Sudong Mall 🏬 It's Not Really A Mall 🀫 Paramaribo, Suriname

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@Sreypov and I sat off on a mini-adventure to get some vegetables, snacks, and other dry goods from Sudong Mall here in Paramaribo, Suriname.


πŸ›οΈ Turning Everyday Errands Into Adventures 🚴

Β  Β  Β We left Cambodia 2 years ago in a failed attempt to become world travelers, and now the most adventurous thing we do is ride two-up on the bicycle to a distant supermarket now and then.

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Β  Β  Β Things don't really get poppin' in Paramaribo until about 10:00am, so we left our apartment at 8:00am to avoid the traffic problems that don't exist. We left early mostly to avoid the equatorial afternoon sun.

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Β  Β  Β We passed Clevia Park on the way, a place we have yet to explore because it's not a park in the traditional sense of the word, meaning it's far from free.

😎 Just Smile 🀳

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     It is now I should mention there are occasional caimans 🐊 in the roadside canals of Paramaribo, so it's probably not the best idea to attempt a double-selfie while steering managing the bike with one hand.

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Β  Β  Β As you can see there wasn't a car in sight, but we need both lanes of the road to avoid massive potholes, the worst enemy of two people sharing one bike.

Not Really A Mall At All πŸ™…β€β™‚οΈ

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Β  Β  Β With a few near crashes, we arrived at Sudong Mall which is actually just a supermarket and hardware store under the same roof. However, it is the largest and most well-equipped store within reasonable two-up cycling distance from our apartment.

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Β  Β  Β Immediately @Sreypov Wanted to show the imported apples and oranges, things that are exotic fruits to those of us in the tropics.

Mayonnaise 🀒 Worst Culinary Idea Ever

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Β  Β  Β There are about 7 or 8 aisles of dry goods and a small selection of fresh produce, and you know the Dutch left their mark on this former colony when you view the mayonnaise section of any store. Mayonnaise is the single most disgusting food product ever invented, and it is the kryptonite of many obese white people all around the world.

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Β  Β  Β The local Suriname noodles are called "bamie," but we have never tried them yet because they all contain "kleursel," the Dutch for chemical food coloring. Surinamers really love their noodles to be artificially colored, so we often use Italian spaghetti noodles for Asian dishes, far from ideal.

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Β  Β  Β Stocked up on random goods and down $25.00 USD, we headed back home to make a Hive post so we can earn these lost financial resources back in the form of crypto. On the way we passed some luxury apartments, a lifestyle worlds away from our claustrophobic living quarters.

🧠 Feeling Poetic ✍️

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Β  Β  Β Nearly home, and faced with a fork in the road, I felt poetic, and thought to myself......

"Two roads diverged in the mud - I chose paprika chips, and that has made none of the difference, and we are still stranded abroad."

Sorry Robert Frost.


πŸ™ THANKS FOR READING πŸ™

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Dad
@JustinParke
Mom
@SreyPov
Srey-Yuu
@KidSisters
Monkey B
@KidSisters

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34 comments
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That is very fun.
A little adventure that makes you happy with your beloved wife.
Great.

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Thanks, we try to make adventure even where there is none to be found. !ENGAGE 10

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If many do not know how harmful mayonnaise is for their health, it is true that many use it and only destroy their system that is bad

It is better to eat naturally, and season the meals with something that you prepare yourself, since you know how you do it and only you can give that special touch.

Greetings to all,

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I'd rather eat a 1,000 cockroaches than a spoonful of mayo. Well....... maybe that is a bit extreme, but whoever invented mayo was likely a psychopath. I think mayo has no flavor, so I never understand what it brings to a dish other than making it wet. Thanks for stopping by. !ENGAGE 30

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Hahahaa yeah I came to the realization that stores open at 9 or 10 in the morning when in Highschool and wanted to have "breakfast" at Mc Donald's πŸ˜…πŸ€£. We just waited and strolled a bit in the empty streets then.

Didn't even know about Clevia Park and also wouldn't know what to expect πŸ™ˆ and hahaha yeah some my fellow countrymen think that splashing "Mall" on their company's name will make it more interesting πŸ€¦β€β™€.

I think about the food coloring... I think the majority of the population just doesn't know better. We hardly read labels πŸ™ˆ. Maybe only expire date. I only started reading labels, because I started watching out what's in my shampoo and hair products and it moved to food because I'm "nosy". But the majority really doesn't know what's what though.

Oh yeah, about the mayonaise; have you ever had "vegan" mayo made from chickpeas? I have and was delicious. Was made by students from the Food Technology Program. Don't think we have a company here yet making it though...

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It's so strange, feels like every day is Sunday morning here. Clevia Park has a website, and we've explored it, but it looks like every kind of fun has a price tag. Our landlord told us she knew that a year ago, Sundays were a free entrance day, but I've never checked to see if that's still the case or not.

"Kleursel" was one of the first Dutch words I decoded here because I saw it on so many packaged food ingredient lists. Mayo has always grossed me out, even long before I stopped eating meat and dairy. I must've had some childhood mayo trauma, because in the USA it is a product that most of my black friends simply called a "white people food." This statement comes from truth though, as you will find few white Americans that aren't in possession of a giant jar of mayo.

