Markets of Kota Bharu

Ahh, the markets of Kota Bharu...also know as The Travelling Circus of Em & Alyss! Turns out Kota Bharu doesn't get many tourists, let alone to the more local markets. Suffice it to say everyone had a great time and Alyss & I were extremely well fed. And we also know that "suda beli" in conjuction with pointing to bags we're carrying makes everything a lot smoother in markets...translates to "we already have"!

Highlights:

1. Pasar Central: The central market was unbelievable. So many fruits (most unidentifiable), fish parts, coconut goo, carpets, fish...you really could get just about anything there. The best was all the vendors - just row after row of old ladies sitting cross-legged in the middle of all their goods and selling you anything and everything. The best was when I got nearly a kilo of rhambutans after specifically asking for two so I could show Alyss what they were. And the funniest part was she kept throwing more in the bag whenever I wasn't looking. Hilarious.


As for the rest of the old ladies, they were more concerned with the fact that we were 23 and not married! Yes, there was a lot of tsk-tsking. And the fact that we had boyfriends didn't really seem to help, but it did get rid of some of our male followers. Except of course the fish vendor that Alyssa made friends with...



2. Night Market: Again, few tourists but luckily it was dark so we didn't stand out (as much). Imagine a huge parking lot with row after row of carts hawking plastic bags filled with every type of food you could imagine! And then there were BBQ stalls with satays, murtabaks (a french toast meets curry chicken concoction), squid-on-a-sticks (no joke), and more. Even though we somehow weren't hungry, we still managed to get just about one of everything, except the squid because I just couldn't imagine eating something with eyes that big!