The Baking Store

Qum Baby is keeping me very busy these days so i haven't had much of a chance to blog. Oh and I only have vpn on my phone which also makes it hard to blog as Blogspot is blocked here. Qum Baby usually goes to grab my phone everytime I take it out (he usually wins LOL) so that's another reason I've been on social media a lot less these last few months.

I've had lots of ideas for blog posts, but haven't had a chance to type them out... So here we go.

I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to shopping in Qum. A lot of people tell me they read my blog before moving out here... So these posts are for you! I hope they help.

There's a baking store in Dore shahr between kuche 23 & 25. It's quite a small shop. Open from 10am to 2.30pm and then again from 5pm to 11pm. Next door is a party supplies store which has some nice stuff too.

The store stocks everything for your baking needs and most of it is made in Iran - food colours, sprinkles, baking tins etc

They also have imported goods too, as well as things like cream of tartar (Iranian made) and chocolate chips which were both previously unavailable in Iran. (Side note- the local shireeni bakery sells me the chocolate chips for cost price, which works out cheaper than this store)

Another thing to note is that there is another baking store near falak e jihad (near Imam Khumayni madressa). I haven't been there personally but some of the sisters say it's a bit cheaper than the Dore shahr shop but not as fancy. For me personally, I'm in Dore shahr anyway most days so it doesn't make sense for me to go to the other store.

I've taken some pictures of the store... Hope he gives me a discount for advertising his store!! 

Special offer? Perhaps not!

I bought this fabric softner while in Syria, thinking I was getting a good deal. I misread it for '+10%'

Only the day before leaving, I actually looked closely :-(

New (ish) supermarket in Sayyidda Zaynab

(I took this pic a while back and forgot to upload)

A new supermarket opened up in Sayyidda Zaynab over the summer. It's called 'A&T' and like all Middle Eastern things started off really good. Now, 7 months down the line, it's starting to go downhill. Sometimes we have to ask the employees for basics like salt and flour and they don't have any?! But the upside is that they have a good (ish) selection of freezer things and its clean (er) than shopping in most of the other cockroach infested stores.

The joys of the third world.

Long Johns

Syrians have an obsession with them... they even sell them in the summer!

Just a word of warning - to the visitors who come here and get excited when they see them - the elastic on them is rubbish! It is only stretchy on the first wear, after that, the long johns fall down. So it means one has to rush to the nearest rest room and pull them up every 10 mins.

More Syrian English

This is a picture of the carrier bags from the store that sells designer fake handbags and shoes (Ground floor of the Safir Hotel)

Since when did bags and shoes become 'needs' and not 'wants' ?????

Make Mine a 'Cheer-Up'

Here's a picture of the local version of 7-Up!

And here it is in Arabic:

My favourite store

My favourite store (apart from the supermarket downtown where you can get EVERYTHING at overinflated prices) is the 10 lira store. It rocks!

10 liras works out to about 13p and this store has everything from stationery to waxing strips, from kitchen utensils to sewing kits, and from makeup, jewellery and scarf pins to batteries, electrical cables and screwdrivers. (you get the picture). We even manage to pick up branded items from time to time!

If I need anything for the house, I usually head to this store first before going to the souk (market). It's only 3mins walk from my house and I know I will pick up a bargain!