In Search of Peanut Butter - Updated!

A How-To Guide for Finding Peanut Butter in Astana, Kazakshtan

**Update on 30 August, 2013:  Metro seems to no longer have it.  However, Fine Foods does.

**Update on 25 May, 2013:  There have been numerous peanut butter sightings at Metro.  The brand is HyTop and it tastes slightly better than the Shop Rite brand you usually find in Astana.  It still has partially hydrogenated oils (most American peanut butters have this, which is incredibly unhealthy.)

Metro is located outside of Astana, on the road that leads to Karaganda.  At some point this road is called Abylai Khana.  Bus 32 and a few others come out to Metro.  Depending on your current location, it may take 1 to 3 hours to get to Metro via bus.  You also need a Metro card in order to get in; however, this is easy to get.

So I recommend starting at Metro first, it is your best bet at this time.  And you can use a credit card there.  If you can't find it at Metro, or really don't want to go there, following is a list of where to search for peanut butter.

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Before you start, make sure you have enough cash to buy as much peanut butter as you'll need for the next 6 months, since there will be a good chance that you won't see it again for that long.  Peanut butter runs about 1000 Tenge ($7) a jar.  I think that most stores that sell peanut butter do accept credit cards, but I'm not sure of this.

1)  Go to the bottom floor of Khan Shatyr, into the Green supermarket.  I've never found peanut butter in Green, but I have found American items, so there's always a chance!

2)   Wander every aisle and look everywhere.  It could be on the lowest aisle, it could be hidden behind other food, it could be near the yogurt.  The best chances are amongst the jelly, honey, and Nutella, usually near the cereal and the coffee.

3)  Cross the street and go to the Alma supermarket in the Asia Park shopping center.  Peanut butter has previously been found in other Alma stores.

4)  Repeat step 2 in Alma.

5)  Find the Bekker supermarket.  If you exit Asia Park and are facing the mosque, turn left and cross the street.  You want to go under the bridge.  There are restaurants here and a small supermarket will be on your right, called Bekker.  It is here where I recently found peanut butter, at over 1000 Tenge a jar.
**Update:  This store no longer exists. **

6)  Repeat step 2 in Bekker.

7)  Head towards the Mega shopping mall.  You can walk there or take bus 35.  Or you can walk back to Khan Shatyr and take bus 43 or 46.  Go to the Ramstore supermarket in Mega.

8)  Repeat step 2 in Ramstore.

9)  Walk towards the circus, cross Kabanbai Batyr Street, to the building with the big Turkish Airlines sign on top of it.  There is another Alma supermarket here.

10)  Repeat step 2 in this Alma.

11)  Go to the bus stop on Kabanbai Batyr Street.  Take bus 30 or 42, getting off at the corner of Abai and Valikhonov Streets.  The Zhanur shopping center is here; inside is Smoll.  Several years ago I could find peanut butter here on a regular basis.

12)  Repeat step 2 in Smoll.

13)  Walk down Valikhonov Street towards the Artyom shopping center/bazaar. You'll pass by another Green supermarket on your right.  I've never found peanut butter here, but it's worth a try.

14)  Repeat step 2 in Green.

15)  Continue towards Artyom.  Across the street from Artyom is a shopping center with another Ramstore.

16)  Repeat step 2 in this Ramstore.

17)  Walk or take a bus down Seifulin Street to Respublika Street.  Get off at the corners of Seifulin and Respublika and turn right.   Another Alma supermarket will be on your left.

18)  Repeat step 2 in this Alma.

19)  Get on a bus to go down Respublika, towards the Rainbow Bridge.  Get off before the Rainbow bridge and walk towards the tall yellow building.  There's another Ramstore here.

20) Repeat step 2 in this Ramstore.

21)  Find a bus stop on Respublika or Tashenov Streets so you can take bus 2 towards Manas Street. Get off on Manas Street across from the Ajar shopping center (which will be on your left).  There's another Ramstore here.

22)  Repeat step 2 in this Ramstore.

23)  Walk towards the Eurasia shopping center (a few blocks).  To the right of Eurasia is a supermarket called 5-Minute or Bakhus.  I have never seen peanut butter here, but a friend claims she did once, several years ago.

24)  Repeat step 2 in this store.

At this point, you've exhausted all the best options.  You can now go slowly through the city, repeating step 1 in every grocery store you come across.  If you find any peanut butter, please let me know!

Of course, if you do find peanut butter, buy all that you can afford.

