Turku denizens, I need your hopefully better sense of direction/memory:

[cimorene]

I thought I had seen a red-bordered Chinese grocery display window on Brahegatan, but it turned out to be Bagdad Export and on Aningaisgatan. They have a ton of tahini, hot pepper flakes, and mango juice in boxes, but they are totally not the store I thought I remembered.

I'm remembering a window displaying blue-and-white china teapots, and I was hoping for bulk jasmine rice and chopsticks and hot chili oil. Did I hallucinate this shop, or did it used to be there and go out of business, or is it actually located in another part of town?

If you walk up the hill from Puolalankatu behind Stockmann towards the art museum, and turn left at the end of the street there and keep walking past some apartments and shit and then turn left again and walk back towards the river, somewhere around there is where Wax's #2 friend Aki used to live, and when we were walking to and from his apartment I used to see a giant toyshop as well as a Chinese grocery. I think. Unless I'm actually thinking of some other place. But because I could get lost in a brown paper bag, I don't dare try to go back there without Wax. Does anyone know where I'm talking about?

And hey, has anyone ever been to a paint store in town? The only one I know of is just on the other side of the bridge to Runosmäki??? Raunistula, but I'd kind of like a larger one.

Comments

[bibliofilen]

Ingen aning men detta inlägg är så bra skrivet att det får mig att vilja hoppa på en finlandsbåt omedelbart bara för att kunna vandra runt på gatorna där.

[cimorene]

Konstmuseets området är väldigt fint för vandring på sommaren!

[mecurtin]

Speaking of which:

Andrew Sullivan's View from Your Window for today.

[cimorene]

An interesting view!

[mecurtin]

Do you know where it might have been taken? It looks kind of like a college dorm to me ...

[cimorene]

We don't have dorms. There are several hilly, rocky areas of the city where it could have been taken, but I don't recognize that particular spot.

[morningfine]

Somehow I didn't notice this entry before. Anyway! There is indeed a Chinese-ish grocery that at least in the past has had blue-and-white china in the window on Brahenkatu. It's in the block between Eerikinkatu and Linnankatu. I've never been inside; to the street it looks like an "ethnic" store of no particular ethnicity (they also have baklava in the window) so I don't know if you'd find the stuff you want there.

For rice in bulk, though, wouldn't the similar stores in the market hall be your best bet?

Bell and I were sharing a desire to see you just the other day. I'm at least available for exploring!

[cimorene]

Oh yes!! I miss you guys! My schedule is an open book except for how I keep staying up all night and then sleeping so late that everything is about to close by the time I wake up. XD However, if pre-arranged, I think I could drag myself out of bed in time to go downtown in the afternoon pretty much any day (unless Wax suddenly announces with no warning that we have plans that she didn't tell me about, but I'm PRETTY sure she is just working for the next two weeks).

Also, okay, that is reassuring but also kind of sad. I suppose I have seen both of those grocery shops and my memory just kind of smished them into one so that when I saw Bagdad Export Oy there I just figured I was mistaken about the other shop.

As for the rice, there are biggish bags in the market hall, about the same size as the ones at Bagdad, but I (and more particularly, our Chinese-American friend who just moved to Rauma) was hoping to find the slightly bigger bulk sizes that I'm used to from US Chinese groceries. For her, particularly, cause I get the feeling she cooks a lot more than I do. :D