Food prices

Well, food prices definitely have climbed; seem just overnight. Came back from a foreign owned supermarket next to the Ritz at Portman. A jar of Tahini is RMB$74.00 vs RMB$55.00 since I bought it last month or so. A chunk of brie cheese, that place is selling for RMB$88.00. Yikes. Seems prices for all foreign products have jumped over night. The only things that are relatively cheap are the local produced products. Vegetables, fruits, whatever else. Funny to compare RMB$88.00 today. I can spend this amount on one of these: (1) a cobb salad and a cup of coffee, (2) a chunk of Brie cheese, (3) a 4-course meal at our regular vegetarian restaurant for two, (4) a US b'fast with coffee and a fresh juice, (5) 7 times of two packages of sandwiches and a 3.86L bottled water at a corner convenient store, (6) two set lunch meals at the same regular restaurant, (7) 80 steam buns at this local bakery down the street between our apartment and the Marriott hotel, (8) not even a sandwich at 360, the Marriott's canteen type confectionery stand, (9) 11 times of buying the Shanghai famous fried pork dumplings (4 per pack) at the not so clean food street behind our apartment, or (10) a replacement water cooler for the apartment, or (11) have a AYI to clean the apartment for a day with RMB$33 left over. Or (12) 44 bottles of water at this convenient store at the half way point between Shanghai and Sheshan golf course (our 40K one way bike route), or (13) 11 bowls of hot spicy soup noodles outside of Shanghai, or (14) 38 fresh coconut juice from a coconut at Hainan over the weekend. Or (15) less than 4 bottles of this Irish beer at the mentioned Portman supermarket. Or (16) two sets of Japanese lunch boxes from this Japanese supermarket. or (17) First half of the year for the TV subscription at this apartment building. I guess there are lots of way to spend RMB$88 these days in China.