fresh?

i don't get to the korean grocery store as often as i'd like, so when i passed one on my way back from a work-related appointment on friday, i stopped in. for the relatively korean-market-free southbay, freshia is fine. decent selection of produce, and it was all quite fresh. they also seemed to have good quality, fresh meat, although you do pay for it. the selection of everything else was sufficient. it was on the clean side (although h mart and other, newer korean stores are trying to do the cleaner, hipper thing, too).

see? wants to be of the now and halfway succeeds. confused stacked stone + stucco + corrugated metal facade, although i'm sure the facade was just added on to the strip mall's existing exterior.

oh, and there's a tous les jours (chain bakery with korean-french style goodies) inside. i remember enjoying their bread and baked goods immensely when i tried them in korea, but i haven't tried any of the U.S. outposts since they started popping up a few years ago. i didn't take time to try this one, either, as the belly really does not need it (plus i had lots of perishables in my cart).

a few of the goodies i grabbed:

strawberry gummies

fried sweet potato snack
sweet popcorn-like snack

gigantic, resealable bag of shrimp crackers
nonghim's (the brand's) basic product has come a long way.

frozen boong uh bbang made from rice flour + red bean paste inside
(little street food cakes that usually have red bean paste inside a fish-shaped, dough exterior)

damn that kitty.
she suckered me into buying a soft drink, even though i'm trying to go back to the water only thing i used to be so good at.

and lastly, a big bag of sweet, ripe, delicious cherries. the bear and i both strongly dislike cherry flavor but love real cherries. now is the time, folks, if you want some. i also used some of them in a baking attempt, to be blogged later.

on the way back to the freeway, i was enjoying the shade provided by big, old(ish, for california) trees on the big street. then i enjoyed their contrast with the refineries behind them.
as much as the refineries make me go "blech" (despite the fact i desperately rely on them), i love how their lights look from the freeway at night. sparkly, orange pretties glimmer at you.

like you even remotely care about my groceries. or my random, blurry, taken-while-driving photos.