Fairway Market Is it worth the hype

If you live in New Jersey you have heard all the hype about Fairway Market opening up a location in Paramus. I have been waiting for months for this even though Ive never been to a Fairway location before. Friday I left work early and drove from Morris Plains to Paramus in severe rain and wind. I was a woman on a mission. From the moment I parked my car (on the opposite end of the parking lot)to the moment I walked through the doors I was like a giddy child going to a candy store. Well, in a mere 5 minutes I went from giddy and childlike to overwhelmed and all business. I had to push my way through old ladies who stopped in the middle of the aisles and abandoned their carts, kids who walked without looking where they were going and the mass of people looking for the best deals. It was like an obstacle course of women, children and little old ladies. I felt like I was in a zoo. Granted, Fairway only opened a week and a half earlier but I still was not prepared for the crowd.

Okay,on to the important stuff, the produce section was everything I imagined. It was huge, they had every variety of apples you could think of, tomatoes of all shapes, sizes and colors, basil so fragrant it reminded me of summer. There were red, green, yelIow and orange bell peppers, poblanos, jalapenos, cubanelles. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, some of the things I was specifically looking for they didnt have. Im going to let it slide as Im sure it is a challenge to keep the shelves stocked the first couple of weeks. I was looking for broccoli rabe and for sicilian eggplant but they had neither. They only had one type of eggplant which really surprised me. Next stop, the cheese counter. It was so overwhelming. They had everything you could think of and to be honest, I couldnt think of anything I wanted because everything seemed so exotic. I did decide to pick up some ricotta salata for Pasta Norma which I made for my moms birthday on Saturday and some fresh mozzarella which was still hot. I used that to make chicken Caprese. (I wish I remembered to bring my camera to Staten Island where I cooked everything. Ill have to make everything again so I can share it with you.) The meat department was really nice. There were about 10 guys behind the counter who were trimming and cutting fillet mignon from the beef tenderloins they had on sale for $4.00/lb. I waited on that line for 30 minutes! Once I got my meat I was ready to run out of there screaming, it seemed like the crowd followed me everwhere I went except for the registers. When I got to the cashier there was no one on line. Do people just stay there all night? Was I a lucky one to make it out alive? Wow! So, I let the toothless woman (okay not toothless, she had about three teeth) ring me up and she had to question every single item. "Whats this?" she asked about the parsley, basil, cubanelle peppers. "Oh, and what about these?" she asked, puzzled. "Tomatillos." I said. "Toma..what?" It was hard for me to keep from rolling my eyes. How can Fairway hire cashiers that dont know what any of the items are? They should definitely give them a lesson in fresh produce so they dont look so silly in front of their customers. Shouldnt every employee know a little bit about fresh produce if they are going to be working there? That aside, I will definitely be going back to Fairway once things are settled there. I dont expect to buy any paper goods or canned items because I dont think Ill get any deals there but will definitely go back for produce, meat and cheeses. Maybe Ill even be brave and buy some fish.

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Chinese New Year Market Chinatown Singapore

Every year in Singapore, the Chinese New Year celebration kicks off with Street Light-up, festive bazaar stalls, street performances and etc. And these activities usually takes place in the Key streets in Chinatown such as Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road, South Bridge Road, and Garden Bridge.

This Luna New Year would be the year of the Water Dragon and there would be with traditional Chinese lanterns and colorful street lights together with street performers and acrobats like lion dancers to buzz up the lanes in Chinatown.

Make your New Year wishes come true at the Chinatown Wishing Tree this Spring Festival! You can try your hand at tossing a mandarin orange wishing charm onto a lucky banyan tree at Chinatown.

The Lunar New Year bazaar stalls occupied the lanes from the Pagoda Street, Smith Street, Sago Street, Temple Street and Trengganu Street within Chinatown. Below are some of the photos showing the auspicious New Year goodies and the bazaar stalls at Chinatown.

Pussy willow or also known as Ying Liu has fluffy white blossoms which resemble silk with the color of green jade. And majority of the Chinese enjoy such signs of growth which represent the coming of prosperity.

Cakes such as "Sticky Rice Cake - 年糕" which symbolizes a rich, sweet life plus "Pomelo - 柚子" in mandarin word "柚子" sounds like the word for "to have" and "Red Radish" symbolizes auspicious beginning and etc.

All sorts of sweets, puddings, jellies, peanuts, preserved persimmons and etc which is must to purchase during New Year.

Stalls selling waxed meat products such as sausages, waxed meat, waxed duck and etc which most of the household used it to braised delicious dishes during Chinese New Year gatherings.

All sort of Chinese auspicious handicrafts, red packets and customary New Year decorations along the bazaars area.

In conjunction with the 2012 celebrations, the festive Bazaar runs from December 31 2011, opening from 6pm to 10:30pm daily till January 22 2012.(some stalls starts around NOON time during weekends too) And during Chinese New Year Eve, the Bazaar would extends its operating hours to 1.00am.

To avoid heavy traffic around the Chinatown area, you could take public transport as such the MRT and alight at Chinatown station.

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