Shops

I took a one week trip to Beijing in early January. It was mostly to see my grandfather, but to be honest, most of my time was spent wandering various arts districts with a cousin, my sister, and my dad. I kind of have a thing about not taking pictures of pictures because I think it's tacky, so I spent most of my time creating pictures of my own...which usually means stalking unaware strangers and searching for colorful things in the dark.

Happy Chinese New Year. Not really relevant, but these pictures are from China, and both lunar and solar new years have passed.

Doors & Shops (Barcelona, Spain - 2/2009)

I never went into any of them.

Tumen 5 - No Vons (Tumen, China; 11/2008)

The North Market was a one-stop-shop for everything from fresh fish and vegetables to fly swatters, school supplies, and tailoring services. It was one big open rectangle, with vendor spilling into vendor. Butcher tables and seafood tanks stood in the center while vegetables, grains, beans, and other dry goods flanked the outer walls. Behind those walls, there were small eateries for dumplings and noodles. And those stood alongside hidden, often unmanned shops.

It wasn't so much the eating and shopping that I enjoyed--I kind of just liked getting lost in a landscape that was so different from the sea of Del Tacos and supermarket chains in the LA burbs.

Shop at night. (Barcelona, Spain; 2/2009)

I was on a side street in Las Ramblas in the middle of the night. Stores were still open, their colors deeper and more saturated than what's permitted by daylight.

Not sure if I thought anything more about this moment other than that it was really beautiful.