the start and end involves a dark, fast tunnel right underneath the water before you pop up on the other side. The “danger” factor is upped, too, as if you speed off the rails, you end up in the water.  They have the goat, too.    Hong Kong, unfortunately,  doesn’t have a Big Thunder yet, but I’m sure one’s in the plans somewhere.

                All three parks do have Space Mountains, though.  And all three are thrilling, fast and whip you around crazy turns in the dark.  For years the California one made me dizzy, as so many of the twists were in the same direction, but about five years ago they overhauled it, introducing new ride cars, a better soundtrack and new track configuration.  It made a huge difference in my books, as the dizziness is gone and it’s just a crapload of fun.  This is a great ride people who like the coaster experience without giant drops to contend with.  Hong Kong’s Space Mountain is a close counterpart here too, and the screamometer level is about equal to California, although this one, most likely due to the fact that it’s technology is only a few years old, feels faster and darker.  And then there’s Paris.  I went on this ride expecting it to be as simplistic (for lack of a better word) as the other two.  In hindsight, the over-the-head locking seatbelt should have tipped me off, but it didn’t.  This ride really goes up the screamometer right from the start, where they actually shoot you out of a cannon on the roof, going from zero to feaking fast in seconds.  Inside there’s also a full 360 loop and a corkscrew.  The intensity caught me so off guard that I bruised both knees bracing them on the back of the seat in front of me!  Once I knew what this ride was like, it’s great (still no big drops.  I don’t do big drops), but if you’re unprepared, look out :) 

           It’s a Small World (come on, you knew it was coming) is so synonamous with Disneyland that all three parks feature one.  You either love it or hate it, but everyone rides it.  Hong Kong was the first to deviate from the Small World mold, mixing animatronic characters from Disney movies (Aladdin riding his carpet in the middle east, Lilo and Stitch surfing in Hawaii, etc) with the ubiquitous singing dolls.  As someone raised on IASM(my mobile played the music when I was an  infant, no joke) I was worried this would detract from the simple joy of this ride, but it surprised me by being very seamlessly integrated into the classic format.  Now it’s kind of a “spot the movie characters” game as you go.  Especially great for the little ones.  As recently as June 09, California took a page from Hong Kong’s book and debuted their own new IASM, complete with the ”hidden” characters.  Paris, as of writing this, was still using the classic format.

           Naturally, the language is going to be different from country to country, but the Disney people do a great job of putting signage in multiple languages, and what isn’t translated is accompanied by pictograms to remove any confusion.  There is something that makes me giggle uncontrollably at hearing the PeeWee Herman voice of the robot in Star Tours entirely in French, though.  The Jungle Cruise in Hong Kong found a simple solution to the language issue by just running boats in Mandarin, Cantonese and English simultaneously.  All you have to do is make sure you get into the right line and you’re golden.

           Food is an essential part of any theme park experience, and, coming at it with a very westernized palette, I found this aspect a ton of fun overseas.  Sure, all three parks have the standards: hot dogs, burgers, fries, Mickey-shaped ice cream bars, etc. but the regional specialties make this interesting.  Hong Kong, for example, sells fish balls and Korean squid on a stick at the street carts right along with the hot dogs.  The Plaza Inn here sells wonderful Dim Sum meant to be shared in a lantern-lit restaurant.  Paris has frog’s legs and sells alcohol pretty much everywhere, so you can wander around with your wine and frog’s legs to your heart’s content. 

              In conclusion, the castle is bigger and the rides are more intense in Paris;  Hong Kong is smaller and newer with more of a focus on regional food and the smaller family-friendly rides;  And California is the original, so nothing can compete with that.  Plus, due to their age, they have the most rides per square foot.  But despite all their differences, Disneyland is still Disneyland, regardless of what country you’re in.  If you have kids or just like feeling like one, it will always be worth the price of admission.

Tags: BlogSherpa, California, China, Disney Specialist, disneyland and anaheim, France, Hong Kong, memories, Paris, roller coasters, theme park, USA

Hong Kong highlight: Ocean Park

               They rose like bubbles over the South China Sea, floating through the mist before disappearing behind the mountain.  I knew they were safe, transporting millions of visitors from the Lowlands section of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park up to the Headlands every year, but the gondolas just looked so fragile, clinging to the rock faces and rocking in the wind.  Once inside, though, the incredible view of Repulse Bay made this simple people-mover the best ride in the park.

I had to wonder what was it about this near-vertical chunk of rock that made the builders think it would be the perfect place for a theme park?  At first glance the topography didn’t seem suited to anything except mountain goats.  But it makes for a surprise around every corner, as you can’t see how high that roller coaster/how big that aquarium really is until you’re actually there.

The reason we had come to Ocean Park was so my Panda-obsessed friend could gawk to her heart’s content at four of the big, furry beauties, two of which had just arrived from mainland China, gifts celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return from English rule.  Normally solitary animals, the two newcomers were in the same enclosure and it was so cute to watch them sitting together, playfully fighting over the choice bamboo, their little black Shrek-like ears wiggling with every chew.

Another highlight was the Sea Jelly Spectacular, so popular with the locals that its lineup was just as long as the roller coaster’s.  The pitch-darkness, combined with  coloured neon lights and floor to ceiling mirrors gave the aquarium a “carnival fun house” atmosphere.  You practically have to feel your way through, and the strategically-placed mirrors made it look like there were hundreds of jellies (some more than six feet long) completely surrounding you.  They weren’t kidding about the “spectacular” part!

Part amusement park, part zoo, part aquarium, and all with incredible views, Ocean Park is not your typical theme park.  When you want to escape the hustle and bustle of this chaotic and congested city, all you have to do is climb into your bubble and let it transport you away.      

 - As originally published in the Vancouver Province

Tags: BlogSherpa, China, gondolas, Hong Kong, jellyfish, Ocean Park, pandas, published, theme parks