Market time….

If you have followed any of these travel blogs, you will know that one of our favorite things is to visit a local market so I was THRILLED when I came across this one not far from our apartment…… It was made up of stall after stall, each selling a few items.  Interestingly, they each seemed to specialize in certain things so the variety was infinite.

The vegetables consisted of a lot of greens and were very artistically displayed, although we didn’t know what a lot of them were….

I loved the curve in these green onions…..

And these beans were cool, especially with the stems and leaves still attached….

The color combinations were gorgeous…..

By the way, they have MANY different types of eggplant, ranging from the size of your thumb to these huge beauties….

The gnarled ones in the middle are Bitter Root…

There was a huge mushroom section….

Interesting forms of meat, from tail…..…..to trotters…..

I love the whole chickens with their feet in the air.  The one on the right is a special black chicken.  Michael had Black Chicken Soup one day for lunch and said that it was wonderful….

And, what market would be complete without a few dead ducks……

Fish was in evidence with many tanks holding the live fish for you to choose from….

or you could get them dried….. …..or how about some squirmy squid…..There were a number of stalls that were selling pre-made food.  This is a condiment stand, selling all sorts of pickled vegies and other goodies….. 

These are roasted eggplant and looked SO good.  Of course, we would have added salt!!!! 

We loved this cold chicken soup….especially the foot in the mixture…..       

I have taken SO many photos of this type of scene, but I am just drawn to the colors and textures of the bean and rice markets…..

We had seen a pea green paste that people were buying and wondered what it was.  Then we saw this lady using a hand grinder to prepare the paste.  She acquiesced to our request for a photo, but took a lot of grief from the women around her…..

There were huge tofu sections in the market but we were most intrigued by this “stinky tofu” that is covered with a hairy mold.  This vendor was doing a brisk business!!!!

   We are not sure why the eggs are covered in this grain.  It could simply be the stuff that the eggs were packed in, but we are thinking that they might  be fermented in the grain…..    

There was one stall that held the machinery needed to make noodles and then this stall with the noodles hanging to dry……

This noodle seller also stayed very busy…..

This woman was making dumplings and it was fascinating to watch her fill the thin pastry with the pork mixture, and then basically tie them into a bow….We love to find people with quiet smiles and this woman fit the bill for a great photo…..   

While walking back to the apartment, we passed two things that I just have to share.  

The first is this clothing store…..

….and yes, the name is “Unsightly and Peculiar”!!!!!!

And, although this is not a good photo,  can you see the dentist chair sitting in the window?   Wouldn’t you love to have the world walk past and see you with your mouth numbed and hanging open while you drooled on yourself……   

And finally, another in the “Bike Photo” series…..