I am looking for much bigger frames than that. For hanging pictures on my wall, not placing them on a desk. Were the frames you saw wooden?

@bucko, some of us still miss the good 'ol things from back home, but yeah, many good products (and substitutes) from the west are indeed available at Carrefour, Wal Mart, Metro and Paul's shop amongst other places. You will rarely find everything you need in one place though, but if you visit all of these places you probably will find a substantial amount (plus of course Salvador's etc.)

Chinese yoghurt is good, although I also like the German stuff they sell at Carrefour. It's rather cheap too (only like 14Y for a 4-pack).

@aaronb
My custom made frame was approx. 47cmx34cm. I choose the least expensive wooden frame, the total came out to be 50yuan. They have a variety of frames to choose from.

Any sort of cookie other than friggin' Oreos. Is that the only cookie made in the west suddenly.

Headache and stomachache medicine that actually works. And stop telling me as you smoke and guzzle beer and bai jiu that western medicine is bad for my health.

Comic books or any decent western magazines or literature. Laos and thailand have plenty of books at affordable prices. China must have thought it had become a cosmopolitan paradise when it hardcopies of BIll Clinton's autobiography all over the place.

Men's underwear that do not look like Speedos or have a Transformer on them.

A cappuccino that does not come out of a Nescafe packet.

People who somehow realize an 80 year old blind beggar with no legs is not less than human and it is okay to give them 1 rmb.

Cops who stop people for breaking basic traffic laws, like running red lights and nearly killing anything that moves... And sometimes succeeding at killing those things.

Medical exams that don't involve looking at the color of my fingernails.

Dentists who don' feel novicaine is bad for my health.

Local stores that always stock cat food and dog food. My dog does not really want to eat scraps of rice, cabbage and meatless chicken bones. It is a safari for us each week to restock pet food.

Ah... I think I have nearly touched the surface and better call this a rant and move on.

Any sort of cookie other than friggin' Oreos. Is that the only cookie made in the west suddenly.

Headache and stomachache medicine that actually works. And stop telling me as you smoke and guzzle beer and bai jiu that western medicine is bad for my health.

Comic books or any decent western magazines or literature. Laos and thailand have plenty of books at affordable prices. China must have thought it had become a cosmopolitan paradise when it hardcopies of BIll Clinton's autobiography all over the place.

Men's underwear that do not look like Speedos or have a Transformer on them.

A cappuccino that does not come out of a Nescafe packet.

People who somehow realize an 80 year old blind beggar with no legs is not less than human and it is okay to give them 1 rmb.

Cops who stop people for breaking basic traffic laws, like running red lights and nearly killing anything that moves... And sometimes succeeding at killing those things.

Medical exams that don't involve looking at the color of my fingernails.

Dentists who don' feel novicaine is bad for my health.

Local stores that always stock cat food and dog food. My dog does not really want to eat scraps of rice, cabbage and meatless chicken bones. It is a safari for us each week to restock pet food.

Ah... I think I have nearly touched the surface and better call this a rant and move on.

move on.

Sorry for the double posts, also miss reliable Internet.

Joshwa: Wickerbasket (west, north, south) sell the Vietnamese fish sauce in big bottles at a good price.

Encrypted: You can find margarine at Carrefour, Paul's, Wickerbasket, Metro, or Walmart.

BillDan: Many of the cafes sell cookies (Vintage, As You Like, Mazagran's, Slice of Heaven, etc.) as do the bakeries (Jia Hua, local bakeries with all sorts of Chinese type cookies which can also be found in the supermarkets). Wickerbasket and Paul's makes fresh ones and imported cookies can be found in Metro, Carrefour, and Walmart. As far as books, there are used English bookstores, the old ex-pat circle, and almost all classics are sold dirt cheap at Xin Hua.

Joshwa: Wickerbasket (west, north, south) sell the Vietnamese fish sauce in big bottles at a good price.

Encrypted: You can find margarine at Carrefour, Paul's, Wickerbasket, Metro, or Walmart.

BillDan: Many of the cafes sell cookies (Vintage, As You Like, Mazagran's, Slice of Heaven, etc.) as do the bakeries (Jia Hua, local bakeries with all sorts of Chinese type cookies which can also be found in the supermarkets). Wickerbasket and Paul's makes fresh ones and imported cookies can be found in Metro, Carrefour, and Walmart. As far as books, there are used English bookstores, the old ex-pat circle, and almost all classics are sold dirt cheap at Xin Hua.

Lummerlaoshi

I am aware of the cookies at places like mazagran and wicker basket. what I was referring to were commercial products, name brand cookies.Fig Newtons for example. Or Vanilla Wafers. The cookies at wicker baskets are not that great and the ones at mazagran are really expensive, sometimes as much as 10 rmb for one cookie. I attribute this to China's phobia about importing anything and

then selling it at a reasonable price.

I am aware too of places like Manadarin Books that sell foreign books at sometimes 3x the cover

price of the foreign currency. I do not want to pay 30 or 40 American dollars for a 10 dollar book. At least in Beijing they sale the books at the same rate as the foreign currency, so a 10$ book will

cost about 30 rmb. Fair. But not here. It is called getting ripped off. I know when I am being screwed.

I have found a few of the used book stores here and again the prices are unreasonable for a a

tattered Louis Lamour western. I bought a couple before and again just felt ripped off, it was

obvious someone was exploiting the situation. Abusing the supply and demand concept. Foreigners

will want it and will either have to pay the rip off price for it or they will not get it. Of course one can cite an example here or there of a good deal they once had, but those situations are exceptions the rip off rule. When I was in Laos I picked up so many used books at a reasonable price it weighed my bag down but it was worth it. In Bangkok I paid the exact price for a book's

foreign currency value. But here I am in the number two economy in the entire world and they are of a mentality to charge 8 frigging dollars for a bag of Doritos and 40$ for a philosophy book by Bertrand Russell. I went to a couple yard sales, foreigners leaving KM or China and the only

books I found were English text books or Bible stories.

And I do not consider row after row of Moby Dick or Emily Bronte having a real choice about

reading material anymore than having having ten varieties of Orioes as having a choice about cookies. If I live my whole life and never read Moby Dick I will not feel I have missed anything. And if i never eat another Orieo that is sweet too.

Thanks for the tips but they were nothing I was was not aware of after 4 years in KM.