I love, love packaging on Asian candies. Super Lemon. Oh, powerful candy! All photos by Brendan.
Do you know that familiar feeling you can sometimes get while traveling? Like, the rush of being at home in a place, even though you’ve never been there before? Maybe you’ve felt it while strolling down the street of a new-to-you-city. Suddenly, you hear your favorite song floating somewhere in the air, like it was planted there just for you. Maybe you’re in a restaurant completely unfamiliar, and the Lasagna you’re eating for dinner is just like the kind your mother made when you were growing up.
Well for me, I get this feeling whenever I step into an Asian grocery store. I do quite a bit of shopping at them in my own hometown, but for some reason, you give me an store with Asian foods, and I go a little nuts. I once bought 5 lbs. of Thai Sweet Basil just because the store owner was unloading her produce inventory right then, and I just had to have an entire shopping bag full. When were in London last summer, my homesickness was cured by my discovery of a Thai grocery store just off the Queensway tube station. Whenever I felt lonely, I took my kids on a walk to buy some curry.
See these Totoro dolls? $83 for the largest one. Yikes. It was very hard pulling my children away from this collection of totally-out-our-price range plushies.
So of course, our first destination in Seattle had to be at Uwajimaya, a huge mecca of all things Asian. The selection of food and Asian gifts are amazing, with groceries being decently priced and everything else pretty pricey. My friend Amanda spent the summer here, and said this needed to be a must-visit place while we are here. So, even with 14 + hours in the car, it was the first stop. While were all exhausted, our mood perked up after one step into this amazing superstore.
Brendan was not as impressed to see all this Japanese masking tape as I was. Even after I told him of all beautiful things you can do with it. Please help me to convince him I need a couple rolls. Or five.
My favorite part about going to Uwajimaya? Seeing all the Asian ladies. I love to be around them. It’s like being part of a sisterhood of women who look just like you. I like to glace into their faces and think, “Oh, my mom was that tall. She would have probably looked just like her at 65.” Or, “Maybe I’ll wear that same outfit one day.”
Hopefully when I’m my mom’s age, or her mom’s age, I’ll still find as much enjoyment from browsing the aisle’s at an Asian grocery store. Because, it will always feel a little bit like home.
Me in a few years?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great photos! I love that top one of the Super Lemons. They’re really nostalgic for me because when I was in the 6th grade, Super Lemons were the coolest candy in school. You could look across the school yard and see little fluorescent wrappers dotting the lawn and asphalt. Amanda and Pete took us to see Uwajimaya when we were in Seattle, and it was like heaven. I love that place! Glad you could go. And Brendan, I use my pretty Japanese masking tape all the time. And it lasts for quite a while. I’m just sayin’…
hey, maybe you can pick me up some tape. i wanted to get some at a teaching store, but it was $25!
Of all your posts, these kinds are my favorite. Have so much fun!
veeda!
you have just made me more homesick!
look at those cute asian ladies. i miss my grandma.
i miss all things japan.
i had no idea that seattle had this kind of place.
i think a trip to seattle is in order.
Sasha, sadly I never got a chance to go back to the $1.50 store. So I missed out on my cute little plates. It was my first time in Seattle, and hopefully not the last! It was awesome.
i’m so glad you got to go here. it really is a nostalgic place for me too. just so other people know, there is an uwajimaya near portland–which is a tad bit closer than seattle. i believe it’s in the beaverton area. that was the first uwajimaya i’d ever been to, and i fell in love instantly. next time i go up, i am gonna have to check out that $1.50 store.