It’s a monthsary!

We’ve been in USA for exactly one month now!

I’ve experienced many things in this one month, and they’re probably too many to recount, but I’ll write down the more memorable ones, both good and bad.

#1: Milk

I love milk and have a huge tolerance for the different types of milk, if I do say so myself. Dried powdered milk? No problem. I can even eat it dry because I actually like the taste!

But THIS.

Just.
WHAT. IS. THIS.

This is not milk.

This is water cosplaying as milk.

Seriously, why sell this?! Does anyone even drink this? WHY???

I bought it only because I thought it was milk with reduced fat. I buy that all the time in Japan and it tastes almost the same as full cream milk! Who knew I’d be tricked like that?!

That, and because on the other milk offerings, numbers that didn’t make sense like “2%”, “1%” were jumping out at me so I just grabbed this.

I’ve since been educated on the difference between the different milk choices. Of course, not after being given pitying looks of having bought this monstrosity…

#2: Yoghurt

All we were looking for was some normal yoghurt. For some reason, I recognized the Yoplait brand so we got a pack of 8.

Good god. I don’t believe I’ve ever tasted such bad yoghurt in my life. I’m not sure I can even call it yoghurt.

This was bought on the same trip as the “milk” above, so you can imagine how annoyed and flabbergasted I was!

Honestly, I don’t even remember if the yoghurt pictured was this one that we bought, because I was so disgusted I threw it out without even taking a photo.

But if it is the same, I think I see a pattern… fat free = DISASTER.

#3: Cheese

I bought a pack of sliced cheese and was tickled to find that it had… HOLES!!!

Well, tickled after the initial shock that a cockroach or rat ate my cheese had passed.

If you’re wondering, “What the hell, girl? It’s just swiss cheese!” then please understand, it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen holes in my sliced cheese!

Whether in Singapore or Japan, in all my years – and I assure you that it’s a very respectable number – of eating sliced cheese, it’s always cheddar. I’ve never seen sliced swiss cheese! In fact, I didn’t even think that any other kind of sliced cheese apart from cheddar existed!

Ahh, I feel so much wiser now.

Another interesting thing is… why aren’t they individually packaged? Isn’t it unhygienic to have a lump of 14 slices stuck together and having to manhandle the cheese every time?

#4: Eggs

I’m extremely curious about the eggs here.

In Japan, eggs have a eat-by date of about 2 weeks. Maybe the chicken farmers are trying to cheat my money by making me throw out perfectly good eggs at the 2-week mark, but that’s what I’m used to.

When I saw on the carton of eggs that I bought that the sell-by date (not even the eat-by date!) was almost a month later, I was frankly quite disturbed.

Of course, I wouldn’t keep the eggs for that long, but it doesn’t change the fact that my level of discomfort in eating the eggs grows exponentially against the time the eggs sit in the fridge.

As if it weren’t bad enough, I saw this photo earlier in the supermarket:

 

Stays fresher longer

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HOW does it stay fresher longer??? WHAT did they put in it?!

*shudders* So very disturbing.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the egg yokes here are much yellower!  Japan’s is more orangey. IS THAT A BYPRODUCT OF THE “FRESHNESS”?!!!

#5: Cleanliness

I can never hope to understand the concept of cleanliness here. It’s just too confusing and conflicting.

(i) People are never given anything to wipe their hands before a meal, even if they are using their hands to eat! (that will be you, tortilla chips, and you too, tacos)

Yet they wipe down their shopping carts.

(ii) Shoes that are packed with dirt and bacteria collected from all around town are worn all around the house, often even stored with clean clothes! (or so the TV shows tell me)

Yet I saw boxes of disposable socks being placed all around a shoe shop for people to put on before trying out shoes.

(iii) The same laundry basket is used to transport both dirty and freshly-laundered clothes.

Why bother washing the clothes then? -_-

#6: Umbrellas

I have NEVER seen anyone use an umbrella in my one month here.

Apart from myself, that is.

Once, while I was in the elevator, I took out my umbrella and began unfolding it. The lady in the elevator asked, “Oh, is it raining?”

I replied slowly “Uh, no… it’s for the sun… It’s very hot out there.”

There was some awkward laughter and she said that she was born and raised in Texas, gesturing to her freckled face.

At that moment, I understood that umbrellas, if at all used, is for rain. Never for sun.

#7: Weather

In the one month we’ve been here, it has rained a total of ONE TIME.

One!!!

So this is what a drought means.

It’s also the first time we were told that washing cars at home is prohibited lol.

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I feel that one month passed by in the blink of the eye, but Fu said “No, I don’t think so. I know where the time went and what I did.”

Pffffttt. You wanna say? I’m the one that (quite) religiously blogged our entire time here ok!

Anyway, here’s looking forward to the remaining 2 months! :D