Let's do Asian groceries

Yesterday was Maulidur Rasul day. Prophet Muhammad SAW birthday. Well, there was a ceremony held at Fort Collins Islamic Center buy we did not join them. Why? Because we don't want to. You will be surrounded by Arabs and you will feel like alien because they will only talk to themselves. OK, so we went to Post Office at Boardwalk Drive because I had received a note which I did not understand. It turned out that the postman had paid 17 cents to a mail sent to me with insufficient stamp. You know what, the Americans can do their passport at the post office. How convenient!

Anyways, we went straight to Aurora because I really wanted to find the Zaytoon International Market. We got lost on the last attempt which I found out later that I had mistakenly mark the place on my map at the wrong location. It was very far and I started to feel that it was not worth it. We found the place eventually and I was very glad indeed. The owner has greeted me with "Assalamualaykum, sister and how are you doing?" when I opened up the door. She was a very sweet looking lady and there were several young Arabs having lunch on the corner of the store. The store is very clean and the deli offers looks very delicious. I noticed that the prices for sandwiches with fries started from 7.99. I would love to try it but we're just on a very tight budget. If we had lunch there I had calculated that we might spend at least $30 or more and I can't afford it. Not until the next allowance because we're just moved in here and we've been spending a lot of money to start a living. Of course I can always use my salary but I don't want to use it. Anyways, I bought a smoked whitefish for $6.99 and lots of beef from stew style to shanks and ribs. I also bought a box of Maggie Beef Stock in a cube for $5.55. Well, I like this store a lot but it is too far from my place. The owner is a very nice Muslim American lady. Anyhow, I will go there again to try out her food. It looks very inviting.

After that we went to search another store, World Bazaar at Havana Street at the back of Kia Motors Office. The store is owned by an American from Pakistan and it have lots of spices and herbs for curry ingredients. They also sells very huge pots like the one you use for kenduri kahwin. I bought chicken and more meats here and it is halal too. You can also buy Quran, brooches and scarf from here. They have that too. I bought more Shan's brand spices and garam masala. I like the Shan Korma Curry and I don't mind if you can't have Adabi or Alagappas. This one is good too. It have many types from Masala to White Korma. I use Plain Yogurt instead of Santan and saved on Asam Jawa (tamarind). So, if you're looking for curry powder, I recommend the Shan brand. It's good.

Next stop is of course the Asian groceries. I went to Viet Hoa Supermarket at Alameda Avenue. Wow, from East to West just for the sake of tekak (throat), huh? This store is clean and have varieties of choices from fresh veges to fresh ulam like pegaga and ulam raja. It also have keladi (yam), taugeh, durian, coconut and you named it. The fish looks fresh and nice and they have live frog and frozen snails too! Hello, this is Vietnamese store OK? I bought another stock of kuey tiaw and fresh noodles. We also bought Jasmine rice (50lb pack) for only $22.50. They also have Milo in tin (3.3 lb) for $10.80. I loves this store and it's very similar to Pacific Ocean Market at Broomfield but I prefer Viet Hoa better. So, this will be my favorite store from now on.