the doctor ordered a quiet day
Cousin PD arrived while I was still in the shower to take some of us to the morning market. I should have known this would not be a good place to go on an empty stomach! Luckily for those of you who have not enjoyed our dead animal photos, I forgot to take the camera. Let’s see if I can paint the picture for you.
While a decidedly fishy aroma wafted over from a steaming metal building, other sights confronted us. The fly-covered beasts hanging from hefty hooks in the direct sun were different-to-our-usual-experience, but not *too* unusual. Of more interest to me was the fact that the two butchers, each with long-bladed knife in hand, were dressed entirely from top to toe in white. And not a drop of blood in sight. Not on them anyway. Their huge wooden chopping block was a different story…and what was that sitting on it? One enormous black hairy pig’s head, eyes staring beseechingly, windpipe dangling, other internal parts similarly displayed. But even that was not too much!
The two chickens half a metre away called for a second look. Figuratively speaking, that is. Somehow they were different to the ones we saw in Melaka. Plucked chickens look more……well, actually, they look LESS like chooks, less alive, more dead. These ones were only newly dead. Their reddish feathers mingled with the blood dripping down in a pool from their slit throats. They defied CLOSE inspection, yet I found myself snatching glances as the guy quickly pulled back the skin, revealing something that looked much more like dinner. I couldn’t help myself – just had to watch!
I couldn’t, however, watch with the same interest as the children when the next victim was chosen; they stared intensely, I watched some old men nearby the pig’s head delightedly laughing amongst themselves at the kids watching the chook’s fate unfold.
After those chickens, the fish flapping about in the wet market seemed quite tame. The intense smell indicated they were not all fresh. PD was very particular about checking their eyeballs (clear please), behind the gills (bright red please) and the smell (preferably none at all thanks). She couldn’t get over the fact that we in New Zealand, an island nation, a country surrounded by the sea, would eat so little fresh fish and that it would be so expensive. I, on the other hand, couldn’t believe how cheaply she could buy it! A mere RM7 (or NZ$3.50) for a kilo of fresh sardines.
Beside the fish was a variety of vegetable stalls and a cocnut one. I’m sure the novelty would wear off it you did it all the time, but it seems so much more connected to your food source to buy your coconut milk in a little bag, having watched the seller split the fruit, drain it and grind away the flesh. Nothing added; no extra water, no preservatives, no thickening agent, no enzyme inhibitors. Just coconut.
Around the corner we traipsed to the pork stall. For the sake of the many Muslims, all pork “processing” is carried out in a separate building. Again, no polystyrene trays, no Glad Wrap. Just a pig hanging from a metal hook, its innards, trotters and head waiting on the table below. Choose your piece and take it home!
Being another frying hot day, we took PD’s advice and bought a couple of bags of soya milk. The ice was nice-n-cold, the drink flavour would take some getting used to.
Next came doughnuts, the very same ones we had tried making at home just a few weeks ago. It was good to see how we were *supposed* to have done it!
Clothing, electronics, plastic blow-up toys, New Zealand kiwifruit (7 for RM10), beggars rattling coins in tins….there was much more to the market!
But we hurried home. We needed to get out for dim sum (after eating the doughnuts of course)
Home again.
Knowing that we only had an hour before we due at our next appointment, we put the little ones to bed (they didn’t sleep – grrrrr) and shot out to purchase some gifts at a nearby hypermarket. We knew how to get there, it would be easy. But we made one wrong turn……and sailed right past the hypermarket on the wrong road, a road we couldn’t exit for another good 10km!! Thankfully by now we were getting a feel for the area and managed to retrace a direct route back again. Mission accomplished!
HARI RAYA OPEN HOME/BIRTHDAY PARTY
At the next door neighbour’s house, in spite of only arriving yesterday, we were invited to the celebrations. More food. Mountains of it. Peeking into the kitchen, I saw 10l containers of chopped chilies, chopped onion, crushed garlic, quartered eggs, cubed cucumber, and a massive (I’d estimate 40l) plastic box of white noodles. The pots of curry approached *unbelievable*. Luckily for us, there were so many people it was easy to blend into the background and avoid the food! Any other day it would have been a delight to sample all the delicacies, but we were still recovering from dim sum and were aware we had yet to go out to a Seafood Restaurant for dinner.
Highlight of the celebration for the girls was having their hands henna-painted:
After a couple of hours the black peels off, leaving a henna-coloured pattern, which lasts for at least three days (actually it won’t be totally gone for a week).
SEAFOOD DINNER
On the way ER2 fell asleep in the car. Not surprising really – we were arriving at her usual bedtime, recent bedtimes have been after 10pm and she has missed her daily naps as well. Surprisingly she stayed asleep for over an hour stretched across our laps. Upon awakening, she was not *too* grumpy – nothing a few prawns couldn’t fix.
food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food
So ended our quiet day. Well, not quite – we still had to pack as we would be up at 6 in the morning.
Tags: food, postcard: Malaysia
rayres
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hey there!!! so glad i found this blog! i browse through then only realised it was all of you!!! (i kinda remember you lil girl that playing with my son by the fence that day hihihi)
omg! very adventure and interesting life!!! Too bad i did not have the time to chat on that day..was very busy entertaining all the guests! Anyway, thanks for coming! Hope you enjoy!! at least i know that all of them enjoy the face painting and henna!!
Btw, i have few pictures taken by my hired photog for the event.. maybe i can email to you if you would like to have it.