After living in Hong Kong, I know what Tide tastes like.  There are a couple of stores in Hong Kong which import US products from warehouse stores.  They specialize in bulk items from Cosco or BJs – Frosted Miniwheats in a two-box value pack, 72 oz sacks of Chocolate Chips, gargantuan bottles of BBQ sauce and maple syrup, that 5 pack of deodorant you feel compelled to buy but will never use up – that type of stuff. These shops are great for a taste of home, until you realize that many of the items will not fit in your HK size fridge. Once opened, crackers, cereal, or cashews in giant containers will become instantly stale in the high humidity.  Charmin is a nice lift from home, until those giant rolls get slightly damp from the high humidity (most rolls for sale in HK are individually wrapped in plastic, for good reason).

Anyway, both of these shops have proved a great place for us to buy Swiss Miss, Cheezits, the aforementioned chocolate chips, and soap that smells like home (Irish Spring, Cascade, Tide). After a recent shopping trip, Tommy and I each purchased a bottled water (not labeled for individual sale, but sold that way anyway).  As we were walking home and drinking the water, Tommy noted that it tasted like something familiar, but couldn’t quite discern what. That’s because he was tasting Tide.  When you ship scented Tide, Gain or Bounce in a container along with other items like cereal and bottled water, the fresh scent permeates everything. The stores don’t really acknowledge this; one used to have signs near the cereal warning that Americans like their cereal to taste a bit like soap. If you are one of those blessed with a sensitive palate, they advise, think twice about buying, since goods are not returnable. Even when your Cheerios practically suds up.