Living in an overseas military community definitely has its perks when it comes to keeping in touch with things you miss from home. Even if “home” has been Berkeley, New York City, Seattle, Silver Spring (MD) and Virginia Beach.
Civilian expats either go without their favorite American brands or pay international shipping or higher prices on imports on the important things. Such as Ben and Jerry’s.
We have a very small Navy Exchange that carries a small variety of American groceries, mainly items that are best-sellers on military bases. On the downside this means that we have the largest beef jerky selection in Singapore — thanks a lot, sailors! — but it can be months before chocolate chips are back in stock. Still, many items can be shipped at U.S. domestic postage rates to our Fleet Post Office (FPO) box. I love mail order.
Sadly, a few things cannot be shipped overseas. Wild salmon from Seattle, cheesecakes from Junior’s in Brooklyn, bagels from H&H in Manhattan. But bagels do exist in Singapore and they’re quite good. There is only one bagel bakery — New York City Bagel Factory (of Singapore) — and they deliver bagels to the grocery stores and Starbucks, which then charges double the price.
For my birthday, Elysia arranged to have a dozen bagels delivered for breakfast in bed. Unfortunately their delivery service is not quite ready for prime time. They didn’t check the email in time, then were unavailable by phone the next day, and when they finally delivered the bagels they forgot the cream cheese.
Now you know why the sad tales of military families often remain untold. It is just too heartbreaking, especially for, you know, the children.
Of course I am kidding but on the other hand, while Citrus occasionally says that she misses her friends from Washington DC or wonders how our car is doing in long-term storage, she was in tears when the bagels did not arrive (“My favorite thing in the world.”) It is the deepest sorrow she has expressed when it comes to being homesick. And then, of course, when she had a bagel in hand all she did was lick off the cream cheese.
[The bagel in the photo is the garlic bagel I had for a snack. Very tasty!]
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
How did I not know that H&H delivered?
I can relate to C’s heartache at not getting those bagels.
I see a gelato/bagel/chocolate chip stand in your future!
(even if the gelato does melt… at least C. will be there for it!)
They have ice cream stores here but they don’t seem to be as popular as ice cream is in other countries, such as Slovenia, where I think it is the national dish. Still, there’s Swensen’s, Ben and Jerry’s and McDonald’s cones. I’m surprised cones are not more popular here given the heat but on the other hand, it’s amazing how fast a cone melts. A race against time. Also, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s is about US$6.50. When we moved here our favorite ice cream shop in Silver Spring (York Castle Tropical Ice Cream) tried to convince me to open up one of their stores in Singapore. It seemed a bit risky not having been to Singapore yet…
Too bad… if you sold bagels and ice cream I’d be there in a heartbeat.
By the way, H&H misspells bagels on their website–on one of the pages it is bagles. Should I tell them? Or let it slide?
One more thought–instead of waffle cones, what about bagel cones?
(I am clearly obsessed with bagels–haven’t had one in over two years…)