sandy's notes

Notes on good household shopping if you live in East Perth.

Woolworths enex100 – 100 St George’s Terrace, Perth (extended weekdays, late night fridays)

• Awesome quality produce
• Big range of everything
• Self-checkout with cash, eftpos & credit

IGA East Perth – Cnr Plain St & Royal St (open til 9pm, 7 days)

• Lovely meat
• Decent vegetables
• Asian ingredients
• 5m long extension cords

Carlton Fresh – Shop 10, 246 Hay St, East Perth (6am-midnight, 7 days + public holidays)

• Good meat
• Cheese & dairy
• Thermos flasks
• Veggies tend to be a bit gammy

Golden Hay Supermarket – 274 Hay St, East Perth (8am – 8pm)

• Bigger selection of Asian ingredients
• Don’t bother with meat here

Coles Northbridge – 150 Newcastle St (Cnr Beaufort), Northbridge (Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 8am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm)

• Big range of everything, but no Vogel’s cereal
• Fresh produce is fresh

Wembley Supa IGA – 320 Cambridge Street (Cnr Cambridge & Jersey), Wembley (normal hours + late night Thursday)

• Really shit awesome selection, fresh as anything
• I love this IGA

Links to sites with good advice on money.

• Saving Money Guide Australia – savingsguide.com.au
• SmartyPig – direct debit towards your savings goals

Learned while touring a jade factory in China. Hope it is useful for you. :)

There are 2 types of jade – hard jade and soft jade. Jadeite (hard jade) is worth more and is usually used for jewellery, while cheaper soft jade and agate (a type of jade) are used for sculptures because they are easier to carve.

To spot a fake is simple – jade has 4 properties to look out for: temperature, sound, texture and hardness.

Temperature
Real jade is cool to the touch. Plastic and glass, popular counterfeit materials, would not be as cool. This may mean you need a basis for comparison, but say if the ‘jade’ you’re touching feels warm under the display case lights, you can probably assume it’s not real.

Sound
Real jade makes a lovely TINK sound when you strike it. The higher the pitch of the TINK, the harder and better quality the jade.

Texture
Hold a piece of real jade up to a light. In the translucent parts, you should find a snowflaky texture. These are known as jade flowers. Over time, green jade worn next to skin gets greener – this is told in Chinese storytelling as “the flowers blossoming”, and happens quickly if the wearer is in good health. Holding marble (another popular fakey) and plastic up to a light, you would not see jade flowers. Meanwhile, holding glass up would likely present bubbles from when the fake jade was made.

Hardness
Finally, real jade is hard – yes, even soft jade. A diamond blade is required to cut it. So if you’re suspicious of a fake, scratch your jade against a piece of glass. Real jade would scratch up the glass and emerge unscathed.