Fat Savings Beats Fat Pants

With the Canadian dollar so strong at the moment we thought there may not be any good deals to be had during our visit to Canada, but so far we've been pleasantly surprised.

Because the dollar is close in value to the US greenback it has made calculating prices easy; the rough value is CAD1:HKD8 (actual is 1:7.55). And with the endless choices of shops carrying clothing that actually fits me (because I am in fact a big white guy), I'm in shopping heaven; much of what I'm picking up I just can't find in Hong Kong. Something as simple as a decent pair of cargo pants are elusive in the Big Lychee, unless I want to shop at Marks & Spencer and spend too much for low-riding pants cut for guys with stick legs and no butt.

Mabel too is ecstatic because she found that Coach handbags are far less expensive, for the simple reason that overseas shipping isn't involved, so it's likely she'll be coming home with a new purse at huge savings. She also bagged a beautiful leather outercoat that she'd never find in Hong Kong at a reasonable price.

The only downside is the ceaseless bombardment of drug advertising. In the Big Lychee it is more understated, but in the True North it is a parade of pills promising relief for practically every problem. At times we've complained that Hong Kong dispensaries lack for choices but Canadian pharmacies have too many; we've often been overwhelmed by the array on the shelves.

You'll never want for selection if you live in Canada, which may even be a Pandora's Box, because we've also noticed that a greater proportion of the population appear to have grown larger while we've been away (although I wasn't exactly svelte when I emigrated, and perhaps having since slimmed down has me biased). Maybe it's the limitless options, or that much of what's available is loaded with sugar, hydrogenated oils and/or corn syrup. It's freaking us out so we're mostly sticking to unprocessed foods.

The shopping may be great, but we prefer to pad our luggage instead of our asses.

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