We haven't been to Newmarket for a while, lets go...

Well, I made it. I'm 65 today. Last year on my birthday we went to the NZ Mint and bought some silver. Today, I realized that we hadn't been exploring in Newmarket for a while and that I missed it. It has lots of ethnic markets and restaurants, some of them just little holes in the wall, but they are chock full of good smells and fun. 

Newmarket is the stop just before the end of the line at Britomart. (downtown Auckland) Our favorite place in Newmarket is the Russian deli, Skazka. In fact, this deli is the reason we came to Newmarket the first time. I was searching for the soft drink called Kvass, which is made out of black or rye bread, and I read on-line that Skazka carried it. We stop there every time we come to Newmarket. Not only do I still like to buy a bottle of Kvass, but I generally also get some hunter's sausage, Russian beer, and sweets of various kinds. Jeanne brings home things like spices, noodles and bread mixes.

But, there are many more ethnic markets and many of the Asian kind are under one roof in a block-long series of shops.  Let's take a look.

Here we are arriving at Newmarket. We go up the left hand escalator and then take a right to get out to Broadway Avenue.

I'm seeing more of these double decker busses lately.

I've stopped in at most of these little markets already. It's hard to browse through them because there is no English used at all on the products. (and very little from the clerks.)

One of these days I'm going to try the duck. (starting to get hungry)

Oh good, some English.

Wow, now this is more like it. Come on, Jeanne, let's go!
...Unfortunately, it was closed, and the building was empty. Somebody's dream didn't work out.

Here's where we ate lunch, one of those fun little hole-in-the-wall places. Their menu too is limited. They offer crispy chicken with fries or seasoned chicken with fries. (and a little fish) The seasoned sauce is sweet and liberally dusted with sesame seeds.

I call this my favorite place in Newmarket because I like their chicken and I like the two Korean ladies who run the joint.

I was thinking back to my days working at the Robinson and Khoury factories and the hundreds, maybe thousands of items that needed to be purchased. Then, I compared that list with what few things these two must buy every day to produce their product.

And still, they are very successful. Jeanne and I discovered No. 1 Chicken a couple of years ago when it was in it's smaller shop. They did so well there that they decided to expand to this larger place!  It appears that we are alone, but shortly after this picture was taken two school girls came in for lunch and we saw a steady stream of take-away orders being picked up.

 The Kiwis seem to love to adorn bare walls, even those found in alleys.

 Another example

 You wouldn't think that it would be easy to lose this cannon. It must weight several tons,  But, it happened. Read about it in the next photo.

Well, that's all from Newmarket for today. Sometime soon, I'll post some pictures from a Victorian mansion we came across during our continuing exploration of Newmarket. It's called Highwic.