A Nesto next door

One of the most thrilling experiences in my early years here was visiting supermarkets and looking up all the "foreign goods" on display. But even to this day I havent found time to explore all the shelves or products, and quickly pick up what I need. 

For smaller everyday buys, the Indian shops and the Carrefour market nearby have served my needs. Almost every residential building in Sharjah has a departmental store or a salon downstairs.  Our building has a salon and a flower shop, which I dont patronise. 

For Indian goods, we patronise Lulu generally. The nearest one is 3 km away, so mostly Lulu visits are made on weekends with Vinod. The Qusais Lulu is a big draw as it is pretty huge and there are restaurants around. Of late, we stop at Salkara restaurant there for a late night meal or tea on Fridays.

Anyway, hereafter I wont need to go to Lulu much as a rival Keralite-owned supermarket chain  opened this Monday 50 m away. Not only can I depend on it for bargain buys and brown rice, the takeaway food available will be a blessing in emergencies. This being a predominantly Arab residential area, good Indian/Malayali restaurants are almost non-existent.

On Day 1 night, me and Mira went to have a look and found the place too crowded for comfort in COVID times.It seemed as if shoppers had come from far and wide to avail the huge discounts, and the long queues at the billing counter was daunting . So we abandoned shopping and came away. On Day 2, I went alone in the morning and bought a few stuff including kappa and beef fry, chicken roll and pastries. It turned out better than the Lulu food, which Vinod occasionally brings when he shops alone. The Punjabi samosas that Ash always asked for are available here too.

Adjacent to my building, a Sharjah Cooperative Society outlet will come up in a year's time. The work has just started, so we will experience more dust and sound. The irritating part is being woken up at 6 am to the sound of earth movers. 

But once it is ready, we will be spoilt for choices.