I've never tried vegan mayo because I don't even like the concept of mayo. I think it is better suited as a hair product, but I'm no expert. Oh, "sour cream" can go straight to hell too, because it falls into a similar category in my twisted mind. !ENGAGE 100

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Ahahahaa ok good to know you don't like mayo and sour cream; noted πŸ˜‚.

Hmmm and about Clevia park and other attractions; I think a lot of "attractions" here are focused on tourists, so they handle tourist prices. For example, I would like to go and see Frederiksdorp (old plantation), but it's really steep.

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(Edited)

Hahahaha, I had to laugh several times reading this post. First of all, I really love your double selfie on a bike (even before I read about the caimans in the canal)! Then I got a kick out of the mall you visited. I assumed it would be nothing like your typical all-American shopping mall... but that little building underpassed any expectation. Finally it was your rendition of the Robert Frost poem that made me laugh out loud. You are amazing at looking at the bright side, and making it shine even more. So keep on shining! Oh, and it looks like your post is getting close to bringing back your expenses. πŸ˜„

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I built up the hype and then killed it all in one post. Sudong Mall is a letdown, but only the first time. By the second trip you know what you are in for. It reminds me of how loosely Cambodian uses the words "international school."

This way of thinking made me think I could afford to put my kids in an international school here, and the locals here recommended I put them in an international school so they could get an English education here. We went to an international school to ask about the costs, and I nearly spit out a mouthful of water while scanning the document. We ran away from that place as fast we could and put them in public school the next week, at least until COVID-19 destroyed that situation.

Thanks for noticing my updated Frost poem, hopefully he didn't roll over in his grave. Thanks for the kind words. !ENGAGE 60

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Hahahaha, I completely agree: No reason to pay an arm and a leg, just for teaching your kid to say "yes". As for Robert Frost, I'm sure he appreciates good humor. :-)

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(Edited)

This is a fun day I laugh a lot! You ride a bike very well and fast also. I don’t scare everything when living with you but the dogs nearly bit my legs, you don't ride that road again.

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Yeah looks like fun! I had a dog after me this morning on my bike but I saw him coming and tried to run him down haha. He was rather shocked and gave up after I gave him the finger it seemed.

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Yes, some dogs are crazy to want to bite people on the road.

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Yeah, the dogs here aren't used to bicycles and pedestrians, and they also aren't used to being eaten, beaten, and kidnapped, so they're very brave to run down any random stranger.

Cambodian dogs know every encounter with a stranger is a gamble where they could lose their life, so a show of strength is all that is needed. We will never explore side roads again, that was a bad idea. !ENGAGE 15

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(Edited)

Well a fork in the road is certainly better than a spoon ;) Sorry again Mr. Frost. Those coconuts looked quite low and pickable while those roads look really full of holes. Good thing there's not much traffic. Yeah when I lived in Penang shops opened at 10am normally. Maybe its a colonial hangover thing. In the heat I'd prefer to go out early and be home in time for an afternoon snooze.

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Glad you like the (non) poem. There are several varieties of coconuts here that are dwarfs, making picking really easy in some cases. This place needs to encourage more diverse immigration, then I think things would change. If there was a Cambodian village here, it would quickly become an economic hotspot. !ENGAGE 35

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Yeah I love all types of non poetry. That's quite ironic actually. A nation so diverse already needing immigration to change things... I'll have to ponder that one for a bit. Seems like a complicated place :)

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Paprika chips haha! childhood memories and I really the ribbed ones. I also clearly remember having smudged many a book with my paprika chips fingers ( being an avid reader ). Potholes and possible caimans sure make a bicycle trip adventurous.

Love that GIF of yours and awesome!

Big hug to you and your family,

Vincent

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Paprika chips are one of the few factory snacks we like here. That paprika potato chip dust has destroyed many white pages and eyeballs though, very true. Caimans in the canals sure do keep us on our toes, even if technically sitting on our butts on a bike. !ENGAGE 30

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Being on your toes while sitting on your butt is a pretty impressive skill.

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I think avoiding crocs and potholes whilst cycling is certainly an adventure. Especially in these crazy times.
Your grocery run is far more dangerous and much more exciting than mine. The highlight of my grocery trip is trying to decode the cockney rhyming slang spoken by the fruit and veg guys at the market.
It's a shame that the store is so limited but those chips look delicious. Although not as delicious as @Sreypov's amazing meals. Sending you a DM as I may be able to help you with your noodle problem. πŸ€—

Great post and I love the comedy you bring @justinparke.

Much love to you and your family.

πŸ’šπŸ€—πŸ™

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Haha, decoding cockney, I've had a wee bit of experience with that. Yeah, our food is so labor-intensive, that sometimes we skip a meal and buy a roti or snack from one of the nearby shops/cafes.

Thanks for supporting our kiddos, glad you got some laughs, I keep trying to bring more comedy into all of my posts, even recipes. Shame we don't have mailboxes here, cause I would love to do a postcard experiment. !ENGAGE 60

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