Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Tudo’s in Pensacola Revisit

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I discovered the Tudo’s (Tudo means “freedom” in Vietnamese, I learned by accident in Wikipedia) in Pensacola has a lunch special. What you see above is just the appetizer, then you have your choice of four entrees to go with it.

Actually, the soup and spring roll is fine for me, an entire lunch. They happily give me a box to take-away the main course which I can warm up on days I have builders in the house and can’t get away. Yummmmmm. And what a great deal. The lunch special is either $5.50 or $4.99, either way, you are getting two meals for that low price – less than 2KD! And so so so delicious. I dream of these salad rolls when I am in Kuwait, far away from any Vietnamese restaurants.

July 26, 2007 Posted by | Cooking, Cross Cultural, Customer Service, Eating Out, ExPat Life, Florida, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Lumix, Photos | 2 Comments

The Lancome Lady

I can get better prices on Lancome products (yep, I am addicted) in Pensacola than I can in Kuwait, Seattle, or even the duty-free, so I stock up while I am here.

On my second trip to the store, not knowing if my stock will last until my next trip to what Mini-R calls PepsiCola, I again bought enough that the saleslady said I could have TWO free sets of the bags and make up samples and I just laughed – like really, how many do I need? How many can I use?

They are always shocked that I would turn down the “free” gift. But packing space and suitcase weight matters more to me than anything free, and also, I hate to waste.

I just laughed.

“What I really need,” I started off, “what would really help me is if you have any small samples I can take with me on the long plane rides, so I can put good cream on my face, not the airplane stuff.”

“Oh! We can do that!” she said, and started opening drawers, pulling things out.

“How about some of this – you bought some of this but here it is in sample form – and this – and you will want to try some of this!” she said triumphantly and handed me about a hundred sample packets.

But she was on a roll.

“And you will need a travel mascara! And how about some suncreen! And you can have some perfume samples, and share them with all your friends!” and a hundred more samples came out of the magical Lancome drawers.

Holy smokes! I can take care of my face, my eyes, and smell good too! Not that I wear perfume in the close confines of an airplane where it could offend the other passengers, but I have a lifetime worth of samples I can use at other times . . .

When I am in Seattle and ask the Lancome ladies for samples, they act very haughty (and I am thinking “excuse me? Who is the customer and who is behind the counter here?”) and usually tell me they don’t give out samples. No wonder I do my Lancome shopping in Pensacola! It’s not just the price, it’s the caring and generous customer service!

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July 26, 2007 Posted by | Customer Service, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Lumix, Photos, Shopping, Women's Issues | 7 Comments

Obesity Contagious

Obesity ‘contagious’, experts say
This report is from BBC Health News.

The study looked at data collected over 32 years
Having a friend, sibling or spouse who is overweight raises a person’s risk of being obese too, US researchers say.

They said data on more than 12,000 people suggested the risk was increased by 57% if a friend was obese, by 40% if a sibling was and 37% if a spouse was.

They argued this showed social factors, such as the body sizes of other people, were important in developing obesity. . . .

“Rather, there is a direct, causal relationship. What appears to be happening is that a person becoming obese most likely causes a change of norms about what counts as an appropriate body size.

“People come to think that it is OK to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads.”

The study was actually about heart disease, and this result was a by-product of the study.

July 26, 2007 Posted by | Diet / Weight Loss, Family Issues, Friends & Friendship, Health Issues, News, Relationships | 2 Comments