I like going to markets - particularly outdoor markets such as the Air Itam ("Black Water") market in Penang. It's located inland on the northeastern side of the island of Penang. By the way, Penang is said to resemble the shape of a turtle. In Chinese popular beliefs, the turtle is a symbol of longevity - thus a good geomantic (fengshui) feature. I used to live around the Air Itam area but since I was 12 my folks moved to Gelugor (see map). As a kid, going to this market on the weekends was always a treat. We bought at least 2 if not 3 of our pet-dogs from this market many, many moons ago. I can only remember the names of one of them - Rex.
There's Ryan, catching me in the act and giving me the evil-eye.Ryan's stopover in Penang gave me an excuse to walk around Air Itam market with a camera - having an "angmoh" (literally "red-haired" - used in local Hokkien dialect to denote any Westerner, in Malay, any Westerner is colloquially referred to as "Mat Salleh") around is always a good excuse for anything!
Scooters everywhere. It's a pretty efficient mode of getting around, being that roads are relatively narrower and there are no winters to reckon with in Malaysia. I'm sure the environmental impact is probably no better than cars (although, surely better than trucks and SUVs with one driver and no passengers). Penang is known for having lots of scooters and my cousins from outside of Penang have always feared driving in Penang as they are nervous about all that scooting around. Buut what you quickly learn is to drive as if they are not there - they will know to move away from you when they need to.
Mom selecting some chicken for dinner later that night. [Curious note: During our 5 days in Vietnam we were served poultry not even once. Bird flu?] Most of these open-markets or wet-markets (Ryan: "Why are they called wet-markets?" Hun: "Umm... you'll find out first-hand/foot when you get to the seafood section.") sell all kinds of all things. The usual (and unusual) meats, vegetables, fruits, daily necessities, cooked food, clothings and household items. And pets (no, we don't eat dogs in Malaysia).
But we do eat frogs, eels and tortoises. These are considered special/fancy fare - not your everyday pork, fish and vegetables. Increasingly though, devout Buddhists have been going to markets to rescue these creatures by buying them from vendors and releasing them back into the waters.
