Discount Groceries

Apart from hovering over the bulk foods sections of grocery stores, I have a hard time remembering what I ate in my daily life in in the States.  Surely it must have been more than yogurt, muesli and mixed nuts.  Perhaps it's the cheapness of produce in America that has made me forget several food groups that were more available.  Ahh, the times when an apple was less than $2, maybe even less than 50 cents.  It's funny how new places will bring in new habits, almost without notice.  I eat a lot of kiwis now, and this evening I just ventured my first persimmon.  I also eat a lot more fresh fish and soba noodles; seaweed, sesame seeds, and soy sauce accent salads, soups and entrees, alike.  And I've taken to trying something new at every grocery excursion.  For lunch today I had a green goo sauce over my broccoli and soba noodles.  It was delicious, this green goo.  I have no idea what it was but it came from a packet, from a box, from the discount section of the grocery store- why didn't anyone else want it?  Same deal with, "Let's make dessert with milk."

"Let's make dessert with milk!"

I'm becoming experienced with discount days and discount hours.  In addition to practicing Japanese, I'm hoping to one day become a virtuoso grocery store shopper.  At the Coop across the street they ritually mark down sushi and some fish 50% at 7:50pm.  There's a rush of gaijin (foreigners) and elderly Japanese people around this time, as we compete for the cheapest and best selections.  We hover over the open fridge in a social gray zone of self-interest and communal respect:  who will make the first move?  On Mondays, the Kansai Super grocery store is 10% off and includes lots of children and bumper carts.  I've also noticed that at some point eggs are marked down by 50% but I haven't detected the pattern (I'm confident that one exists).   And, though small, there's always a rack of discount produce.  There are certain days at the Coop where you get more points for shopping which then (theoretically...) translate to coupons in the mail.  But then these days are usually scant of the day-end unwanted sushi and fish markdowns.

So one just has to learn to play the cards and keep eyes open.  Today I noticed that broccoli was 50% off before the Japanese woman next to me.  Sometimes it's better not to be able to understand all the extraneous information surrounding the important stuff.  Even if I don't read Japanese, I can still see a bargain.  And even though I might ending up getting something a little questionable, something that no one else seems to want, the experience is usually worth the yen, and may even prove to be delicious.