Asian food tour, anyone?

We had the great privilege, with the Allens, to go on a tour of the local Asian food markets by our friends Luke and Becca Nichols. Being with the Nichols alone is an experience, they're hilarious and so entertaining. They are pros at getting the local steals on Asian food, not to mention the Asian experience (Luke served his mission in Japan). We got to see all sorts of exotic fruits and vegetables, live animals sitting ready to be bought for dinner, and more variations of rice than we knew existed. The highlights were:

1. The man grabbing live Maryland blue crabs with tongs and dropping them into a big paper bag. You should have seen the way they all pinched onto each other into a giant live crab chain, and then he'd beat and swing them with the tongs until they separated, like it was not big deal. Just taking live crabs with their pincers un-tied home in a paper bag. So funny.
2. The nasty looking soft shelled turtles for sale at $15 a piece. Dinner! We were grateful Lincoln is a pretty turtle to dissuade us from eating him for dinner.
3. Luke giving us every possible tip on rice cookers, asian treats, and which fish is the best to eat and how. We loved how he made us feel the skin of a shark (this one was already killed, no worries) because it's soft in one direction and feels like sandpaper in the other direction. He told us they used shark skin for the handle of their swords because it gives you such a good grip.
4. Walking into the Great Wall of China store only to hear an awesome dance remix version of Spice Girls' If You Wanna Be My Lover, combining America, China, and some sweet 8th grade memories all into one moment.
5. The koala cookies, pictured here. My family better remember these!! When we had Japanese exchange students living with us back when we lived in Maryland about 18 years ago (wow, we're geting old!!), they left us with some of these tasty chocolate filled treats, and the box still looked exactly the same, I was so stoked, and Jon was an instant fan.

So, if you're ever looking for a foreign excursion right here in VA, we would recommend a few hours with the Nichols. And Dad, I hope you're so proud of me for getting some quality exposure with a little bit of every-day Asian culture.