As we plan our Summer trip to Thailand and check out the ticket price, I am SO not prepare to spend more than $1,000 per ticket to get there but I digress..
Traveling to Asia might seem like an out of reach for many families due to high cost in ticket. But don’t let that prevent you and your family from enjoying and learning about the East culture. A trip to any Asian grocery store will give you a glimpse and will provide you with a fun day of exploring.
We are very fortunate to have lived in Atlanta where there is a big population of Asians and countless opportunities for us to enjoy Asian cultures without living town.
Every once in a while I take my kids to the Asia/International Supermarket like Super H Mart or Assi Supermarket in town. This mega supermarket sells all things international but mainly focuses on Asian.
Our first stop has always been the food court within the market itself. This is a great place for you to try out different food without breaking the bank. I have been craving Korean food – Kimchi Fried Rice for a while. So I was so pleased to taste it in the hot stone bowl.
I ordered Ramyeon – Korean Instant Noodle soup for Miss J. Yeah.. It’s something we can probably make it at home but where else can I serve it up in this cool hot pot for her.
Environment sure does help encourage kids to try new thing. Even though, my kids are 100% Asian (Thai and Filipino). They still don’t know how to use chopsticks nor do we use it on a regular basis. I was so proud to see her eating her noodle with chopsticks and she seemed to have a lot of fun with it.
After the meal, it’s the fun part. The walk around the store is my favorite part and my most dangerous part. I tend to grab everything I can find. Japanese rice cake in multi-color looks too good to pass up. The mochi ice cream (which I finished it before I could take any pictures) is a different take on ice cream. Thinking of it as rice cake with ice cream filling.. Yum!!!
If Mr. Rojo wasn’t there with us and encouraged (nagged) us to go home, I probably would spend hours and hours there and filled up my grocery cart to the brim.
This is one of the best way for us to introduce our kids to Asian cultures before the big trip. It might not give them the real perspective but it sure will open their eyes to the new things.
Super H Mart and Assi Plaza (Lotte Plaza) has several stores in various states.
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What have ticket prices been like so far?
@Anil: During low season, we can expect to pay around $8-900 per person. Now that my kids are in school, we can only do it during high season (aka Summer) so we are looking at around $1300-1500 per person or even higher late into the height of Summer.
This is one of my favorite field trips, and like you it is hard not to fill up the basket. I was so happy to find a big Asian market near our new home in Hartford. The fresh food doesn’t compare to what I could get in SF and there isn’t a food court, but next door is a top Vietnamese restaurant. I think I may have to head over and look for Mochi today.
@Meg: I could relate. I moved from a city that don’t have a large Asian population. So now I’m in love with all the choices I have here. :)
I am fortunate to live in a place with many, many choices to go for Asian food. Even our Safeway store has a sushi chef (I know, so California), but we picked some up for dinner tonight (with some instant Miso soup). My son loves to try all kinds of food, so he gobbles pretty much anything up.
Oh, and btw I finally learned to use chopsticks (it was my New Year’s resolution last year).
@Carolina: The West coast definitely gets the best of the choices for sure. :) I picked up a training chopsticks for my kids and I think they do sell adult size. ;)
What a refreshing idea. The Bay Area (CA) has plenty of Asian and ethnic neighborhoods and I should do a better job of exposing them to the stores and supermarkets. Seems like a perfectly fun and educational experience for the child to walk about trying new things. Thanks Amy!
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