Wednesday, October 21, 2009

What will I buy at the market today?

Today I went to the Tai Po markets for some meat for tea. I was able to shop in peace because Craig worked from home today and kindly kept Tirzah with him. As was the case in Africa, I was the only white person in the whole market. Unlike Africa, however, I was not hassled with calls to "Come and buy! I give you cheap cheap!" This is not a tourist market at all; it's where the locals shop. And what a feast (or assault) to the senses! ... so many exotic smells, sounds, and sights to absorb. I think you could buy just about anything you needed here.



Shoes


Jade jewellery


Smoked fish and other interesting looking edible items (at least I assume it's all food!)


I have no idea what dried spices these barrels contain; they smell so mysterious.


Vegies


Fruit

Fresh flowers


I was amazed how each rosebud had been wrapped to preserve it.


I couldn't bring myself to choose a live chook from a cage and wait for it to be beheaded, plucked, and chopped up.



Instead, I bought my chicken breast from this poultry stall. It seemed more acceptable that it came wrapped in plastic.


Bags, bags, bags...they're very useful things...if we didn't have bags, what would we use to put a lot of things in? (Yes, I'm a die-hard Playschool fan.)


Snacks


Clothes


Haberdashery


I bought some beef mince here. I only knew it was beef because there was a picture of a cow above the stall.


Pork (and every other part of a pig you can imagine)

Fish

Even the kitchen sink! Who needs Bunnings for your hardware needs?

2 comments:

  1. Yay, you got the mince. How much a pound was it?

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  2. Hi, Lauren...it's all thanks to you! The mince was $45 a pound...still pretty pricey. R

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