Monday, April 16, 2007

Market Days

"Silly Billy and Funny Bunny are friends. It's true. My mommy told me when you weren't here."

This was Maddie's response when I called her a silly goose. (I later told this to my sister and asked if it was something she ever said - of course not!)


We stopped at the Fontainebleau Sunday market yesterday. I love going to fresh markets - they're usually very colorful and alive, and each country/area is so different. I don't have digital pictures of all that I saw in India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia or Taiwan, but they are in my memory. (Honestly, I felt self conscious about standing out as a foreigner, and didn't want to whip out my camera and set off the flash nor block traffic by stopping to take snaps.)

In Tamil Nadu, there would be seller after seller with the same item - like mounds of peeled onions. It was amazing to think that one small town could go through so many of one type of vegetable. I loved the variety (Indian eggplant, okra, cabbage, tiny garlic, carrots, onions, drumsticks, dahl, rice) and was always eager to help in preparation and eating of the combined result. In Da Nang, there was always a strong stench near the drying seafood. I didn't enjoy the sights of chopped animals, but the sheer amount of meat was certainly an interesting contrast to the vegetarian markets in India. At the Central market in Siem Reap, I bought some really tasty steamed buns from the nicest of sellers - we didn't have a common language and I admired her effort and patience with me to tell me the cost of her goods - and mostly her honesty as she didn't try to overcharge me at all (unlike all the taxi drivers).


In Chiang Mai, the stalls were a bit more spread out, selling hundreds of items that would disappear by the time I returned a few hours later. I was lucky to coincide a visit with Chinese New Year, where the market spilled into the street for festivities - there were huge vats of oil for deep frying thai fish cakes and dozens of stalls for making your noodle dish fresh. In Melaka, I joined my cousin's family to a very small, intimate seafood market, right by the ocean, and watched as my uncle examined the fish and talked with the fishermen to choose something fresh. In Penang, I would walk around in the morning admiring all of the foods for sale, and get out of the way as the occasional motorbike would try to get through the throngs of people. In Taipei, I wandered through streets with snakes, rabbits and turtles on display in restaurant entrances - leaving feeling completely disgusted and saddened at the future of the helpless creatures. In Jiufen, I sampled the most delicious mochi products I've ever had, filling up on the chewy sticky wraps around peanuts, beans and other fillings.

Photo by Tuyet

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