I took the opportunity to join the ladies who lunch, the men sneaking out to buy something special for their partners (to beat the weekend deadline, a rainy weekend is a long time to be in the doghouse if you’ve forgotten a Key Date), the travelling oldies and the window shopping uni students at the David Jones Food Hall on Market St. I have never seen the Food Hall so …. peaceful. I could count with one hand the number of people queing at the counters, the numbers of people seated at the tables. It looked and felt exactly like a library – ordered shelves, empty aisles and near silence. I like the table and chairs in the mid ground. I felt like taking a box of something off the shelf and sitting down to have a closer look.
I just browses and took some photos. I think living in a city makes you a bit blase about what the local haunts offer. I really enjoy visiting supermarkets and food halls when I am overseas. Some of my favourites are Dean and DeLuca, Whole Foods, Carrefour and the local corner stores of the city I happen to be visiting. Especially in the US – there is so much choice! There’s diet everything and flavours of snacks that are appealing to my inner junk food monster.
So I made like a tourist – not hard with a camera bag, shopping bags, pin straight hair and the Vuitton d’jour and snapped away. I have ‘pan Asian’ features. Complete strangers will speak to me in Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and of course, Chinese (you’re on the money with that one). I get asked if I’d like the price in yen at the shops.
Why can’t the reference desks of all libraries be decked out with swivel chairs, crisp linen, sparkling glassware and cutlery? Brains need food whilst researching.
The Easter decorations were rather sedate – this is DJs after all and it is weeks until Easter. Nothing too exciting but I just liked the precision with which the shelves are filled.
The Great Wall of Donna Hay!!!! The eigth, ninth, tenth wonder of the world (so many wonders, so little room on the list). Featuring some of my favourite books. Have yet to try her biscuit and cake mixes. I did visit her General Store in Woollhara a few months ago. It is full of beautiful things and is housed in a lovely corner shop. Will try to find photos later of when I did visit, I felt sheepish and peculiar taking photos there so sadly, I think the results will be dismal and not fit for the blog. I love the warm but slick production of the magazine but felt intimidated in store.
I hadn’t noticed before, but there are quotes on the walls. Adding to the atmosphere of education and research that I was already feeling as I paced the aisles, under the influence of both caffeine and chocolate.
I could only photograph the hard cheeses and none of my beloved blues. Someone was catering their Friday evening drinks party in front of the soft cheeses and it would have been rude to photograph her from the waist down.
And finally I walked out and down past all the major redevelopments of the Pitt Street Mall area down to The Strand. A piece of retailing that seems to have stood still in time. But beware, though the building looks antique, the pieces are anything but. There’s such a diverse range of clothing and lifestyle stores, with prices ascending ever closer to the sky as you climb each level.
