What's on your shopping lists for summer trips home

[habibihabibi]

Mine so far.....
Tampax by the ton
Cream of tartar
Citric acid
Make up
Perfume
Kids underpants
Kids shoes and socks
Lego
Books for me (hoping for lots of great reads passed on by friends)
Work shoes and clothes
New work bag
Silicon baking stuff
Green and Blacks chocs
Naice candles
Christmas stocking tat
Big Primark raid

Yallamamma - Nespresso pods, thank you for reminding me!!!!

I'm lurking here. What do you do with all the Cream of Tartar?

For fun, here's what I'm looking forward to ordering from Ocado, it will be delivered the day we land....

Filled fresh pasta - the posh ones, £7+ here, pffffft
A few fresh ready made pasta sauces. This is my lazy dinner for the kids and I, so easy.
WINE, all the wine. In bottles, not boxes!
Bagels, English muffins
Organic milk, Rachels yoghurts, CHEESE!
A few cheeky ready meals for the kids
Sausages/bacon/hams
Free range eggs
Some lovely bath products for the kids, and new toothbrushes/toothpastes etc

Three weeks and counting!

Cream of Tatar for playdoh and American pancakes in this house.

I use the cream of tartar for playdough, scones, marshmallow and meringues.

And what's the citric acid for?

Citric acid for cleaning off scale coffee machine and making mozzarella cheese which is v expensive or very shit here..
Also I will bring back italian coffee beans -some are over 40 quid a kg here .
Kids will love eating petit flous on hols that I never can justify the 5 quid a 6 pack in Qatar.

Germolene
Sudocrem
Hobnobs and other biscuits
Sharp/mature cheddar
Monster munch
Crunchies
Drumsticks
mustard powder
Curry powder and curry leaves
Perfume
Marmite
Books, I raid the charity shops
Usually a party outfit for the kids in primark as I can't justify paying an arm and a leg for something that gets worn a few times a year.

I live in a land of plenty so it's all treat stuff for us:

Marmite
Cadburys
Rich tea biscuits
Ginger nut biscuits
Veggie Percy pigs
Fair trade tea
Aquafresh toothpaste for the kids
Sanisburys does these sunflower and pumpkin seed oatcakes I adore
Hot cross buns (my mum has frozen some for me!)
Jammy dodgers
And a fuck off shop in the M&S lingerie dept

DeliveredByKiki is that the land of plenty the place that has chocolate that tastes like candle wax, bread that tastes like sugaed foam and cheese made of plastic?

Kid's school shoes
Undies for me
Tam pax
Oxo cubes
Hair dye

And probably everything else for sale in the UK that I lay eyes on and can't resist!

How could I forget crumpet overdose. Bakewell tart. Pate!

Bakewell tarts & fancy feast
M&S undies
Chocolate

Thanks for the answer re the cream of tartar. Now, Tampax. Are they not available or just too pricey? Very interesting that these high flying expat communities aren't provided with what we might consider the basics. Sounds like there's an opportunity there for someone.

Tampax very hard to come by in Saudi. I assume much of the Middle East is similar. You may find some one week, then none for the next 3 months. I see frequent pleas from friends to let them know if they have been sighted.
Trouble is, everyone wants different things - so you've got half a dozen Brits asking for Tampax, but the Americans want a different brand. The quantities just don't make logistical sense for a business. I don't know about Qatar and UAE, but KSA has such a primitive postal system, mail order doesn't really exist either - we have no on line supermarket, and the middle East Amazon (Souk.com) is hit and miss.

Has anyone ever used British corner Shop???

We don't have a postal system here (you can hire a PO box at a post office, but birthday cards can take up to 3 months to turn up) but I'm lucky enough to have access to a BFPO account so I 'Amazon prime' some stuff over.

Pork is not illegal here (it's haram for Muslims obv.), it's just expensive and of questionable quality. There been a bit of a competition here as to how much we can bring back in. Current record stands at 20kg in a suitcase (so basically a couple of pairs of socks and pants and a fuckaton of bacon and sausages!). Creditable mentions to the 10kg of mature cheddar and the 12 pack of cider.

Thanks for the reply. We have a small place in France and although we're only ever in it for a month or so at a time, I do make sure we have Marmite and HP, just in case.

Tampax was easy to get in UAE and an ok price, now I'm in Qatar its harder to find and costs a lot more. Masses of towel options around but when you spend so much time at the pool they aren't much use!

Pork and alcohol again was easy to get in UAE and prices were reasonable, only one place to get it here and it's very expensive.......

PicaPau certainly is! Although we can get decent cheese now and I've become vegan so it's only DH who smuggles in frozen cheese! Actually going vegan means all the bacon and lamb and pies I used to miss I still miss but don't get anymore

I'm in that neck of the woods as well and this thread is perfect for reminding me what to buy!

I've quite a few things already on the list like kids birthday stuff etc

Ive used British Corner shop - a bit pricey but good service.

Same neck of woods too. We found crumpets last week in M&S in Festival City!! Can never find dry shampoo or vanilla essence.

proper Salt and vinegar crisps a la Mcoys
Calpol
Raid of the charity shops for trashy reads
proper Jacobs crackers (will stuff myself silly back home, as the crackers wont survive the journey back)
underwear (maybe, if time permits)
will maybe do a homeshop for DM, just to enjoy not going to the shops like they do in mainland Europe, the ejits

In Qatar I buy Sunsiljk dry shampoo in Al Meera but def get more choice in Boots in the UK.
Vanilla essence is in QDC as it has alcohol in it .

I've been back for a week and eaten an obscene amount of pork products. Considered passing on a bacon sandwich this morning, but pulled myself together in time. Also enjoying wine that isn't fucking dreadful.

Stocking up on:
Kids underwear and shoes
Linen trousers and dresses for me
Craft stuff
Curry leaves
Birthday cards
Chocolate Hobnobs (because I almost considered paying £4 a pack three months ago)
Typhoo Tea

I'm torn whether to bring loads of non-perishable stuff back, as we might actually be coming to the end of this bastard posting. Maybe I'll just try Lexilicious' tip for transporting sausages and fill my suitcases with those!

Completely agree with whoever said that UK supermarkets seem so reasonable in comparison. DH went out for a few bits and came back with bloody Duchy Originals milk. I was and he was all "cheaper than we've been paying for UHT shit, Goats" it was delicious