One of the best things about my apartment is that it’s above a supermarket called the Co-op Mart. Of course, the Vietnamese pronounce it as one syllable, “Cub” Mart. I absolutely love living above a handy supermarket. Here are the reasons why.
1. Bad Lyrics T-shirts
One of the great things about living in a non-English speaking country is looking out for all the misprints on clothing, the wearer meanwhile blissfully ignorant of the fashion statement they’re making (or not making).
Gotta love the props given to awesome 80’s band “Teaks for Fears” and their supersmash hit “Head Over Hius”. So close, yet so far. Sigh.
And by the way, the shirt was on a mannequin just so you know I didn’t take a closeup of some poor woman’s chest.
2. Bananas of every shade and size
If you’re a banana lover, Vietnam is the place for you. Bananas we’re used to seeing in the West (yellow and big) are just one of the many varieties. Some stay green even after they’re ripe. My favorite are the tiny bananas (Apple Banana in English). The perfect size for a bowl of cornflakes or a yogurt. A big bunch for about USD 0.50.
3. Hot foods
When I don’t feel like cooking (which happens to be about 6 days out of the week), I can just pop down for a meal of rice, vegetables and a main dish (pictured here clockwise is sticky rice with Chinese sausage, combination fried rice and short ribs with pineapple) and a soup for about USD 1. With about 10 rotating meals a day, why bother busting out the pots and pans?
4. Adventurous Foods
Want to put together a dinner party your friends will never forget? Frog legs look downright innocuous next to silkworm larvae. Yes, I know bugs offer more protein bite-for-bite than beef and require much less resources, but ewwww.
5. Seafood
With a coastline of 3260 kilometers, excluding islands, it’s no wonder that Vietnamese love seafood. Shoppers have the option of buying live fish or freshly caught ones.
6. Weird ice cream flavors
Living in a tropical country has its perks. One of my favorite concoctions is coconut ice cream with huge chunks of fresh pineapple. There are a few flavors I haven’t tried, though: Durian Surprise (although the surprise may be how bad durian tastes), Taro Passion (who knew a potato could also be a dessert?) and Delicious Bean.
7. Awesome bath mats
I almost chose this one because it “comfortably makes me feel so good”. Just goes to show: Never underestimate the Power of the Bath Mat.
Another candidate was this one, because I often nibble on my bath mats so “fresh taste” is a prerequisite.
8. Noodle Mania
Yet another reason not to cook. Literally a wall of instant noodles. Everything from Vietnamese “pho” to Thai spicy tom yum to Korean kim chi. If you can boil water, you’ll never go hungry again.
9. Yogurt. A lot of it.
Not to be outdone by the Noodle Wall, your friendly Co-op Mart has a yogurt wall. Domestic and imported, the flavors range from strawberries to corn. Vietnamese also love to drink yogurt, a more liquidy form, somewhere between yogurt and milk.
10. How do you like your rice?
Second only to Thailand as the world’s largest exporter of rice, it makes sense that there should be a plethora of ways to cook it. Shoppers can take their pick of rice cookers. Think Americans are obsessed with coffee makers?
11. What do I get with that?
Vietnamese love their promotions. Unless something’s on sale or comes with a free gift, forget about buying it. My favorite so far has been to buy a box of powdered tea for USD 1.50 and get a free water bottle. Let’s just say I have enough Lipton tea mix to last the next few years…
12. See you in Rio?
Now that Wimbledon and the Olympics are over, I’m going to go into tennis withdrawal. But fear not, I can get my tennis fix while ridding the world of pesky mosquitoes with the bug zapper. With the addition of ridiculous Olympic sports, can bug zapping be very far behind? (Dressage aka horse dancing? Really?) Or if you’re bored enough, you can always use these bug zappers like this.
There you have it. A trip to the local supermarket is never a dull experience.
I’ll leave you with one final image, from the back of a kitchen knife. Shazao! And remember to tone down the wite ball violence.

Haha I love this post! Grocery stores can be so much fun! When I first got to Shanghai, I spent several hours in Carrefour gaping at everything and taking pictures. It inspired my first blog post!
When I come to Vietnam, I’m going to be on the lookout for that awesome t-shirt 🙂
cosmoHalliton recently posted..Fajita Night at Mi Tierra
I should buy a few of them and put them on e-Bay. I think there’s a market for wacky Asian misprints, don’t you?
James recently posted..Saigon Cooking Class – Food As Art
I loved Teaks for Fears, they had great music! And I was looking everywhere for a bathmat that tasted good, can you ship one to me Jimmy? ha ha
I was just thinking last night that because Asians often don’t pronounce final consonant sounds, the spelling “hius” is actually how they’d say it! Why someone can’t bother fact checking on the internet before mass printing is beyond me… Maybe they’re doing it on purpose?
James recently posted..The Birdmen of Saigon
Nice and convenient for you to live above the market. We enjoy those visits to supermarkets on our trips, too! 🙂 It gives us a glimpse of how the locals live. Yeah, we’ve bought a few things we don’t see here in the States….even shirts like those! LOL!
Thanks, Maria! I love the convenience of living above a supermarket. I had to fight myself last night from going down and buying a tub of coconut ice cream. If they ever put a KFC in here, I’d never leave the building…
James recently posted..Vung Tau, Vietnam — How to go to the beach like a local
I love this! Too funny. Glad you’re not a picture perv. You almost lost me on the adventurous foods. But then the bathmat brought me back in. I laugh.
I hope you take the time to peek at my blog when you have a chance.
Thanks, Becca! My writing has also been described as “irreverent” so seeing by your blog, you probably know where I’m coming from! Thanks for reading!
James recently posted..Photo of the Week – Vietnamese Family Meals
Very entertaining read, James. I loved the humor in it. It is true that a trip to the supermarket in HCMC is always an adventure, never boring.
True. I just wish my supermarket trips involved more cheese somehow…
James recently posted..Iconic Saigon – The Caravelle Hotel
Love this one… hilarious!!
Thanks, Ira!
James recently posted..Travel Photo Roulette Awards Show