A Chinese shrine in Gloucester

Gill and Sheila are coming to dinner tomorrow evening and Helena wants me to cook one of what she calls 'Steve's tofu special'. It is a moveable feast, based on whatever I can find as ingredients but with spicy sauce and soaked in coconut milk with separately fried marinated tofu chunks in ginger, garlic and lemon grass. Gill lived for many years in Hong Kong, where she brought up her family, and Sandy is a vegetarian, which I was for nearly thirty years. I hope they like it.

I went to get the fresh tofu and other ingredients, including the delicious 'mooli', from the Yip Shing, my favourite oriental food emporium in Gloucester. They are wholesalers, but also allow local customers like me to buy small quantities of their many goodies. I love asian foods, having enjoyed a ten month stay in Penang, Malaysia, with regular visits to Thailand, Burma and Sumatra. That was nearly thirty years ago, which seems hard for me to believe now.

Today I was being served by Angel, one of the very friendly and helpful assistants, and asked her if I might take a picture for my Blip. I explained what that meant and suggested she look at my Blip tonight and even join, as she has just bought a Sony camera. Go on, Angel!

When I was sorting out my order, I'd noticed this shrine set quite high up in a corner of the warehouse, reminding me of most shops in asian countries. I had to stand in a strange position on a set of steps, rather precariously. The lighting was fluorescent and a bit far away, but I managed to avoid using flash, although it might have helped you to make out the rather ferocious looking warrior, who appears as the centrepiece of the shrine. Sadly there were no joss sticks burning, which I always like. I don't know anything about the meaning of or the rituals involved in this particular shrine, except it is of chinese origin, possibly from the Hong Kong area.

I have taken blips at Yip Shing before, showing some of their foods,
here
and
here.