It is sooo good to cook again!

On cooking: the feeling of vegetables, the smell of them, peeling them slowly while savoring each moment. That has become more precious after the honeymoon. Eating out day after day was nice at first, but by the end, I could not wait to cook my own food! Even more than that, I desperately wanted to get more than 1/2 a serving of vegetables a day.

Food in Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa:
French Polynesia consists of variousu islands and atolls, making access to food and other goods limited. The result? Crazy expensive goods and a severe lack of fresh veggies.

I have what I call the McDonalds price comparison system. As much as I loathe McDonalds for what it does to people's health, I sometimes (once in a blue moon) eat it, especially while abroad. Reason being I want to check out and rate each country's McFood...and you can get a good sense of what the standard of living of a country is by just seeing the prices at local franchises of Starbucks or McD's!

So a Big Mac set will set you back around 800-900yen...ouch...almost 8USD! Talk about a high cost of living in French Polynesia. The thing was, the people was packed like sardines! Why, you might ask? Because every other restaurant charged double or more for a simple lunch. Our dinners averaged 100-200 dollars per night...eeks! To save money, we hit up the local supermarket for yogurt, cheese, ham and plenty of baguette bread! Breakfasts did not come cheap, either...so we could save a lot by eating in for breakfast or lunch.