Roselle Tea (洛神花茶) and Island East Market (港島東農墟)

I have a thing for farmers market and this past Sunday, my friends took me to the Island East Markets (港島東農墟).  The market is smaller than what I was expecting but it's still good to see fresh, organic produce from the local farms. We had a fantastic time shopping for fresh product and patronizing the food stalls.  Even though the bratwurst hotdog (Dakmark style???) was quite pricey, but we were persuaded by the aroma (and the long queue). Don't ask me, I have no idea what Dakmark style means. I split the hotdog with my friend and we went "all out" for the sauce Oh! Madeleines! A few products caught my eyes and I ended up buying some Roselle and red okra.  I had Roselle tea before but I never knew what they look like when they are fresh so it was cool to finally meet them.  Some stores are selling bottled Roselle tea but I always prefer making my tea from scratch when presented the opportunity. Since I still don't have a fridge at my new place yet, I only bought 0.25lb of Roselle (~12 buds) - just enough for a 1L bottle which I can consume in a day or two. How I survived without a fridge is a mystery to both myself and my friends, especially when I loved to eat so much...  It's both good and bad living without a fridge... I can better portion my groceries since I know I can't have any leftovers but at the same time, I can't buy any dairy products and I miss my cheese (and cold beer)!!!  (Don't worry, I will get a fridge soon...) The tea is very easy to make and Roselle has many good health properties.  (洛神花含有豐富的花青素、黃酮素、多酚，可以養顏美容，有調整血脂，維護肝臟健康的作用。洛神花具有解熱、抗高血壓、治療肝病、平衡身體內的酸鹼值的效果；酸酸甜甜的洛神花茶，也是炎炎夏日最佳的消暑飲品.)  The flower blossoms every October / November so even though summer is gone now, it's not an excuse to skip this delicious health drink, right? Ingredients: 12 Roselle 1.5L Water (Optional) Honey to taste Directions:    1.  Gently wash the Roselle 2.  Peel the petals, discard the seed. 3.  Add the petals and water into a pot and bring to a boil in high heat.  Reduce to low heat and simmer until the petals turns transparent (takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes).  Discard the petals and let the solution cool. 4.  Ready to serve.  Add ice / honey to taste.  (It looks and tastes exactly like Ribena to me but I know this is au naturel! I think I am going to explore the other farmers markets in Hong Kong next.  Which one is your favorite? P.S.  My iPhoto f*ed up again and caused a lot of the photos to disappear in Flicks, which led to missing photos on my blog... I am too lazy to fix all of them as the effect is mass...  I have stopped using iPhoto altogether and maybe I will have time to re-upload and re-link all my pictures... but before that, please bear with me...