When we started living aboard shopping was one of the expenses that we
had to cut. But for a woman who is crazy about shopping or for those who buy the
same kind of shoes but different colors, it’s always easy to find excuses. I
finally changed my point of the view about buying cloths. Now, I buy what I
need! (Can you believe?) Because the more cloths I have, the more I have to
wash without washing machine! And the more expensive they are, the less money I
will have in my account! Living on a boat make us concerned about other priorities
rather than the brand of the cloths or the cosmetics. Like foods for example, and
you may ask why? You can just go to the fresh market or supermarket anytime but,
unfortunately, we can’t. We are lucky that now we are in Puerto Rico and here we
can have access to all kind of food at reasonable prices. The problem is that we
can’t walk and carry shopping bags and a 10 kilograms baby for a distance that
takes about 1 hour of walking. Taking taxi it’s an option but it’s not proper
cheap here. How about taking public bus? In Puerto Rico, there is no such
thing; local people can all have access to private transportation so public bus
is not necessary. We have to plan very well for our food stock to avoid
throwing food away or have lack of food during the journey. Plus, we never know
if in the next port the food supplies are available.
I’m blessed knowing nice people like the Fata Morgana family. They have
previous experience and we learn a lot from them including, and that’s not just
about sailing, different knowledge and even about finance management. Our both families
spend lots of time together since we met in the Dominican Republic and now here
in Puerto Rico and we share our experience from the opposite side of the world.
I had a chance to go with Mira, the “woman” of Fata Morgana, for girl shopping for
second hand items in the Salvation Army Shop in Ponce. Back in Macau, when Joao
and I tried to get rid of our cloths and other belongings, we tried to contact
Salvation Army and other nonprofit organizations to ask how to donate our
stuff. The answer we always got was that they didn’t need cloths, they needed
money! That’s how the organizations in Macau work, even if they get millions in
subsidies from the government they still need money from donations. Anyway, my
experience here is much better. Inside the Salvation Army Shop there is lots of
stuff, mostly cloths. I went on purpose to buy clothes for Maria Dee, who’s
growing up “fast and furious” and need bigger size dresses. I don’t mind second
hand stuff since most of them are in good condition, especially baby clothes
that have very short usage life. Mira told me that the items there are cheap and
we can find places like Salvation Army Shop almost everywhere. I was surprised with
the bill that I had to pay in the end of the shopping. I didn’t expect that for
4 pieces of baby cloths only 1 USD (around 8 MOP). That’s not even enough to
buy a glass of milk tea in Macau!
Salvation Army Shop, Ponce
Big Teddy Bear, Elmo hand puppet, cloth book, 4 shorts, 4 top, 1 hat for Maria Dee and 2 of my tops cost 7 USD
Maria Dee in hat and dress from Salvation Army Shop, all cost less than 1 USD
Washing the Teddy Bear
To stock up our supplies, in Puerto Rico we have many choices of
supermarkets, since this is America all the big franchise brands are here. If
you are American or travel a lot there, you may get used to mega malls like
Sam’s Club or Walmart but for us it was the first time! Fata Morgana crew said
that we are the first persons they know who don’t know what is Sam’s Club or Walmart.
It’s like Big Cin Thailand or Continente
in Portugal. Sam’s club is alike a whole sale supermarket; they sell big
quantity with cheaper prices.Hereyou must apply a member card to be able to shop
inside. We were told that in the States you must present the card otherwise
they don’t let you in. Here is different you just need to show the card with your
photo at the cashier. The member card cost 40 USD so we decided to apply since
we need to stock up our boat before we move more to the South of Caribbean
where people say it’s very hard to do and pricey. Yet, people told us that we
can use it in Panama where there are another branches. For those who want to
know about fresh markets, I think here they don’t exist! Everyone goes to the
supermarket, a place with AC! We can find small coffee shops where you can buy
some refreshments and put some coins in slot machines! For fresh or frozen
meats, seafood or fruit and vegetables, they are all in the supermarket. Ah,
products like Asian basics, tofu, wanton dough or tea for example they have it
on the healthy corner! The wines are expensive; we could not find a bottle for less
than 10 USD! For that price in Macau or Portugal we can sip a very good wine. I
guess here wine is a luxury thing. Although is expensive, we can find French,
Italian, German together with local wine from USA, Puerto Rico or South
American like Chile and Peru.
