Holiday shopping... or taking a quick trip through Asia

As the day progressed and I thought about the week ahead, I realized that it would be wise to go to the Asian market to get what I needed for Tet/Chinese New Years on Tuesday today rather than trying to squeeze it in on Tuesday. I'm glad I did because my trip to one store became a trip to three stores.

The first was Park to Shop. Being a mainly Chinese store, I was pretty convinced that it would have everything I needed. I could go, grab the things on my list, and head home to be back in time for tea. When I got there I realized that this was not going to be a fast in and out trip. It was busy! I've never had to park so far away and there were no shopping carts available. This last turned out to be okay because the one thing I really, really needed wasn't there. Earlier, when I had asked my people what they wanted to have for dinner, they chose a stir-fried dumpling dish that they all love and Y. really wanted some stir-fried lotus root. I don't know if you've noticed, but Aldi doesn't carry lotus root; nor does Jewel for that matter. I was pretty disappointed that Park to Shop didn't have any. I have bought lotus root many times at H-Mart, so I knew I would have to head there next. All I bought at this store was a tray of dried fruits that we've enjoyed in the past and a package of whistle candy because they were at the check-out and I knew they would be fun.... even if they are a Japanese candy and Japan doesn't celebrate the lunar new year.

Did I head straight to H-Mart? No, because I knew I would be driving right by Patel Brothers on my way. We had a red lentil dal for dinner tonight and during my errands I suddenly decided that samosas would be a great addition to dinner. (Because really, do you even need an excuse to stop and get samosas? No, I didn't think so.) So from China, I headed to India where Patel Brothers was possibly even busier than Park to Shop and I couldn't blame the lunar new year. It. Was. Busy. I was good and didn't browse even though I love browsing in Patel Brothers. (If you've never been to an Indian grocery store, you really need to go. I think they have the best produce sections anywhere. They are things of beauty. Plus, you can get samosas.) So there I was with my little carry-out container of samosas waiting in a very long line with people who had clearly done their weekly shopping. That would be people who cook everything from scratch and needed a lot of food.) It was lovely when the checker took me ahead of the person with the very full cart. I was most grateful. 

Then on to H-Mart, where I really should've gone in the first place because I've gotten everything I needed there before. It was a little farther, though, and I was hoping that I could find cool Year of the Tiger swag at Park to Shop. (No, no cool Year of the Tiger swag, so don't go looking. I miss the Chinese Walmart where we found everything you could imagine with monkeys on it when we were there right before the new year and it was turning to the Year of the Monkey.) Anyway... 

I found everything I needed including two bags of Chinese candy packaged for the new year. No, I have zero idea what kind of candy it is. That is much of the fun for my people, trying new things when you have no idea what to expect. There was even lotus root. I'm not sure it's lotus root season because the selection was not great, but I managed to find enough that looked decent. 

Food-wise I'm happy to report that we are now set. Tomorrow I will get out our decorations and put them up. At some point I will also need to get to the bank for some cash, because we hand out li xi (the Vietnamese term for the red lucky money envelopes... which I still have enough of) to children. For me, this is all really planning ahead for the holiday.