Off to the Markets

Today we are heading to the markets so it's up early and a Grab ride in to the Little India district where there is a small fresh produce market.

Things are done differently here and I recall it was at about roughly this point in our travels in India many years ago that we chose to give up meat while there. Our constitutions are a little stronger now. Perhaps it comes with age. There is no refrigeration here and I don't see any ice either.

The fish section is at least under cover. There are a couple of stalls where chickens are being butchered without such luxury. The remainder of the market is fruit and veg with one or two stalls selling packaged items.

We stop by a stall selling fried dough balls and sticks. I recall seeing these in Chinatown in Sydney. I have no idea what they're called but I think they are sometimes eaten with congee.

I do some videoing and then we head across the road in search of breakfast. I spot a place doing chicken and rice balls so we head on in. Absolutely delicious. We return to the market to buy some fruit, and I buy some thongs, before heading across to the river walk and back up towards Dutch Square where we order a Grab back to the apartment.

We head out again for lunch and this time head for the clothing markets. Richard wants to buy a shirt to work out in. Our Grab lets us out in front of McDonalds and inspired by my colleague Matt in Hong Kong who did an entire virtual tour of a McDonalds, we go in to check out what's on offer. The first thing we notice is that we can eat far more cheaply in the kinds of places we have been than at Macca's but they do have some interesting menu items.

Richard gets his shirt then we go in search of lunch. We find a place doing various versions of nasi goreng which will do just fine. We are also keen to find somewhere that sells plain, unsweetened yogurt and so we go in search of a supermarket since the mini markets so far haven't had anything like that. We find ourselves inside a big mall with lots of shiny well-known western stores such as MAC and Timberland and Bata but no supermarket. We'll try again tomorrow.Read more