Sharon received the quickie tour of the Sprinkles Sanctuary first. She told me how girlie I am yet how comfy my place makes her feel. The thing that surprised her the most was how tiny my kitchen was in proportion to all the kitchen paraphernalia. I showed her my overstuffed kitchen drawers/cabinets and revealed to her the other places of storage for kitchen stuff. She said I can open my own catering business with all of it. Nah...but close.
I had warned Sharon that my aunt's house was like Little Philippines with the tropical fruit trees around the house and the decor inside. She agreed after seeing everything. My aunt fulfilled my request for a certain Filipino dish and augmented it with other stuff that Sharon and I quickly wolfed down. The grandkids were over, too, so the rest of the household was still full from a late breakfast. I doubt they would've eaten what we had. In fact, little Kristen commented how something was stinky and I brought a serving bowl up to her nose which she quickly wrinkled.
The Brandon Oriental Market had moved to a bigger spot as they had outgrown the other place. They had things I have never seen before at an oriental market. Spent $23 and took home three bagsful of stuff. Sweet. You get way more and way cooler stuff from the Asian store.
Our next stop was downtown where Oceanic, the mother of all Asian markets in Tampa, was located. Sharon had a good time looking at everything. We both shopped conservatively. This was only Asian market no. 2 out of 4 after all. From downtown we stopped at MD Oriental Market which Sharon loved. We took home one large cooked tilapia fish each. The one store she loved the most was our last stop: Philippine Oriental Market where we ate halo-halo for a late afternoon snack.
Just a few of my groceries...
Both of these cost $1.99: Round wooden chopsticks for Sprinkles and red plastic attached cheater sticks for Bridget.
Who doesn't have fish sauce mingling with their Colman's?
Sharon brought in some of her cold items in my refrigerator so she could hang out with me a little bit. Tired and suffering from sensory overload, Sharon couldn't wait to regale her husband and her mother with our adventures around town. She's not much of a cook, but she loves to eat and vows to run more tomorrow to offset all the goodies she bought. I loved watching her childlike delight in purchasing items she hasn't seen in 2o years and I enjoyed reliving the Philippines with her. It's all in a day's work for this AGOL. Mabuhay!*
*Mabuhay (mah-BOO-hai) meaning long-live and more recently something said to welcome foreigners like when the Hawaiians say aloha.
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