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24 Experiences You Only Have At Asian Supermarkets

You'll suffer through that peculiar stench for some Pocky sticks.

1. When you walk into one, you are met with a dangerously pungent mystery smell.

2. (That you can only blame on the unfortunate mixture of dried fish and durian fruit.)

3. You've plucked "fresh" produce from cardboard boxes.

Or, if they're slightly a more upscale establishment, plastic containers.

4. And it doesn't even matter if they're fresh. They're ridiculously cheap.

5. You've had to stand idly by with the shopping cart as your mother expertly selects one bundle of bok choy over another.

6. You've seen it all and nothing fazes you.

7. Well...not always.

8. You can purchase fine pottery in the same vicinity as live octopus and fermented duck eggs.

9. But you have to maneuver those aisles carefully 'cause you know the consequences.

10. You've witnessed a butcher dismember and package an entire duck in literally under 10 seconds.

11. You've watched your mother lift and sling a 70-pound bag of rice like a fucking champ.

12. You and your family have been buying the same groceries your entire life, and you still don't quite know what they are.

13. You're extremely grateful of establishments that have a slightly higher standard of order and cleanliness.

14. Because when it's Saturday afternoon and all the families are out, it is every-man-for-himself anarchy.

15. You used to watch the live crabs crawl all over each other and wonder how they haven't figured out how to escape.

16. You've accepted that presentation means nothing.

17. Except those moments when they mean everything (and no one else around you quite notices or cares).

18. You rarely need to exchange a single word with the cashier.

19. And there is usually no scanner because they somehow know the prices of EVERYTHING OFF TOP.

20. But that's OK: Your total will always be under $100, and you have a trunkload of food.

21. Somehow, to this day, most Asian supermarkets are still cash only.

22. You and your family have been going to the same local grocer for years now, and you've accepted its quirks.

23. Because it has what you really want.

24. And so much more.