eastern exposure

The other day, I took myself on my bimonthly trip to one of the Asian markets in my sacred homeland the westbank . It's a former Walmart converted about a decade or so ago into a huge supermarket, with a wall of aquariums filled with live fish, more ramen noodles than you've ever dreamed of, and a produce section with carrots the size of my...umm...wrist.

Oh, and the smell of dead fish and durian that'll knock you to the ground if you catch it in the wrong nostril.


While there, I ended up buying (yet another) pack of joss paper. I don't know why. I have no use for it, but I can't help but buy it. It's so pretty...and only 2 dollars!

Long ago, I framed a sheet or two...and I've also used it to decoupage a box. I once used it to wrap a small gift, for a person who didn't really seem to appreciate it.
Ah well, one tries.

Now I'm just too lazy to do much of anything with it, but I couldn't help but buy it.


The main reason I went was to buy herbs. The herbs there are cheaper than at the supermarket, there's a better variety....and most seem locally grown.
I got some mint, cilantro, parsley.

Oh, and Korean moon pies.
Yeah, you heard me right.


Korean freaking moon pies.

They're not very good, however.
Those Koreans might have nuclear warheads or whatever, but you can rest assured that moon pie technology is still proudly in the our hands.

God bless America.



Later that week, I made some Nasi Goreng, some type of Indonesian fried rice, with tamarind paste and shrimp and tomatoes and fried eggs and a lot of other things that added up to a big blah.
It was ok, but not worth the effort.


I also bought some bread from the local Vietnamese bakery, which I also always do when I go there, three loaves, fresh from the oven, for a dollar. You can't beat that.

Ominously, the place seems to be on the verge of being invaded by hipsters. How they ever found their way to the westbank, I don't know.
Something is clearly wrong with the world when one sees hipsters on the Wank.



One, clearly a hipster émigré from the North, and his girlfriend were leisurely wandering the aisles in front of me---she dressed in the standard skinny jeans/ American Apparel top uniform.

He, however, was bare chested, barefoot, long wavy hair wrapped up messily on top of his head, taut body wrapped loosely in an off purple sari...(in February?)...like some kind of wannabe Devendra Banhart, but better looking.

Shiva, as cast by Abercrombie and Fitch.
Yeah, he was hot.

Of course I had to follow them.

Sure enough, somewhere in the ramen noodles he turned a bit too fast, and don't you know he wasn't wearing underwear.

The lingam was in the macaroni, baby.

I didn't get a picture of that, but I did get a picture of this Thai aluminum serving spoon:







$ 3.00!