grocery shopping

when you live in a city as expensive as london, but are used to a place as cheap as manila, bargain hunting starts to feel like a holy quest. i've found quite a few places that have helped me manage my budget. and if anyone is planning to move to the UK, i hope this helps.
grocery stores:
1. ASDA is the place to go if you want cheap groceries of reasonably decent quality. they've always got special offers like 3 for 2 on special items. ASDA can usually be found on the outskirts of london. they do home deliveries-- wc is very convenient if you have no car and want to buy a sh**load. home shopping also prevents you from being tempted by random items that aren't necessarily on your list (ooh! iv've never had belgian chocolate shortbread! ooh! i've never had a hot cross bun...). Otherwise, TESCO and Sainsbury's are just as good. Slightly more expensive...
2. If you're desperate and are really really kuripot, you go to places like Iceland or Safeways. Ok naman. Iceland is cheap because, like it's name suggests, it specializes in frozen food. I don't know how Safeways does it...
3. Markets are the place to go if you want cheap fruit and vegetables. But make sure you know how much these things cost in ASDA and in other places before you shell out your cash. Sometimes they lie! :O For tropical fruit and Asian condiments, you can go to the Tooting, Shepherd's Bush and North End Road. Marami pa so explore ka lang dyan. When i went to Tooting i found a bag of garlic for 75p. 3 boxes of strawberries for £2, pomegranates, pineapples, julie mangoes (walang pa ring tatalo sa mangga)...
4. Being Asian, you will naturally look for things that white men won't touch. :P Lalo na kung intsik ka. For awhile, i've been craving century eggs. I don't know why. They don't look appetizing and they taste like they've, well, like they've gone seriously bad. Baka naglilihi ako... *biro lang*
If you live in a big city, where all these different cultures are forced to smoosh up and mix, it's actually easier to find things you miss like century eggs, korean noodles, hopia. When we went to visit Benoit's friends (and baby, Karen) in Birmingham, the chinatown was HUGE and we found a lot of things we'd been missing. Last weekend, we met up with Alex and Joyce in North London and they took up to Oriental City *hee-yaaaah!* and Wing Yip. I was in heaven. I bought 4 packs of Spicy Beef Korean Noodles and a box of Century eggs. Benoit bought pandan rice cakes. Sarap. Wing Yip also has branches in Croydon (closer to me) and other spots around England.
www.wingyip.co.uk -- They also do home deliveries. Mga intsik talaga... ;P