I decided to visit a South African shop this week. I haven't really felt a desperate need to get to one since arriving in Australia -- no 'I absolutely can't live without...' moments. But this week I was driving past one of the shops that I'd heard lots about and thought that it would be fun to visit and get a few things.
It was really wonderful to see some good ole South African things -- porridges and other cereals, washing or cleaning products, magazines, wine, biltong, of course, sweets, chocolates, biscuits and the list could go on.
I really am still getting used to the price of things here in Australia. It's so difficult when you multiply things by 7 as EVERYTHING seems to be really, really expensive. So while some of the things in the SA shop seemed to cost a lot of money, I found that in comparison to some of the Aus prices they really weren't too expensive at all. In fact, I thought that a couple of the SA products (like toothpaste) were cheaper than the Aus equivalent.
So what did I leave with, and what did it cost (as I remind myself again not to compare prices)?
Biltong and dry wors (of course) $10 each (not sure of the weight, but I think the biltong was just under 200g)
Jolly Jammers biscuits 3 boxes for $7 (they were on special and quite a lot more if bought individually)
Kreemy meel porridge $5
Chocolate log $2 (which I really really savoured)
Sunlight soap $1.80 (this was a big bar of soap to use for hand washing -- asking at a supermarket for soap for handwashing soon after I arrived, I got a really funny look, as if to say 'who washes anything by hand?! And there was only one box or pure soap flakes that was suitable for hand washing.)
Fizz pops 30c each
Mrs Balls chutney $5
Talking about food, I've found it really strange that when I do find some of the same products here, they don't taste the same. Chocolate Nesquik made by Nestle definitely doesn't have the same taste (I've eaten enough on ice cream to know), and the Milo container looks the same but the texture is different. Also they do have Bovril in the shops (made by Unilever in the UK) but it's a vegetable extract (and suitable for vegetarians even), whereas in SA ours was a beef and vegetable extract. They taste pretty similar though, and the kids haven't noticed that I've started to use the local version!
1 comment:
Visiting the SA shops is always so much fun and we normally leave having spent a fortune....cross and blackwell tangy mayo is a must have as the stuff here is just aweful and I ALWAYS treat myself to a can of real fanta orange or a sparberry.....mmmmmmmm....I do agree with you about things tasting different, prob has to do with the sugar content you are allowed to use in EU countries....SA jelly is not even allowed to be brought in here it has so many illegal e-colours in it.
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