Joao and Maria Dee in front of Sam’s Club
With Evo and Mira from Fata Morgana, Walmart Ponce
Maria Dee in Home Depot
Some days ago, for the first time since we left Macau, we drank Tsing
Tao and it tasted so good! When we visited the capital, San Juan, we stop to
buy some boat stuff at West Marine and just next to West Marine we found an Asian
district where we could find Chinese, Korean and Japanese food. We stopped at one
for Chinese food for lunch. The owner is from Shenzhen and I was so happy that
I could speak some Cantonese to them! The news about the subsidy that the Macau
Government gives to Macau citizens was well noticed by this Chinese in Puerto
Rico! Here at this restaurant they had a small Asian grocery so I end up
socking up in Asian cuisine ingredients to make help my journey homier with
Asian taste.
Home made Asian food onboard
Stock up our food supplies
In terms of medical care, here they have very big and nice pharmacies
similar to Watson’s in Thailand and Macau. They sell everything from medicine,
cosmetics, snacks or even souvenirs. Just don’t understand why they call it pharmacy
if they are bigger than any supermarket in the Dominican Republic! The only
thing that bothers me here is that we CAN’T buy contraceptive pills without prescription!
In order to buy it I need to go to a private clinic and pay for the doctor to
issue me the prescription then I can go to purchase it in the pharmacy. Of course, I didn’t do it! On the positive
side, the liquid soap from Cetaphil which I tried to find in the whole
Dominican Republic, here can find it everywhere from drugstores to supermarkets
and the price is half of the one in Macau.
Pharmacie in Old San Juan
For Noel, probably here is the best place in the Caribbean to find his
special treatment medicine. They have lots of choices for dogs. Most of the
medicines are from the States as same as canine’s products; they are not from
China! We saw many pets shops and dog hotels in Ponce and around the country but
we didn’t see any dogs here! For the cruisers, bringing dogs to the States is
not difficult at all. The official here only need to see the document if the
dog obtain the valid rabbis vaccines. We met other sailors who travel with dogs;
they told us that having a dog onboard will be expensive if we plan to stop in
the port of all the previous British colonies. At least we don’t plan to stop
in BVI, Fiji, Australia or even New Zealand, so it should be fine.
Automatic name tag machine for dog, 5 USD each, cash and credit card accepted
Having a baby in Puerto Rico seems to be cheaper than in the Dominican
Republic. Cloths, baby strollers, diapers, and baby food are cheaper here than
in the Dominican Republic. All the restaurants we visited, from cheap to
expensive, food courts or canteens, always have baby high chair. Should be some
United States regulation! Baby changing tables in the restrooms are easy to
find in both men’s and women’s rooms.
Since we arrived in Puerto Rico we still keep fixing our s/v Dee. Here
is a lot easier than in the Dominican Republic. We can find big stores where we
can find the tools or boat related stuff like Home Depot or West Marine. I feel
a bit sad that we come from the “Made in China” place and here almost
everything is made in China and we have to pay more. What is expensive here but
cheap in China for example, LED bulbs, solar panels, batteries etc. On the
opposite side, the items like blenders, vacuum machines, washing machines and
TVs are much cheaper than in Macau.
We come from the region where Reminbis and Hong Kong Dollars are the
major currencies. We are scared to spend US Dollars and Euros, as we all know
they are one of the main world economy money. If we can compare the life in
Puerto Rico, the cost of living, food and transportation are still much cheaper
than in Macau or in an international city like Hong Kong. However, since the
Macau Government and locals companies don’t support our trip to celebrate 500
years of the sea route to Asia, our budget is getting tight due to boat
maintenance and fixing, we can’t spend too much and must keep track on it. Many
people see our food photos posted on Facebook of what we have eaten on s/v Dee and
they might think that we have a very good life without working but they don’t know
that some of our food is made of leftovers and that our meals are always
cheaper than any meal at Portuguese restaurants or afternoon tea set on weekend
in Macau!
