As you can tell by my blog, I am totally fascinated by Korean culture. I like to think that I am aware of my surroundings...however today I had an eye opener. Ive been staying at this Hotel for two days now, and this afternoon I just saw this building next door...lol
Yes I am staying in a hotel next to a gigantic Korean church! lol. How ironic is that? lol
There is a small section of town on the west side of Houston that has a high concentration of Korean stores and restaurants. These can be found on Long Point Road in between Gessner Road and Blalock. This neighborhood is not the nicest, and actually is a little bit sketchy. I wouldn't recommend walking by yourself at night, but not so much to keep me from going! As you drive down Long Point Road you'll see all sorts of signs written in Hangul
My particular favorite stores in Houston:
So I felt like going out and do something for my blog. I decided to visit the local H-Mart for my readers and show them what Houston has to offer! (I also figured I could pick up some food :) )
Its not any regular H-Mart, its a SUPER! H-Mart!
It is so nice inside, which is a big difference from the typical "Mom and Pop" Korean grocery store (although they have their charms too!).
They have a really nice pre-made food section:
They also have a nice little "food court" area with different food, I'll admit, I was too embarassed to go up and get a real close up picture, but you get the idea:
Of course no Korean store would be complete without Kimchi! And do they ever have a selection. This is just 1 of 3 refrigerated sections that this Super H-Mart has!!
Of course, you'll need a place to store your kimchi (if your wondering what to get me for Christams, this will work :) :
Some of the very unique and rare things you can find at a SUPER H-Mart:
For those of you who have never visited an asian country this is an exotic fruit called Durian. The white thing is actually ice. Yes ice, to keep it frozen. Why in the world would someone freeze fruit? Its not to keep it from rotting. Actually its for the smell....yes, if you have to freeze something to keep it from smelling, it means it really smells bad! Durian is infamous for smelling extremely bad, so H-Mart keeps it frozen to keep it from smelling. You have to give H-Mart some "props" for selling such a unique fruit with such unique characteristics! I know when I was traveling in Thailand, hotels had signs that said that Durian was forbidden in the hotel rooms!!
Another, picture of the store in general. Even though it looks like the focal point of the picture was the rice wine in the middle. I was actually trying to get a picture of the Seafood section (without being too embarrassed..lol)
Interesting! The Korean church is right next to the hotel where you are staying! Stop by the church on Sunday and meet some people. At least you can practice your Korean. : ) They will be friendly to you.
ReplyDeleteoh, when I traveled to Indonesia, I tasted it for the first time. I spit it out once I put it in my mouth! It smelled like garlic! Strangely enough when I lived in Toronto, I had a chance to eat it again and it was delicious!