If you have friends from overseas visiting here (especially the Mat Sallehs) and you do not quite know where else to take them around after showing all the concrete jungles thinking that you want to impress them – try taking them to pasar tani (farmer’s market).

As tourist, many of those friends that I took to pasar tani were impressed and enjoyed the short walk along the crowded path with stalls and squeezing around the people under the umbrellas and the heat (if you go late).

We sometime did not think they are here to see the normal everyday life of the general public and the natural colors of the population and crowd. Thus pasar tani is definitely natural sightseeing for many of them.

Here are some of the photos of the colorful blend of people, vegetables, food items and everything …

The pasar tani at Taman Ahmad Razali (Ampang, Selangor) flats is a small one but yet it is just as exemplary as other bigger ones. And today it seems to be extra quiet with more than 20% of the stalls not operating.

Make sure you do some homework and know what are they called in English

Some of them prefers a slow walk looking at the variety of vegetables

picking basket ...

know when to use brinjals and when to use eggplants

Most likely they will never see this in their lifetime in their own country

A close up

Make sure you know which is bilis and which is anak tamban

You may want to know why do people buy dried chillies for

don't mixed up with the variety of "bawang"s ... bawang merah, bawang besar etc and doing a direct translation!

garlic ... excellent for blood thinning

the challenge would be to explain the sayur kampung

if you hardly do the chores you would not know the names of a simple ones

... even tougher!

How would to explain about petai? How it is "plucked" - will you be able to describe about the tree? How you cook/eat ... why must it be specially hanged?

How do you eat these bananas?

What a combination of display

Don't say it is jackfruit!

How to explain about these partly burned chicken?

a family business ... as most of them

... the wet part

NO! ... not this one that killed Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin

it is definitely Ramadan ...

with Ramadan ... you also have the Raya cookies

not less than 3 stalls selling just Raya cookies

this stall usually sells all kinds of keropok

I once went to the Asian Food Store in Carbondale, IL (many years ago) and asked the American shop assistant for "shrimp paste" when he looked back at me with a question mark on his face and asked "do mean belacan?"

the ever smiling and friendly Hisham at his always crowded mobile nursery

Hisham also takes his nursery to Taman Melawati Pasar Tani (as also many of this pasar tani operators)

a lorry load

an ugly sight to some people

but they are everywhere and it is a reality

they grow in numbers in this month of givings

Lambuk or kemumu (Colocasia gigantea)

Give it a try the next time you have a foreign guest to take around.

Nothing fancy about my camera. It was taken using Nokia 6120 phone camera.

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