Mar 3, 2008

gum and soda

The other day, I made a pilgrimage to the Hong Kong Market.



It's a former Walmart on the westbank that was converted a few years ago into a huge Asian supermarket, putting many of the smaller ones out of business (much like Walmart itself).

One walks through the sliding glass doors into a marble tiled atrium, pristine and clear, and within 20 feet, you're assaulted by the stench of, well, who even knows.

It's fabulous.

In the back, behind the bizarre display of produce (there were carrots the size of my forearm last time...and get your mind out of the gutter, please), is a wall of huge aquariums, 8 feet high, each swarming with live fish and...again, who even knows.

So, what did I walk out with from this Asian wonderland? Two dollars' worth of soda and fifty cents' worth of chewing gum.

But as one would expect from Japan, it's pretty cool.

Ramune soda is more fun to open than to drink (though it is pretty good). It's like a little science experiment to open the bottle. One must first detach the marble pressing tool, then press down on a clear glass marble. The marble then falls into a chamber in the top of bottle, which initiates the fizz.





The gum was less exciting, but the peach and the apple flavors did have robot tattoos on the inside of each label.
I'm wearing one now.

12 comments:

Silly Monkey said...

Why does it look like the Metairie Whole Foods?

What, no photo of your robot tatoos? Your girls are going to be jealou.

Christopher said...

Everything's cooler in Japan...and what's this...no tat photos???

jason said...

It's in an unphotographable...umm...area.

Breezy said...

How cool! You'll have to let me know where it is since I work over on the Best Bank.

jason said...

"Best?" Ha. But it's on Behrman going to Algiers. You can't miss it.

Breezy said...

I was being diplomatic.

joe*to*hell said...

i guess its pan-asian then. japanese shit in a hong kong store. hmm. i smell racism


show the tatts

Angel with a crooked halo said...

Oh my root! How have I never heard of this place?! Oh wait- until recently, my trips to the w'ank always ended with me lost and in the projects. But now that I am temporarily working there- I am thinking of belting a bottle of sake and trying out my obnoxious Japanese accent at this store!! Who knows, maybe it will satisfy my dream of going to Tokyo- being 5'8", I have always wanted to go there so that I could feel tall!

the instructicator said...

i love the teriyaki font on the Walmart storefront. very 'corporate melting pot.'

jason said...

It's been there for, oh, five years or so?
It's actually Vietnamese owned, but nearly completely (now) Hispanically staffed.
It's a "melting pot" indeed. It really is a wonderland.

imgovtdrone said...

I have driven by it several times but have never had the desire to go in and check it out. They have a lot of nice Asian stuff at the World Market also, that is where I bought my Japanese soda which sucks.

Silly Monkey said...

What are those things next to Breezy's name? Tranquilizers?