RICHMOND NIGHT MARKET

Richmond night market on a Sunday at dusk.

Oy. I have a new laptop. It's a Dell and it's red. My mouse is red too. It's purrrty...and faster and a whole bunch better.

Everything looks so wonderful but I have been having nothing but problems with Blogger because I can't click and drag my pictures in the Compose mode and I don't want to fiddle with it in html though I know how to cut and paste in it. I also am having a whole lot of aggravation with the sensitivity of the keyboard and the touchpad. Every now and then for some reason, my screen's view maximizes on its own or sometimes I accidentally open up a new tab.

Weird things are happening that I haven't seen before.

So, it's taken me about 8 times longer to post something than usual. I gave up trying to upload a bunch of pics because it was wearisome trying to reorganize them. I hate how blogger just spits them out wherever. So, I created collages first.

Hey! now for some reason, there's like circles showing up all over my screen. They're like water rings that move out from the centre and they also go from bottom to top of my screen. So weird.


a bonanza of cheapie toys, sunglasses, techno gadgets and even underwear and socks can be bought at the night market!

We headed out to the Richmond Night Market around 6:30pm on a Sunday. We found ample parking and walked the 10 minutes to the market from the parking lot. It was still warm and sunny and Bib was in her stroller. The market officially opens at 7pm, but many vendors were already set up. About half of the stalls were already set up at 6:30 and ready to sell their wares.

There seemed to be an inordinate number of stalls selling pretty much the same stuff: a whole bunch of sunglass stalls, dvd stalls, techno-gadget stalls and cheap jewelry stalls. I couldn't believe how many stalls sold underwear. Like how are you going to try on any of the bras out in the open? They also had stalls that sold just socks...hundreds of socks: Hello Kitty socks, Instant noodle socks, Pokemon socks etc. You could buy Chinese tea, plants, knick-knacks, kiddie toys and electronic games, purses, shoes, wallets, refurbished iPods and cell phone decor. I found a stall that sold fresh local berries. They were delicious. They sold a ready-to-eat fresh mix of them in individual plastic cups so you could grab, go and eat. And we did. Even that magical Shammy cloth was sold there.

the food stalls are the highlight of the Night Market

What do most people do at the Richmond Night Market ? Well, I didn't see too much buying going on in the retail section. People mostly walked around lookie-looing. However, the food section was bustling with activity. Huge lineups indicated that the stall was worthy. I noticed the takoyaki one was pretty long. The bubble tea and eggball stalls were pretty busy too.

Most items in the retail section were less than $20. Many of the items I looked at were around $10. At the food stalls, you could buy most items for under $5. Most people go to the market for the food. There's so much stuff to try out. They had Dragon's Beard candy, dim sum, takoyaki, bbq squid , corn, smokies, pizza, Japanese-styled hotdogs (think Asian condiments) and bubble tea. There was grilled squid and meat skewers, fresh juices, fruit, noodles, buns and though I didn't go looking for it, there's usually stinky tofu (yuck!) There was so much to try and so little room left in my tummy!

Bebe's got the Pearl Milk Tea and Bib fought her for it. Bebe's bigger (almost 6!) but Bib screams louder and fights dirty. We had to break it up by inserting another straw in the cup. Then, it was a sippy-contest to see who got more of those little carcinogenic bubbles they love so much! Yes, we love it; no we don't indulge too often fortunately!

Stomach was seduced by the huge grill with the little squid tentacles spilling across it. The little curly legs were calling him. He took off and came back with some grilled squid and fried tofu all smothered with sweet Thai chili sauce. Though I had no inclination to try it, he said it was good.

My favourite thing to eat at the food stalls is the tako yaki. It's a little savoury doughball with a chunk of octopus in the middle. It's topped with takoyaki sauce, mayo and bonito flakes and seaweed. It doesn't sound like it should be so good, but it is. You could also ask for shrimp or other fillings if you like. I never bother trying anything other than tako. I love watching them flip the little dough balls. They used a flick of their wrists and the skewers to rotate the balls to cook all over and make perfect balls. The texture is a little crispy outside; slightly chewy inside and the mayo and takoyaki sauce all brings it together. It's very Japanese and very good.

If you're looking for the Richmond Night Market, you turn right off of Bridgeport Road (that's where Ikea is) and drive past McDonalds and Home Depot. You'll see signs posted everywhere pointing you to parking. Parking is actually free and ample if you get there early like we did, but it's about $5 if you get there later or want to park close. It's $5 to park in the lot where the Night Market is. It's located on 10 acres of light industrial land amongst warehouses. The Night Market is open on Fri-Sun. Fri-Sat from 7-midnight; Sun from 7-11pm. Holidays are Sunday hours. It's on from May 15 to Oct 4, 2009.

12631 Vulcan WayRichmond, BC

It was another great day of eating and I will keep you posted of more places to have fun and eat in Vancouver this summer.