Shopping Experience While Living Aboard Our Sailboat
had to cut. But for a woman who is crazy about shopping or for those who buy the
same kind of shoes but different colors, it’s always easy to find excuses. I
finally changed my point of the view about buying cloths. Now, I buy what I
need! (Can you believe?) Because the more cloths I have, the more I have to
wash without washing machine! And the more expensive they are, the less money I
will have in my account! Living on a boat make us concerned about other priorities
rather than the brand of the cloths or the cosmetics. Like foods for example, and
you may ask why? You can just go to the fresh market or supermarket anytime but,
unfortunately, we can’t. We are lucky that now we are in Puerto Rico and here we
can have access to all kind of food at reasonable prices. The problem is that we
can’t walk and carry shopping bags and a 10 kilograms baby for a distance that
takes about 1 hour of walking. Taking taxi it’s an option but it’s not proper
cheap here. How about taking public bus? In Puerto Rico, there is no such
thing; local people can all have access to private transportation so public bus
is not necessary. We have to plan very well for our food stock to avoid
throwing food away or have lack of food during the journey. Plus, we never know
if in the next port the food supplies are available.
previous experience and we learn a lot from them including, and that’s not just
about sailing, different knowledge and even about finance management. Our both families
spend lots of time together since we met in the Dominican Republic and now here
in Puerto Rico and we share our experience from the opposite side of the world.
I had a chance to go with Mira, the “woman” of Fata Morgana, for girl shopping for
second hand items in the Salvation Army Shop in Ponce. Back in Macau, when Joao
and I tried to get rid of our cloths and other belongings, we tried to contact
Salvation Army and other nonprofit organizations to ask how to donate our
stuff. The answer we always got was that they didn’t need cloths, they needed
money! That’s how the organizations in Macau work, even if they get millions in
subsidies from the government they still need money from donations. Anyway, my
experience here is much better. Inside the Salvation Army Shop there is lots of
stuff, mostly cloths. I went on purpose to buy clothes for Maria Dee, who’s
growing up “fast and furious” and need bigger size dresses. I don’t mind second
hand stuff since most of them are in good condition, especially baby clothes
that have very short usage life. Mira told me that the items there are cheap and
we can find places like Salvation Army Shop almost everywhere. I was surprised with
the bill that I had to pay in the end of the shopping. I didn’t expect that for
4 pieces of baby cloths only 1 USD (around 8 MOP). That’s not even enough to
buy a glass of milk tea in Macau!
To stock up our supplies, in Puerto Rico we have many choices of
supermarkets, since this is America all the big franchise brands are here. If
you are American or travel a lot there, you may get used to mega malls like
Sam’s Club or Walmart but for us it was the first time! Fata Morgana crew said
that we are the first persons they know who don’t know what is Sam’s Club or Walmart.
It’s like Big C in Thailand or Continente
in Portugal. Sam’s club is alike a whole sale supermarket; they sell big
quantity with cheaper prices. Here you must apply a member card to be able to shop
inside. We were told that in the States you must present the card otherwise
they don’t let you in. Here is different you just need to show the card with your
photo at the cashier. The member card cost 40 USD so we decided to apply since
we need to stock up our boat before we move more to the South of Caribbean
where people say it’s very hard to do and pricey. Yet, people told us that we
can use it in Panama where there are another branches. For those who want to
know about fresh markets, I think here they don’t exist! Everyone goes to the
supermarket, a place with AC! We can find small coffee shops where you can buy
some refreshments and put some coins in slot machines! For fresh or frozen
meats, seafood or fruit and vegetables, they are all in the supermarket. Ah,
products like Asian basics, tofu, wanton dough or tea for example they have it
on the healthy corner! The wines are expensive; we could not find a bottle for less
than 10 USD! For that price in Macau or Portugal we can sip a very good wine. I
guess here wine is a luxury thing. Although is expensive, we can find French,
Italian, German together with local wine from USA, Puerto Rico or South
American like Chile and Peru.
