To Market

I love the popping when you chew them.

One of the best things about California is the pockets where different cultures flourish. If I want to get the best soda, made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, I go to a Mexican grocery store. If I want a tub of masago to make my favorite nigiri at home (or just eat with a spoon, which I totally do), there's always a Japanese market somewhere within driving distance.

Besides the ability to acquire foods that my walking-distance Ralph's doesn't seem to realize I need, these areas have another bouns: imported goodies!

On Saturday I went with some friends and trolled through Marukai Pacific Market in Redondo Beach, and Mitsuwa Market Place in Torrance, where I treated myself to saki ika, Gummy Chocos, a couple of Iwako erasers, a strawberry tote bag, and some nigiri. While some of these items may be difficult to find, they were entirely reasonably priced; the strawberry tote, for example, was less than half of what I usually see it priced as.

Now this is a Saturday.

Sunday started off innocent enough with a trip to the second annual Renegade Craft Fair, where I purchased the most awesome locket ever, entitled Octopus Tea Party, by Locket 2 You. (Side-story: My companion and I were back-to-back looking at these lockets, and both turned to show each other... the same locket! So we both bought it.) On the way out my all-things-cute buddy notified me that she had never been to Little Tokyo, which is obviously a crime, so we went. I will refrain from listing the many things I bought there, but just being inside the Little Tokyo Mall is happiness, and the bookstore across the street, Kinokuniya, is a great source for Japanese masking tape (I got three rolls of matryoshka, she got some polka dots).

But the real treasure of the weekend, the real thing that inspired this long-winded gushing about the joys of my shallow indulgences, is my new strawberry tea service for one.

The owl mug is from Target's Valentines' Day 2009 collection;
I like to chase my hot tea with cold water for maximum zen.

I've been looking for a tea service for awhile. I almost went with Decole's Strawberry Cake Mug, which of course only went on sale when they sold out of pink. Then I yearned for Sun Art's Matryoshka Tea for Two, but it is just plain too expensive. This glorious piece of tea-pouring art was very reasonably priced, especially seeing that this one is ten dollars more (after converting Euros to USD). I have spend the last two days guzzling tea, my favorite guilt-free treat.

Moral of this story: Don't be afraid to shun the American shopping malls and big corporate chain stores in favor of these magical little pockets where English isn't a priority.

Also... I couldn't help myself: