The Little Things

Yesterday, I finally purchased a rice cooker. Small feat, you might say, but for me a very big deal. Having a rice cooker means that I will finally have more control over what I eat. And being a rice cooker recipe kinda gal, I know how to make more than just plain white rice, I can prepare full one-pot meals in my rice cooker. I'm talking arroz con pollo (anyone wanna send me some Sazon, for some reason I can't seem to find it anywhere), spaghetti (didn't see that coming, did ya?), rice pudding (turned out GREAT), and anything else that strikes my imagination, or google helps me locate. Be sure to let me know if you have any ideas.
And so, I was in Carrefour today, picking up some sugar, milk and a few other items, when I went to get some dish washing liquid. The last time I purchased dish washing liquid was in Sept., and I looked at the prices not the bottles. Today, however, I looked at the bottles (and then the prices). My choices? Papaya. That's a new one. Garlic. Yup, just what I want my dishes to smell like. Aloe. Must be good for the hands. Onion. Oh, that one screams fresh and clean. Ginger. Ginger was the overwhelming favorite, it appeared that ginger was the staple of dish washing liquids. I found myself wondering, "where is the regular dish washing liquid." Then I remembered. In China, this is the regular dish washing liquid. Finally, I found lime and apple. After a quick sniff, I picked the apple.
On my way up the escalator, well actually, it is a moving walkway like the ones at the airport, on an incline so you can push you trolley/cart on to it. So on my way up, I realized that every person going down was staring at me. Every one. Not just looked, not merely noticed, down right stared. I would look away and watch them out of the corner of my eye, look down, turn around and look in the opposite direction - no matter what, I always had at least 8 pairs of eyes on me. This is not uncommon, but today it felt a little extreme. So, I did like any good celebrity, I smiled and waved to my fans. I'm sure they loved it.
I tried to find vanilla essence, to no avail. But, I did discover that Carrefour carries at least 15 brands of soy sauce, and 10 of sesame oil. Not just types, but brands. I also came across spicy duck necks snack packs, with a very clear photo on the front, and English writing for extra measure. While looking for raisins, I discovered sunflower seeds and pistachios, but no raisins. And when getting chocolate milk (juice box size), I found strawberry milk tea, with a black girl on the front too. I'll go back and take a photo. My favorite find was the packs of MSG I noticed next to the salt and sugar. Ah, good old MSG. Nothing beats the dish washing liquid though. Ginger. Must make the dishes sparkle.
Here's the promised photo: