Just some thoughts I have about the prices of things here in Sweden..

Generally, of course, stuff is more expensive here than in Singapore. Numbers aside, I’ve tried to equate 10 SEK with the “worth” of 1 SGD and that seems to put things in perspective somewhat..

Anyway, something interesting we noticed during dinner today. We were eating at this little Kebab House in the T Centralen area. Being the poor students we are , most of us went for the cheap items. I decided on a beef kebab set which was listed as 41 SEK on the menu that came with a kebab (duh) and a Coke. Didn’t feel like having Coke today though, so went for Sprite instead.. and guess what?

The bill dropped by 4 SEK!

I ended up paying only 37 SEK. When I first got my change I thought I had counted wrongly at first, my math skills not being exactly the best in the world.. but nope.. the guy behind the counter really did charge me only 37 SEK, and it said so right there on the till..

Oh well. I’m not complaining. Looks like Coke is worth a premium here =)

And another thing that we are so used to in Singapore that we take for granted is the provision of plastic carrier bags whenever we go to supermarkets. Back home plastic bags are given out like nobody’s business, Even when buying something as measly as a newspaper, the nice lady at the counter would sometimes want to give you a plastic bag for it. Or a canned drink even. Free plastic bag!

Over here? No way. Shoppers are expected to bring their own bags, or otherwise pay for the bags. True, it isn’t much, only about 1 or 2 crowns, but it really does make one think twice about using plastic bags. It’s better for the environment anyway. Beats seeing the streets strewn with stray plastic bags anyway. Heh come to think of it, it also prevents you from going on a shopping spree at the supermart..