Question from Triston

Have you had any interesting experiences in the wet market?


ANSWER: I think walking into any wet market is an experience for any American! Just the culture shock alone is enough to deal with. Yes, I'm sure those Americans who live in a farming environment wouldn't be so shocked by a wet market (my only family has a farm that I used to spend summers at I regularly saw my Aunt kill chickens and saw cows being slaughtered) but it does take some getting used to. Once you get past the smell of fresh meat and fish, it's really not all that different from a farmer's market. I think the one thing that struck me strongly was that knowing people WILL eat just about any part of an animal possible. I've seen all kinds of cuts of meat that normally I would not recognize. It's all there for someone to choose and take home. I don't recommend it if you have a squeamish tummy or you really love animals. The last time I was in a wet market was in Singapore with my friend from Chicago and he loves exotic food and this is the perfect place to buy it. I couldn't help snapping a photo of a pig's tongue while we picked out what we were going to eat for breakfast (see photo) heehee! The place we went to was a wet market downstairs and a food court upstairs so don't think that we picked out fresh meat and then cooked it! I remember the first wet market I ever went to was in Shanghai, China and I kinda knew what it was. The appaling moment for me was when I saw a guy that had cages of turtles and cats and I thought he was selling them as pets and I thought out loud "How cute!" until my guide that day said that they were someone's dinner, I almost cried. People will eat ANYTHING!!