Some days ago, for the first time since we left Macau, we drank Tsing
Tao and it tasted so good! When we visited the capital, San Juan, we stop to
buy some boat stuff at West Marine and just next to West Marine we found an Asian
district where we could find Chinese, Korean and Japanese food. We stopped at one
for Chinese food for lunch. The owner is from Shenzhen and I was so happy that
I could speak some Cantonese to them! The news about the subsidy that the Macau
Government gives to Macau citizens was well noticed by this Chinese in Puerto
Rico! Here at this restaurant they had a small Asian grocery so I end up
socking up in Asian cuisine ingredients to make help my journey homier with
Asian taste.
In terms of medical care, here they have very big and nice pharmacies
similar to Watson’s in Thailand and Macau. They sell everything from medicine,
cosmetics, snacks or even souvenirs. Just don’t understand why they call it pharmacy
if they are bigger than any supermarket in the Dominican Republic! The only
thing that bothers me here is that we CAN’T buy contraceptive pills without prescription!
In order to buy it I need to go to a private clinic and pay for the doctor to
issue me the prescription then I can go to purchase it in the pharmacy. Of course, I didn’t do it! On the positive
side, the liquid soap from Cetaphil which I tried to find in the whole
Dominican Republic, here can find it everywhere from drugstores to supermarkets
and the price is half of the one in Macau.
For Noel, probably here is the best place in the Caribbean to find his
special treatment medicine. They have lots of choices for dogs. Most of the
medicines are from the States as same as canine’s products; they are not from
China! We saw many pets shops and dog hotels in Ponce and around the country but
we didn’t see any dogs here! For the cruisers, bringing dogs to the States is
not difficult at all. The official here only need to see the document if the
dog obtain the valid rabbis vaccines. We met other sailors who travel with dogs;
they told us that having a dog onboard will be expensive if we plan to stop in
the port of all the previous British colonies. At least we don’t plan to stop
in BVI, Fiji, Australia or even New Zealand, so it should be fine.
Having a baby in Puerto Rico seems to be cheaper than in the Dominican
Republic. Cloths, baby strollers, diapers, and baby food are cheaper here than
in the Dominican Republic. All the restaurants we visited, from cheap to
expensive, food courts or canteens, always have baby high chair. Should be some
United States regulation! Baby changing tables in the restrooms are easy to
find in both men’s and women’s rooms.
Since we arrived in Puerto Rico we still keep fixing our s/v Dee. Here
is a lot easier than in the Dominican Republic. We can find big stores where we
can find the tools or boat related stuff like Home Depot or West Marine. I feel
a bit sad that we come from the “Made in China” place and here almost
everything is made in China and we have to pay more. What is expensive here but
cheap in China for example, LED bulbs, solar panels, batteries etc. On the
opposite side, the items like blenders, vacuum machines, washing machines and
TVs are much cheaper than in Macau.
major currencies. We are scared to spend US Dollars and Euros, as we all know
they are one of the main world economy money. If we can compare the life in
Puerto Rico, the cost of living, food and transportation are still much cheaper
than in Macau or in an international city like Hong Kong. However, since the
Macau Government and locals companies don’t support our trip to celebrate 500
years of the sea route to Asia, our budget is getting tight due to boat
maintenance and fixing, we can’t spend too much and must keep track on it. Many
people see our food photos posted on Facebook of what we have eaten on s/v Dee and
they might think that we have a very good life without working but they don’t know
that some of our food is made of leftovers and that our meals are always
cheaper than any meal at Portuguese restaurants or afternoon tea set on weekend
in Macau!
Email This
BlogThis!
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook