Kelenga BanSan...

Thursday. One week surely flew faster than the Concorde. Living in a small little island makes our heads reel whenever we have to think about the places that we would like to go for a morning walk. After last week's short trip to the morning bazaar in Air Itam, a few days back we went to another morning bazaar behind Chowrasta market. Although I stay in town, but I've never really walk around the heart of the town mainly because I neither like walking under the scorching sun nor driving around the lanes searching for an empty slot to leave my car in. I have my comfortable walking rubber shoes on, if you think they are ugly then it's not my problem. I'm only responsible for what I write. I'm one who do not care about what others' think. After zig-zagging a few lanes, we found an empty spot. It was in one of the narrow lanes. Then, to my horror I saw that it was actually a bicycle lane but motorbikes and cars were zooming passed without slowing down. If I'm to cycle on that lane I think I will end up underneath some vehicles or being dragged along the tar road.

It was my first time going to Kelenga BanSan. I have no idea what kinda English word they used for that morning bazaar. Kelenga means Indian in the Hokkien dialect. BanSan stands more market. Indian market? Anyway, all the stalls were lined along a narrow road, on both sides of the road so no cars will be able to drive through the place unless you're on motorbikes or bicycles. I was quite shocked to see so many people on a weekday. There are many people at the Botanical Garden, even more people at the Youth Park, more and more at Bukit Dumbar, jogging and doing their morning walks, lots of cyclists around the Air Itam Dam. It makes me wonder whether Penang people work or not. There were all kinds of stores there. In your first step, you may find a store selling all sorts of breads and buns and the next store will be selling fresh chicken meat with the man holding a big sharp knife hacking away on the poor chicken's thigh. Then, next to it will be a stall selling t-shirts and blouses, the stall opposite belongs to a fishmonger. There was a stall selling... nonsense. A type of cream to massage a woman's asset and then it will be enlarged. Pure nonsense. If I were to finish the whole bottle of ointment in 30 seconds, will my asset 'grow' from cup A to cup H? Most of the things are from Made in China so the quality of the things are questionable. I dare say that the things in a bazaar are no longer as cheap as yesteryear. I'm one who is very used to hanging out in air-conditioned complexes such as Queensbay Mall, Gurney Plaza or even going on a shopping frenzy for grocery items in Tesco. Raw food stuff in the market is cut throat expensive. What shocked me most was looking at the man lying down on floor on his stomach to beg for money. I seriously don't think he was borned that way. Is there a syndicate doing this kinda thing, forcing people to go begging for food after chopping away their limbs? I shall not discuss about this. I'm in no liberty to discuss such an issue. Right until now, I dare to conclude that the highlight of our morning walks is food. Nothing but food.

That's the famous curry noodles, it tasted normal to me. Lam mee wasn't that nice. Chee cheong fun... I'll still opt for the one in Genting Coffee Shop in Island Glades. That's the best of the best chee cheong fun. There were so many people standing around to look for an empty table in the small coffee shop. I can't promote the coffee shop as the name was written in Chinese. And I'm a half-baked banana, can speak but can neither read nor write. In the end, I have my motor mouth working and we shared a table with an uncle. Then we were chatting away with the uncle like he's our long lost friend when in actual fact we don't know him at all. There goes the advice of "NEVER SPEAK TO STRANGERS". According to the uncle whose table has been terrorized by three ladies, he said that the koay teow th'ng appeared in the cable television programme so it must be the best in town. Sad to say, I think the koay teow th'ng was so-so only. The best koay teow th'ng still comes from my own kitchen, prepared by my hubby, perfected by yours truly. After walking around and seeing our money grew wings and flew out of our wallets, I was attracted to a shop with the name Pots, selling kitchenware. I was mesmerized by the wide range of kitchenware that they carry in the shop. The magnetic force of the pink porcelain set of plates and large bowls pulled me straight to it. I was doing some mental calculation and I think I landed on the figure RM500 to upgrade my kitchen. All in all, it's not that cheap walking around and spending at the market. Here's a summary of where my money went on just a short trip, walking up and down the lane:

1. I was short of 3 chicken drumsticks so I bought 2 whole legs and it cost me a bomb. 2 whole legs cost RM8, that was freaking expensive compared to 6 drumsticks for RM6.80 from Tesco. No matter how fresh the chicken is, it won't be fresh when it enters my house. I will still dump everything in the huge freezer as I'm not one who shops a few hours before I slog in the kitchen. This was what I meant by cut throat expensive.



2. Next, I tapao-ed home a packet of curry noodles for my hubby since it's suppose to be the most delicious one in town. Cheap... RM3 only.



3. I saw a pair of shoes that looked like the Croc design. I use to wear the original Croc but I guess no matter how original it is, it will become unwearable due to wear-and-tear. That pair of pink synthetic rubber shoes cost me RM15. It was priced at RM18 but I think by now, you should know that since I have a motor mouth, I'm very good in price-haggling. Of course there are prices that can't be haggled. Have to let them earn. It's their hard earn money.



4. I bought a t-shirt because it was pink in colour. I'm always attracted to anything pink even from afar. There goes my red note... RM10



5. I tapao-ed some sort of jelly dessert home. RM2 for one, so my RM6 had been liquidised and turned into jelly.

Not to forget about food, my RM50 note vaporised into thin air and transformed into food stuff and accessories for my body. I think I will just bring a RM10 whenever I go out next time. It's really weird that until now I still feel that I've spent too much when it was just RM50 but if I'm spending a few hundred ringgits in a shopping mall, I don't feel even a pinch. In my mind I still expect the 3 t-shirts to cost RM10. That would be some 20 years ago. I just feel like there's no value in our money. Well, I still have to thank God that we don't have to push a trolley of money just to buy a watermelon.