j4 this bpost.. cooked food inflation is the most visible of all inflations.

After I returned from Japan, I visited food courts a few times. Cooked foods like 杂菜饭 in those places are getting expensive. Perhaps 10 or 15 years ago, I used to buy the same cooked foods regularly.

For everyone who needs to buy cooked food every day, this is bad news. However, on the flip side, this visible inflation bring out something good — It suddenly mad me appreciate home cooking .. cleaner, better ingredients, more nutritious, often 更好味道. For the same quality, $10 to $20 would be the price in those low-cost outlets. Fancy restaurants would sell even higher, for pretty much the same food.

Why did the Japan trip matter? Because in Japan I reminded myself to avoid all Chinese food. As soon as I was back in Singapore, I wanted to try Chinese food again. I went to a few places and checked out many Chinese foods. Then I came to notice the widespread inflation in cooked food.