Why I Love Amazon

The other day I was on Amazon, about to order a DVD for the girls. When I pressed on the DVD, Amazon bots very helpfully informed me "You purchased this item on April 4, 2010".

What?

Thanks! I would have never remembered that on my own! (Now, where is that DVD?)

Another reason why Amazon is cool in my book:

I'm a valued customer! They will refund me without my having to actually return the item! What's not to love?

You Get What You Get

Having lived here for over two years now, I am getting wise to how to effectively grocery shop on the island. I arm myself with a list, but am fully aware that it serves only as a very loose guide, and tend to repeat a preschool mantra as I go through the aisles: "You get what you get, and you don't get upset".

Alas, living on an island where almost everything is imported, I've become accustomed to not finding something that I really really want, even if that same item was spotted just last week. When the stock runs out and there has not been a re-stock since (most often for weather reasons, but occasionally due to airline strikes too - thank you Air France), the place on the shelf just remains empty until the next shipment. In fact, I've ditched planning meals until I've done the shopping and seen what I've been able to buy.

The place where I am most disappointed the most often is the produce aisle. Fruits and vegetables often look ... less than edible, like they have been sitting there a long time, and often they have been. Vegetables that are most reliable here seems to be romaine lettuce and cauliflowers, but even with those I've been disappointed. Good looking fruits are hard to find and when you do, they are inevitably quite expensive. For Hana, this means little because she, as a matter of principle that only she understands, avoids all fruits like the plague. Manolee, however, is always eyeing blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and when I do find good looking fresh fruit, I do indulge her. 

The other thing I've had to do here is going to several supermarkets to find specific things. For example, the "US Market" carries 99% French products and I go there for certain cheeses, yogurt products and certain French snacks. The Grand Marche in Cole Bay carries the little yakult drinks that Manolee loves, but the other Grand Marches on the island do not. The one on Bush Road carries S&B curry packs and 2kg packages of sushi rice, while the other ones do not. Of course, none of this is consistent, so I find myself sometimes trekking out to Bush Road for something only to find the place on the shelf empty... well, you get what you get and you don't get... upset. Things could be a lot worse. In fact, I love being able to buy American, French and Dutch goods. I buy Kepcap Manis in the Dutch/Indonesian condiment section and Chiu Chow Chili Oil in the Asian condiment section and cornichons in the French condiment section.

I've been told that St Maarten/ St Martin is really modern and well-supplied, compared to other Caribbean destinations, and that is why a lot of the super yachts choose to stay on the island during the winter months. Indeed, in high season you see multiple yacht crews (they all wear white t-shirts emblazoned with the yacht names) clutching clipboards with their shopping lists, filling up multiple shopping carts way up high. Among the items I've spied on such carts more than once: tubs and tubs of mascarpone (tiramisu, anyone?), boxes and boxes of "Apericubes" cheeses, dozen bottles of champagnes, and an entire case of Febreze (!).