THE IMPROMPTU BREAKFAST SESSION WITH A FRIEND FROM SUNGAI PETANI

Puan Suhana Abdul Jamal, a friend of UPM TESL Class of 1993, is in town. She is visiting and taking of her mother for a few days.

Early this morning, she messaged me to notify her whereabout. She was with her mother at Kampung Melayu Market [now known as Medan Niaga Kampung Melayu], about to have breakfast. She asked me to quickly meet them there.

I managed to get there in less than 10 minutes as the venue was quite near [and there was no heavy traffic]. I had Cucur Udang and then a plate of Sate to be shared with the other two diners. It was a short sit in session. This was my first time meeting Puan Suhana in Johor Bahru, despite the fact that she frequently comes back home, believe it or not. There is a possibility for another breakfast session after this but we shall wait for confirmation.

VISITING SUNGAI PETANI MARKET ONE FRIDAY MORNING

   16th MAY 2025    ~ The market in Sungai Petani town was just a stone's throw away from the hotel. As I always enjoy visiting the market during both my domestic and international trip, this was something I would not want to miss.

Surprisingly, there were still not many people at the hour when I arrived. Guess the morning activities started late in this part of Kedah on Friday even though it as a weekend for the state.

After walking and looking around, I already felt like crying to find out the [very] low prices of the fish and the seafood on sale. You would have to spend much more in the market in Johor Bahru.

I am already thinking of bringing an ice polystyrene box the next time I visit Sungai Petani.

VISITING PENAGA MARKET IN PENANG

   15th MAY 2025    ~ After the brunch session at Teratak Wan Din [READ HERE], I happily tagged along the hosts to Penaga Market as they had to get something from there.

We first went into the market in the permanent building and there were not many people when we arrived. One reason could be there was also another morning market outside.

healing session

healing session no more

It was only a short visit before we ventured out into the morning market just outside.

DRIVING TO THE EAST COAST TO SAKOM BEACH MARKET

   24TH NOVEMBER 2024    ~ It was time to leave Hatyai but we did not intend to leave Southern Thailand yet. From the centre we then drove to east part of the Peninsula, heading towards Sakom.

The destination: Sakom Beach Market.

The mission: To shop at the market before leaving Thailand.

The market was actually stalls under a canopy by the sea. I had a feeling the whole market could be blown away if there was a very strong wind blowing from the sea.

You could buy fresh seafood in one section of the market. Wish we could buy and bring home the fishes, crabs and prawns but we dared not take the risk as we still had a long way to go.

In another section, there were stalls selling cooked seafood, and everything was fried. The colour and the size of the food would be something hard to resist. I had to remind myself that we had planned to get lunch after that so I could not buy any food from here.

We shopped at the stalls which sold seafood products, like salted fish and "belacan" [shrimp cake], and snacks. For one thing, I managed to maximize my luggage weight to 16 kilogrammes, exceeding the limit of 15 kilogrammes allowed [after adding on].

Sakom is another area populated my Muslims and they were running the business at the market. They could all speak Malay language and I was always looking forward to converse with the locals in the language.

Right at the end of the market was where Sakom Beach was located. The water was quite choppy and looked quite hostile.

When the shopping cart was already full, we were ready for the next gastronomic adventure in Satun.

PRECAUTION: The market roof is quite low. If you are someone tall, then you have to be extra careful. I knocked my head twice against the bars below the roof.

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