I used to live in what is now called the "Asian" section of Oklahoma City. In 1981, when I lived there, it was just called Midtown; it was a little seedy, not gonna lie, but it was where I could afford a place, and where I learned to keep my mouth shut for the most part (which has never really been that easy to do). I saw things. I saw things I wasn't supposed to see on 30th street just east of Classen Blvd. I sat outside on my balcony one evening with my good friend Kathy and we watched a man literally pour gasoline all over the house directly in front of our apartment building, just before he torched it. Kathy looked at me, I looked back at her and we went back through my bedroom window, which was the only way to access the balcony...no, I'm not kidding. I remember I called the police, but it was in the days before you could push a few keys and get them; I had to dial zero (0) and ask to be connected. Those were the days.
Today, that area has been scraped, refurbished, renewed, and remodeled in most of the locations surrounding 1211 N.W. 30th, but the old homestead (I never called it that) remains as eery and a bit spooky as it did back in the day. Just a few blocks south of where I lived stands the very impressive Asian supermarket that has literally everything you can possibly imagine that you would ever want that could come from the far East. It's amazing, to say the least, and a feast for the senses for sure. When you walk in you immediately realize there's a fresh fish market close enough to be involved if you really wanted to be. Tanks full of fish, crab, lobster, oysters...you name it. You can have it. I don't want it. I just look.
My reason(s) for going to the market is so very boring to some but so very exciting for me. TEA!! TEA!!! and then there's more tea. I can get so many brands, varieties, flavors, and specialties. They don't have the name brands that one may think of when one thinks of tea, but they have dozens of other brands with loose leaves, bags, sachets, and infused tea. There is a small coffee section, but I'm not there for coffee -- they have instant coffee there. No thank you. I know that it's a big thing in the East, but NO thank you. I was told recently that the best-roasted ground coffee available is from Vietnam, so I was hoping they would have that there, they have so many other things. I didn't see it, but then again, I didn't ask anyone either. I have several pounds of coffee at home, so at this moment in time, I don't need it. I don't need tea either. I have several pounds of that at home as well...several...pounds. I have tea.
Jeannie went with me, and there's a section that she always finds herself walking through, which is just so dangerous for either of us to go through. It's not that it has a lot of things we could buy, no, it does, yes, but it also has knives! It has open flat kitchen knives of every shape, size, and design...just sitting out waiting for someone to come by and use them on someone. I probably shouldn't say that out loud, now someone may actually do that. It's not my fault if they do. This place needs to put those things away and out of the reach of would-be murderers and/or idiots who could hurt themselves...not to mention kids. I had to get the attention of a sweet but otherwise occupied parent today while their kid was reaching for one of the loose knives! I went straight into Gramma-Mode and it wasn't all that pretty. I think I may have caused a scene. Jeannie heard me from the other side of the aisle. At least the kid put the knife down.
Incense is another thing you can pick up at this place. They have tubes and tubes, boxes, and individual packages of the stuff. I picked up a bunch with about 30 sticks for .69 cents. Yes, I did. It's Nhang scented, and no, I don't know what to compare that to since I think most incense smells the same. It was, however, a bit thicker and dense maybe. I lit a stick and it took much longer to burn which caused my dogs, my daughter, and my best friend to question my purchase. I really didn't see anything wrong with it, but I've never been affected by the smell or smoke of incense. All that coughing and hacking...come on people, open a window or something you don't need to be so dramatic! I get it....geez. Wimps.
I picked up a can of Joy Luck brand Jasmine loose tea for $6.99 ($11.08 on Amazon) and brought it home along with McVitie's Rich Tea tea biscuits, and a package of chocolate "digestives" which are like rich tea biscuits, but they're chocolate and they say "digestive" on the package. Seeing the words "digestive" and "biscuit" when referring to a hard cookie just makes me giggle a little. I do love to pretend, and now my high tea will be complete. Jeannie indulges me as long as she can, but I'll need to nix the incense in the future. We had our high tea at precisely 3:15 p.m. today with the rich tea biscuits, jam, and a bit of clotted cream that I did NOT pick up at the Asian market, I made it myself. It is just such a useless thing to do, but I did it anyway, and we laughed ourselves to pieces over the disastrous mess I created just so we could say we had clotted cream at high tea! There are just some things worthy of laughing over, and my British tea time is certainly one of those things.
For no reason, and I do actually mean NO REASON, Jeannie bought a few little bowls that one may use for condiments, but I think people in Asian countries may use them for saki or something. They are really little. She liked them but has no idea what she'll do with them. I think I suggested condiments, but she insisted she probably wouldn't ever get around to doing that. Looks like I may end up with them next Christmas; which I won't mind. I can use them for jams, clotted cream, and/or some other spread for my digestives! I know how to do this high tea thing, folks. I am now so good at it...you too may have a giggle if you want to. I'm OK with that. As long as you sit with me and pretend, I don't care! I could sit the Teddy bears up on little chairs...that is not beyond my way of thinking.
In the end, when we are walking toward the checkout at the marketplace, we came to the bottled soft drinks with the boba bubbles and you know you have to do that. They sell the makings so you can make your own boba tea, and we may do that soon too, but I want to study it enough so I'm not making glorious disasters or embarrassing more than just one continent at a time. We checked out, and we started to walk away but remembered the little cafe on the top of the market that does actually make good boba teas, and it has little danishes and/or pastries as well. I guess it wouldn't be a danish if it was Asian...could be, but probably not. I did catch the smell of rice tea being brewed, and no, I am not a fan. About two years ago a singer in Scotland wrote or commented about how he loved it...I tried it...he can keep it. NO!
We ate our cakes, we drank our incredibly sweet tea, and then we had to walk around for an hour outside in the breezy brisk air so we would have burned a few calories before high tea. I am not going to jeopardize high tea for a few boba bubbles, it will not happen. We walked and gawked at the changes that have taken place in the city where we both live. It's literally only five miles from where we live, but we just don't venture there more than a couple of times a year. I still have canisters of tea I bought a couple of years ago that I've barely opened. I just go because I love the place. The energy is awesome...the produce is out of this world, and you can't, you just can't find better deals on ginger chews anywhere in the world than at this place. They have a dozen or so choices too. Yes!
So that's it for the day, we had a good time. We drank, we ate, we came home and did the same, and then we decided to walk again, this time taking the dog. That's another Ginger in my life...she's a sweety. She does high tea with me when no one else does. She isn't much for tea in her cream, so she takes the cream only, but then again, she'll do a few cookies or biscuits without needing to be asked twice. She's my girl, that one!!
Photo Credit: citylifestyle.com
Photo Credit: mcvities.com
No comments:
Post a Comment