Agreed. Cooking up something inventive in the kitchen, chopping ingredients as pans fry minced onions and garlic, throwing new spices together; it's a whole lot of fun. Whenever I have the time, this is something I love to do.
Same. And I don't even have a fully-stocked cabinet, yet. Need to hit up the japanese and indian supermarkets. And any others that I can find.
I prefer to shop at places like that than places with an 'international' section. You get better quality ingredients, at cheaper prices. And a wider variety!