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Is fried mantou a thing there? I've seen that in Singapore...

I've seen this in a few places in Indonesia also - but always in places that are serving foreigners, almost exclusively - like dive resorts whose clientele is mainly European or Australian (and the odd American or two). Otherwise there's nothing resembling bread at all. Unless, of course, you're in a cafe or higher class hotel in Jakarta, in which case all bets are off. It could be just like a French boulangerie in those places!

So many nice people here on eG , eh ? F.D.: I use the ' eh ? ' out of great respect for our friends N of the B .

I had no idea that "9v battery" might be a flavor to humans. This comic strip showed AI's loving it - but, well, they're robots. 🙂 I'll leave the battery tasting, on chips or off, to other people.

I would commit atrocities to have a supermarket like the first post near me.

Get well soon! ❤️

Like slice of toast with your breakfast? You could use your phone translation app to ask for toast in a restaurant. You won’t get it though unless you are in a hotel breakfast room or restaurant catering to foreigners. All the translation apps translate toast as 土司 (tǔ sī). This, as you can see, is a sound-alike loanword from the English toast. Except it doesn’t mean toast at all. It is what linguists call ‘a false friend’. Sort of like when French learners guess ‘travail’ means ‘travel’, when it means ‘work’. It simple means 'sliced bread'. Some joker saw sliced bread and assumed it was that mysterious thing he’d heard of but never seen – toast. Misnamed it and it stuck. So, that's what you’ll get. Dreadful, low-quality blotting paper slices of CWP ‘bread’. Often sweet, too. 土司 (tǔ sī) - 'toast'? Here’s a tip. Instead of asking for 土司 (tǔ sī), try asking for 烤面包 (kǎo miàn bāo) . This is a more accurate translation and translates as ‘broiled / grilled bread’. However they will in 99% of cases take some of the blotting paper and broil that then serve it cold.

Chicken noodle with dumplings soup.

I’ve said this before and I’ll likely say it again because it bugs me. If you are coming to China for any reason and are partial to the occasional sandwich, unless you are in Beijing or Shanghai, you will be out of luck. Most Chinese don’t know what bread is, They think they do but are very mistaken. What passes for bread here is 99% of the time cake. Bread shaped cake. Breadalike. China’s breads are almost all steamed rather than baked. So I’d like to introduce you to some of what I can buy anywhere but never do (and a few exceptions). I’ll start with 馒头 (mán tou), probably the most common. This is a steamed roll made from the same dough as 包子 (bāo zi), bao buns, but unfilled and often sweetened with sugar. Occasionally, they are coloured using vegetable (or artificial) dyes. depending on what colouring agent is used, these may or mat not taste any different from the plain ones. Images from Meituan online shopping app,

It only worked with this type of battery as you needed to lick both terminals together. It was done to test if the battery still had a charge or not. If it was fully charged you got an uncomfortable 9-volt shock; if dead, nothing. Your saliva completed the circuit. It wasn't that unpleasant but I sure wouldn't want to be eating 9-volt chips.

It sure looks small. Would your bread pans fit? Can it roast a 5lb chicken?

It's no bother.

I didn't know about Whippets before! Weird, I checked the box on these things and 2 of them said "Made in Canada". I was so ashamed. Hahahahahaha 🙂 Edited to add: I did know about Whippets, my brother (as a kid) loved them and I thought they were disgusting. But when you said the raspberry splotch, it reminded me!!!!!

Whippet - the Canadian version of the Mallowmar - my favourite had the raspberry splotch.

The Whippet looks like a Mallowmar... I used to love those as a kid.... but not in pink! https://www.snackworks.com/brands/mallomars/

I hate to trouble you to do that. I checked using my UPS portal (through work) and all they asked was where it was being shipped from - they didn't care where it was originally manufactured. According to my UPS portal, they said that at a value of $300, it was considered "duty type: 09, low value" and had no duty applied.

If @KennethT would like, i can call Customs Monday to find out what the duty, if any, would be.

The tariff rules have been changing by the week here lately. A month ago, China had over a 100% duty, now it's like 30%. As far as I know, the tariff has been converted since it was already imported into Canada. So the origin is now Canada - it shouldn't matter where it was originally made - it is being shipped from Canada to the US. When I used my UPS portal, they just wanted to know where it was shipping from to calculate duty, they didn't ask where it was actually made. And my UPS portal told me that (when using a cost of $300) that there was no duty as it had too low of a value. The only time it matters where it was made is if it isn't actually being imported into Canada yet - if it's being shipped to the US via Canada, but doesn't stop and go through customs in Canada and actually enter Canada. But if it's being purchased in a Canadian store, then it has been converted, so the country of origin would be Canada, as far as I know.

It is made in China.

I tried China just to see what it said and it gave me a big warning that pre-manufactured products imported to the US but made in China may be subject to very high tariffs and I should consider using Canada Post. But I think the same tariffs could apply, they would just be charged after rather than upfront, maybe? Using Vietnam gave no such warning. 🙂

I very much doubt if it would include residential pick-up. And even drop off is not that easy in our little town, no real UPS office only a drop-off at The Laundry (laundromat, ha). And they have very limited hours. And from prior experience, they never answer their phone! Those were 'quick quote' rates up above. If I want the actual final quote I have to complete some Customs/Export information, including where the oven was manufactured. @ElsieD, do you see that info anywhere because I am not seeing it online! 🙂 And that's the other concern, @KennethT - customs, duty, tariffs, etc. No idea of what would happen with that. 😒

Ewww to the Barbie food and licking a battery? Who does that? and why?

Holy cow!!! That netParcel gets a much better discount than I can get! Are those prices (not including #1 which is drop-off only) including pickup from you?

I checked netParcel, which is kind of a shipping brokerage site I have used a couple of times. It gave me these options. If it's correct, shipping amounts are similar to what @ElsieD found, even from here in BC! (There were a bunch of other options but the price increases rather rapidly on them!) They list the regular price and the discounted online price both. Service Business Days Retail Price Your Price 1 Ground U.S. Drop-off Only 6 days $254.01 CAD $84.41 Select 2 Standard 6 days CAD $234.99 CAD $90.55 Select 3 Worldwide Expedited 3 days CAD $472.53 CAD $105.85 Select 4 Three-Day Select 4 days CAD $415.31 CAD $123.98 Select 5 Expedited Parcel USA 7 days $142.00 CAD $141.00 Select 6 Economy Select 5 days $517.72 CAD $166.19 Select 7 Worldwide Express Saver 2 days CAD $723.83 CAD $177.87 Select 8 Ground 7 days $203.64 CAD $186.91 Select 9 Xpresspost USA 6 days $209.35 CAD $209.02

Yes, shipping from Canada is expensive. Shipping from Vancouver to me in NY would be about US$250 - using dimensions of 25x21x20 and 30 pounds. Because of the size, UPS used the dimensional weight rather than the um, weight weight.