My First Venture into the Fish Market
A familiar stench of the sea pricked through as I reluctantly set foot outside of our car.
Before I knew that it’d stick with me for the rest of my venture, I had entered the scene, in the
company of a myriad of sea life yet to explore.
The fish market radiated chaos from the moment I stepped in. The floor of the market
greeted me with a glistening mix of fishy water and melted ice, which I had begged to dodge. I
quickly lifted my grey baggy pants and rushed to follow my father, who, as expected, plunged
into the market as if it was his second home. As for me, the market did not fail to astound me
with its foreign atmosphere. Bustling and hectic, yet alive. The rhythmic clatter of the fishes’
tails, the punctuating shouts of the fishmongers and the calm breeze that carried the briny tang
of fish, spoke for themselves.
As we wandered through the busy narrow path between the old shabby fish stalls, my
body had to steer itself away from the crowd of buyer and bikes like a game of parkour, fish
market version. Still, I couldn’t help but shift my gaze across the market, attempting to study all
the various shapes and colors that came from the sea. “Ohh Oh, is that a ngar shint?(eel)”, I
questioned my dad. “That’s ngar kuu (catfish)”, dad responded in disappointment. It is no doubt
that this strange environment left a fishy feeling in my stomach.
As strange as the fishes were, the vibrant steel blue that covered the sea shrimps, the
subtle redness of the crabs packed under layers of thin rubber bands left me with a sense of
naiveness among the bustling sea of sellers and buyers.
The place was filled with people of various nature. There were those of the wealthy
comfortably swaggering through such a maze, while those of the common, scattered all over the
place, went in and out each store looking for the best quality fish. The fishmongers shouted with
ease to lure in buyers. The buyers pensively bargained like it was the end of the world. The
fishes that were silently screaming for help suffocated in the giant bowls of crushed ice where
they would be placed for the rest of the day. And I, was the stranger that landed in a whole new
planet of unfamiliarity.
After watching my father bargain over one mere river shrimp for a lengthy moment, my
head was starting to spin from the stench and the lack of ease in existing. Soon, the grey sky
warned rain, and we walked back the way we came, finally reaching home.
- Written by Zinnia