If you have a car, this entire process will be slightly less time-consuming.  Beware of rush hour traffic.

And when you do find peanut butter, most likely it will be the generic Shop-Rite version (from Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA) and high in hydrogenated oil.  If you're extremely lucky, you'll find the Calve peanut butter from the Netherlands (and please do share with me if you're that lucky!)

Good hunting!

Bike Shops / Sports Stores

This is somewhat of an update on my previous post about a bike shop in Astana.

About a week ago, we went to the bike shop that's on the other side of the river.  At one point I'll finally remember its name, it's something like Limpopo.  I was with my Kazakh friend, and we asked a worker to help fix my handlebars, which were loose (and easy to fix with the correct tools).  I had my friend ask if they could do check-ups or maintenance on bikes, he said no, they only do that on bikes that they sold.  (Bikes there are expensive.)  He said he thought that the other bike shop--far away from us--did that.

She also asked if they sold mirrors for bikes.  He said no, and he said it was because they are a sports store, and sell things for athletes, and athletes are concerned about weight, and mirrors add weight.

Then we went inside the store and saw that they sold, amongst other things, huge luggage bags, bells, and baby seats and baby trailers.  I couldn't help thinking, Does Lance Armstrong bring along his baby during his races?

A sports store called Sportsmaster opened last spring in the Mega shopping mall.  Sportsmaster is also located across the street from the Artyom shopping center/bazaar.  The one in Mega is where I bought Sophia's bike, and they have a limited selection of biking gear.  My friend bought her helmet light here.  There is one worker who speaks English rather well, he always seems to hear me and come running, happy to help. 

Just an update on sports stores.  It's definitely nice to have one near our home!

A Long Bike Ride

First, a comment on cultural differences.

If a car or bike is heading towards me, I don't think about right-of-way, I just get out of the way.  In my hometown, cars don't even think to look for pedestrians, even if they are crossing on a green light in a crosswalk. (I know that there are parts of the US where this is different!)

Here, if pedestrians here think they have the right of way, they'll ignore you, car or bike.  We'll be biking down a narrow sidewalk and Sophia will ring her bell, and sometimes they'll look at us, but rarely they'll move.  Even if there's obviously nowhere for us to go.  I get so frustrated, but I have to tell myself, it's a cultural difference.  They just assume they have right-of-way, and we better work around them.  Which is a nice thought.  And I will work around them, when I can, but I'd appreciate it if they would move out of my way when I can't!

So, biking here can be frustrating, but it can be so wonderful!  The weather right now is mild, the leaves are just starting to change, and yesterday we went on a 6-hour bike ride--my friend, her daughter, my daughter, and me.  We first biked to Mega (the mall by our house) and waited while my friend went inside to the sports store and had someone help her with her headlight.  She'd just bought a headlight for her bike and it wasn't working.

Then, we biked through the big central park and over the pedestrian bridge, maneuvering through pedestrians.  Luckily, as the weather cools, there are less and less of them.

We stopped and watched people on some of the rides--there are amusement park rides in the park, fascinating and scaring Sophia at the same time.

We stopped again at the park on the other side of the river (the one with play equipment designed like gym equipment--so much fun!)  We let the girls play while we checked out a newly opened Irish pub.  A glass of Guiness (not sure how much) is well over $10.  Overall, the prices were very expensive, so although the place looked very nice and was playing Irish music, I'm not sure if we'll come.  Maybe once, just for drinks.

We biked again to the Zhanur shopping center, on Valikhonov Street, in hopes that the supermarket there would have peanut butter, as they used to 3 years ago.  They didn't, but we did find caramel, which was nice.

We biked down Abai Street, checking out two restaurants as we went--an Italian restaurant, which we weren't in the mood for, and another Irish pub.  This one had a more moderately-priced menu, however the place was empty except for a bartender and two guys who just stared at me when I entered and said nothing, but kept on staring, as I asked the bartender for a menu.

They were smoking, too, so we decided this wasn't the place for us, so we biked to the American Bar and Grill (formerly TGI Friday's) and ate there.  We had the flambe, so the girls could be excited when it was set on fire.

By the time we were done, it was getting dark.  My friend had her helmet headlight one, which blinded us when she looked at us.  We biked home, over the bridge called the Rainbow Bridge due to its multicolored lights.

The weather here (currently) and the flat land is perfect for biking!  Astana just needs some bike lanes and a biking culture...