Yesterday we managed to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods at Easton Town Center to find some sporting goods we can take back to the Philippines.  The store reminds me of R.O.X. in the Philippines except that it’s at least four times as large and it’s not exclusive to outdoor sporting goods.  Our timing may have been bad since there are only a few items on sale so I didn’t buy anything new, but before we left the store I noticed these items:

In the Philippines I can only find energy bars—everything else is as rare as a needle in a haystack.  Here in Ohio aside from the interesting finds I mentioned in my previous post I also found a variety of related items: energy gels, energy blocks, and energy beans.  These products provide the same purpose as an energy bar or gel but they were made for variety.  You’d normally get tired of having the same energy bar or gel over and over again that’s why they made it in various flavors.  It’s also tiring to only have only solid and gel form (which I already mentioned is rare in the Philippines) so manufacturers here have products that are “in-between.”  If you want your energy food for your race or training you have the energy bars, if you want it a bit softer you may opt for energy beans, if you want it really soft go for the energy gels, but if you want it a bit more solid but not as hard as energy beans you also have energy blocks.  All of these also come with different flavors thus expanding your energy food palate.

It’s always interesting to visit groceries and sport shops here: you’ll never know what items you’ll find.  Of course this may just be coming from a “tourist” point of view.  I hope that these products eventually reach the Philippines—all I see in the market are energy bars, even the selection for that is limited.  I didn’t even know that Snickers Marathon existed until that visit to Dick’s.