There is a store across from Alderwood Mall called H-Mart- that I visited recently. I was having dinner with my friend Kendra, who told me she had found a place to buy whole pheasant as a treat for her kitten Nagi. What she described sounded so wonderful that we adventured there that same night.





H-Mart is an "Asian Food" Grocery store that evolved into an enclosed mini-mall (would this just be a small mall?) There is a bank, a food court, a jewelry store, an event hall, a bank, etc although it is unclear to me if all these smaller stores are under the same ownership. We were there around 9:30 right when everything was closing and the proprietor did not seem pleased with our giggling exploration

The grocery store was the largest segment of the H-Mart whole by far. I was struck by A) how beautiful and bright the product packaging was and B) the incredible product variation.

For example SALT:

I was struck by how dreary the United States must seem in comparison to, if this store is an accurate sampling, someone from Japan who is visiting

CANDY:

Of course to my sheltered sensibilities the most amazing part was the meat and fish section which was huge and was where one could buy whole birds, freeze dried whole minnows, exotic mollusks etc. and most impressively an entire giant octopus for (we think) $40

I desperately wanted to buy this, but I could not figure out how that transaction would pan out once I was home. Most likely I would disect it and turn its limbs to art and then a cat snack