Thursday, January 10, 2008

Pasar Pagi Selayang - Fishy Tales

Fish-Monger01

One of the fishmongers, shafina and visithra didn't manage to get him but I secretly got his mug shot, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

I often love walking in market places, there's always so much to see and take in from the fishy smell of seafood on ice, the putrid odour of slaughter as the butcher prepares the meat for sale to the pungent aroma of spices and fresh crispiness of the vegetables and fruit on sale. The cacophony as the customers jostle to get the best choices and the loud bellowing of foremen giving orders to their workers to loud yet friendly bargaining between the steadfast old aunties with the recalcitrant stall owners.

So Pasar Pagi Selayang was a natural location when Shafina suggested it and in the end only a few of us were there including Visithra, Shafina, Amir, Syahrin, Din and his pal. The day started as usual with the ritual of mamaking, traffic was horrendous as people parked at all available venues including the road shoulders, alongside the row of shophouses and backlanes. Lorries were also making pitstops to unload goods and old uncles with their bicycle strapped with an unimaginable load of produce were swerving in and out of traffic and I worry about my car's paint job.

Our first stop was at the seafood section. Every time I step into the wet market I can recall sharply that my nostril is infused with the smell of blood and meat. Rows upon rows of fresh seafood from fishes to shellfishes to crabs to even bigger fishes were being hawked here. We went ahead and took our pictures as usual and the funny thing was we must have look tremendously out of place as within minutes of the group of us being there the news had spread about, a very efficient means of information relay if I may say so, until everywhere we went we were greeted with smiles and smirks and some even came to posed for us, going all out to take the largest fishes out of their containers to impress upon us. One of the shopkeepers was a bit shy and kept on looking away whenever the camera came to him and no manner of cajouling by Visithra could make him pose. Others were very open as Shafina found when a couple of guys posed with their fishes for her.

Slogging through the wet floor was a bit of a challenge but nevertheless it was fun walking through the aisles and taking stock of what was being sold.

Crabs

Crabs, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Fresh-Fish

Fresh fishes, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Fish-Mongers

Fishmongers at their stall, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Inner-Beauty

We all look so different from within, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Just-Looking

Fresh fish, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Container

Containers used to store the fresh fish to be delivered to the fishmongers, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Fish-Sort

Trader sorting through his bulk purchase to be divided into smaller piles for sale to customers, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Fish-Heads

Fresh seafood, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

Choices

An assortment of fresh fish is there for the picking, pasar pagi selayang, kuala lumpur.

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