Asia in the City

June is my birthday month.  As such, it is awesome.  In order to celebrate the beginning of this spectacular month, my friend Audra (also born in June!) and I took a mini road-trip today.  Our aim was to eat delicious food and celebrate all things Asian.

First, we went to the Peking Gourmet Inn where we ate the most delicious Peking Duck!  It was a really fun restaurant with gorgeous painted lanterns hanging from the ceiling and pictures of famous people posing with the chef covering virtually every inch of wall space.

Then we went next door to the super-classy 88 Oriental Market where we purchased such delicacies as Hello Panda cookies, aloe juice drinks, and jasmine tea.  The aloe juice looks pretty disgusting because it has chunks of aloe pulp floating in it, but it tastes really good and is incredibly refreshing.  I discovered it while in Singapore last year and was super psyched to find it today!  Audra also got some tamarind candy, which is pretty weird.  Tamarind is a really sour fruit, and the candy is chewy pieces of fruit coated in sugar, salt, and chili powder.  It wasn't bad, but I've never tasted anything like it before.

The last stop for our "Asia in the City" day was the Super H Mart, which is a truly magical place.  There are tons of fruits I've never heard of and an entire aisle of nothing but noodles!  Audra was horrified that I'd never tasted lychee (aside from an icky lychee soda at the Coke Museum in Atlanta, so she bought a bag.  We went out to the parking lot to enjoy the sunshine and the fruit.  I was surprised both at how crazy good it was and at the vast amounts of juice that baptized me once I tore the skin.  I was ridiculously sticky for the rest of the day!

We finished off the day at Reston Town Center with a visit to Sephora and Anthropology.  They might not be Asian stores, but they are awesome and not located in Winchester.  All in all, it was a lovely beginning to my birthday month.  

My next outing will be "Greece in the City."  Any suggestions for awesome Greek restaurants and Greek-themed activities in the NoVa area would be greatly appreciated.