Lee Lee's

You never know when you're gonna need a fresh packet of Telephone Brand Agar-Agar Powder.

There's an Asian market in the Phoenix area that I have wanted to visit for a long time, but have never made the trip. Today I decided to remedy that. The boys and I loaded up and visited Lee Lee's.

I had been warned that the smell of raw fish would assault me upon entering the store, so I wasn't surprised by that.

What I was surprised by were all of the different foods from countries other than say Korea or China.

I was definitely out of my element as I entered the first row. I congratulated myself on finding the rice noodles until I looked down the row and realized it was an entire aisle of rice noodles. Yikes! I asked a fellow shopper for help, but she didn't speak English all that well. The front of the store is different varities of rice in 20+ pound bags. (Jess, you would've LOVED this place!)

The produce was interesting too. Here you see Daikon and next to it is Korean Daikon. Let's be honest, I hate it when my recipe calls specifically for Korean Daikon and the market only has regular Daikon. The last item pictured (resembling cucumbers) is called Bitter Melon. Yum! Sometimes you get a good cantaloupe and you think, "Man, this is okay, but if it were bitter--that would rock!"

I didn't recognize most of the produce except for stuff I have actually cooked with. It's funny--these are Lychee. I would think finding canned lychee at all would be a big deal let alone having three different brands of Lychee to choose from.

The whole store was like this. I would find an item that I'd never heard of and there would be several different brands of that item. Who knew?

I walked away with some dark soy sauce--yes, there's a difference, yellow curry, coconut milk, rice noodles, and some frozen mango concentrate. I almost bought a bag of Jasmine rice, but it had no instructions anywhere on it. I assume it cooks the same, but you never know. Had the boys not been with me, I could've really explored, but a stay at home mom takes what she can get.

I drove a couple of miles away and walked into a different world.

MY Idea of Black Friday

So, I didn't get up early to go to all the "doorbuster" sales this morning. I'm sorry, but 4 am? I am up at that time often these days, but it's with a nursing baby, not with piles of merchandise in my hands.
Seriously, why do these stores do this to themselves? I had never participated in these sales before last year. We live across the street from a Kohl's and they had some items I wanted, so I decided to go see what I could get. When I walked in and saw the line of people, I thought that they must be waiting in line for something other than to check out. Surely that was it. Then I walked through the store and the two lines cross each other. What is this?
Needless to say, I shopped for about an hour and waited in line for over three hours. THREE HOURS!!! I am happy to say that one of those items was my Hoover Floormate that cleans my wood floors and saves me a lot of work, but it was still a ridiculous wait for that price.
My idea of Black Friday? Trust me, someone out there is going to read this and someday you'll see something like this soon.
Rules for MY Black Friday:
1. If you show up before 11 in the morning, you pay double for your items.
2. You can choose to peruse through the store for your items, or for a small fee you can have a personal shopper locate all of your items while you kick back and get a pedicure, massage or sip a smoothie (or hot chocolate)!
3. The sale prices remain the same all day and you can get a raincheck if we run out of what you want.
4. You can bring your husband and he can sit in our football/basketball (HUGE flatscreen) relaxation room.
5. Bring your kids too, there's free babysitting!
6. Last, but not least, the sales associates would be friendly and knowledgable. (Okay maybe this one is the most unrealistic of all).
Trust me, this is the store of the future. I'd shop there for sure!

Am I at Wal-Mart or What?

Yesterday, some of my friends and I brought our kids to the Superstition Springs mall to let them run wild at the play area. It was great because none of the too big to really be playing there kids were there. I also have to provide one side comment and say that the whole day was sooo worth it to me because Owen slept for an hour after we got home!!!! No lie.

After the playing was through, we all ate lunch in the food court and went our separate ways. I was parked in front of Sears and began cruising through to get to the car. Well, I have been wanting to get some new t-shirts, so I stopped and picked some out to try on. After the try-on session, I went out to find a cashier and buy the shirts. I saw a big line at one register and decided I'd try a different part of the store because Owen does not do well just sitting in his stroller. I began walking through the ENTIRE store and could locate only one other cashier whose line was longer than the first. I decided to head back to the first cashier to find her nowhere in sight! I walked through the entire store again to only see the overloaded cashier.

This is the point where all moms decide if the product in hand is worth the screams and wait. For me, I decided it was. So, I jump in line and when the cashier raises her head I ask her what I'm sure everyone else in line is thinking, "Don't they have anyone else who can help you?" She looks at me and says, "You could try over in the women's section." I told her I had and in fact had walked the entire store and she was my only option.

At this point I think she freaked out a little bit because I'm like the fifth person in line and there are no other Sears employees in sight. She whips out one of those magic phones that magnify your voice to sound like a school principal on the intercom and says, "Cashier to men's. Cashier to men's." So, we all stand in line and wait some more, about five minutes with no one coming. Okay, two customers down and Owen is working up to provide a doozy of a fit. She gets on the magic phone again and repeats said phrase with same, dismal results.

Now, I don't like to think I'm a jerk, but I do like to consider myself a woman of action and assertiveness. I have absolutely had it just like my baby. You know, sometimes I even feel vindication when I'm forced to wait due to poor service and I actually enjoy hearing Owen let out a few extra loud yowls before I comfort him. This was not one of those times. I wanted to go. So, another Sears employees saunters casually past the register and I beckon him over and demand, "I want to speak to a manager." He gets a slightly startled look on his face and says, "What about?" I tell him, "This woman has been trying to help all of us for 10 minutes and has called for help (I didn't tell him on the magic phone) twice and not one single person has come to assist her."

I think he could tell from the sound of my voice that I was through with this situation as much as the baby in the stroller was. He got me a manager in less than 30 seconds, no joke. She comes out and I tell her the situation. She begins apologizing immediately and starts ringing me up.

Oh yeah, in the meantime I actually used my mad Spanish skills to help the lady in front of me. My husband would be so proud!!

What I'm wondering here is what is going on? I realize that Sears isn't up there with some of those other stores for the elite, but am I wrong in expecting some modicum of customer service? I mean, when I go to Wal-Mart, I expect poor customer service and I often get it, but I just have to tell myself, "you shop here for the low prices, you shop here for the low prices--and the free cookies they give at the bakery---if you can find an employee!!!)

You know some of those even pricier stores are where the worst customer service is. American Eagle, the Limited, they consistently give me terrible customer service. Then there's stores on the other end of the spectrum where you feel almost violated by over attentive clerks--Bath and Body Works comes to mind. I mean, do I need a basket in a store that sells lotions? How many bottles of lotion do I need?

I'd write more, but I've got to get to Wal-Mart and be ignored.