The jolly group of 6 adults and 2 kids met in the balmy morning setting of Chinatown's hawker centre, ready to have our palates tickled and tantalized. The aromatic, fragrant flavours of the busy hawkers titillated our olfactory senses, whereas the colourful sights of hawker dishes in all kinds of varieties teased our gustatory senses to no end.
It was gratifying to see both sets of our parents chatting like old friends, and even more delightful to see how the Bees revel gleefully in the cocoon of the grandparents' pampering love.
We had a thoroughly satisfying breakfast of splendid hawker delights, comprising of the best wanton mee I had ever tasted in a long time, succulent chee cheong fun, sweet beancurd and other epicurean wonders. The grandparents were thoroughly thrilled by our suggestion of meeting there - thanks to Hubby's brilliant idea, and they kept reminiscing about old times, especially the grandfathers :)
After breakfast, we sauntered to the wet market below. It was an eye-opener for the Bees, whose closest wet market they had experienced was a perfectly dry one in the neighbourhood. This Chinatown market had wet floors speckled with a few stray catfishes struggling and squirming on the floor, much to the Bees' fascination.
There were also all kinds of exotic wares on sale, ranging from crocodile meat to eels.
Fresh abalones for sale
Fish maw before their dried up, preserved state! The Bees loved this.
It was noisy and crowded, filled with a multitude of aromas from raw fishes to resigned frogs waiting to be butchered to sweet-smelling fruits and vegetables.
There were a motley variety of all kinds of fishes, alive and dead, for sale, and the Bees were amazed as we meandered past many stalls.
It was vibrant, alive and energetic, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Sadly, Hubby and I always questioned how long such trades could survive in urban Singapore, and always made it a point to reinforce to the Bees our roots and historical past. It definitely helped to broaden the Bees' knowledge of history when their grandparents recounted stories of ages long past, in a different Singapore with a completely different pace of life.
We certainly hope to be back here with our parents and Bees on a frequent basis!
3 comments:
I have never seen fish maw in this state! Haha! Yes, I agree that we should bring the kids to see such scenes before they are totally wiped out in the future.
I wish my kids would enjoy the wet market as much as yours. I've brought them there a few times. At most, they'll go "Wah! So many fishes!" once before pinching their noses and asking to GET OUT! They fare better at the fruits and vegetables segment where they'll ask me to buy fruits and more fruits. Hehe
viv: Yes, scenes like these are rare these days and might be wiped out in future. It will be good to bring our children to places that hold strong nostalgia for us too, so they can truly understand their roots.
k: Hee, on the contrary, I am like your kids, always pinching my nose and breathing through my mouth whenever I am in wet markets! Whereas the Bees seem to revel in these sights and smells...thank goodness they are not like me :)
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