For my third and final post from this H Mart mini-series, I move beyond semi-exotic food. The images don’t seem to have much in common, and you’ll be correct. They are miscellaneous observations loosely tied under cute and colorful.

However, taken together, it’s clear this Asian supermarket differs from the typical Safeway, Kroger, or HEB here in Texas. You won’t find these items or scenes in the mainstream stores.

We start with sake, which is now probably available in regular supermarkets in the wine section. However, the selection at H Mart is extensive. I found the unique golden design within a sea of more conventional packaging.

H Mart is a Korean store that sells Asian foods from many different countries along with popular American items. I noticed that Koreans are as fascinated with cute designs as the Japanese are.

I’m assuming this Hula Girl cutout is a promotion for poke, some of which you can see on the back wall. Poke, like sushi, seems to be going mainstream, at least in the larger U.S. cities. Heck, I’ve even seen poke at Costco, though, without the colorful Hula Girl graphic.

I found this poster behind a wire shelf promoting mi goreng, a fried noodle by Indomie, an Indonesian company. For your reference, I never heard of the company until I Googled it for this post. I like the poster but didn’t find any fried noodles nearby.

Next to the H Mart supermarket, within the same giant building, is a food court and vendor area where I found this colorful cherry blossom tree. It’s sort of random but pretty and part of my Leica D-Lux 8 camera test. Ultimately, having an EDC (Every Day Carry) camera is an excellent way to capture the unusual. But I was also in active testing mode for my latest camera.

Finally, there was a Korean bakery with fancy cakes like this one. We bought one similar to this, a strawberry shortcake with holiday designs. Shockingly, it cost $48. The cake was always a premium indulgence but inflation has really taken a toll. However, it’s very delicious and capped off a wonderful Christmas dinner with the entire family.

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