Alfresco markets aka tamu in Sabah ;)

Hello dear readers and friends. It's very nice of you to stop by my little blog. Today I'm gonna blog about alfresco markets. In Sabah we call alfresco market as tamu. Alfresco or open-air markets are usually held every Sunday and the most popular tamu is the one held every Sunday in Gaya Street.  I would blog about Gaya Street in later post but today I would like to share my experience at the tamu of two small town, Kota Marudu and Pitas. Let's see.... These pics were taken in a tamu in Kota Marudu.

Women from the villages around the hills selling their own fresh planted and picked produce.

This child is helping his mother to pick the chili peppers, chili in Asia originated from Mexico and was brought by the Spanish colony and trading... or so I was told.

Freshly picked veggies, some of them are wild plants. The woman who sold the wild veggie to us taught how to prepare it. Later my sister Famulan made vegetable soup mixed with shrimps, it smells and tasted really good.

I'm not sure what is the scientific name or the English name for this purple thing (I am not talking about the eggplant obviously...), it is a banana heart or inflorescence that will later develop into banana. It is cooked by stewing it with coconut milk, some like to add additional ingredients. This dish is called gulai lemak jantung pisang. Emm....

Sometimes people go to tamu to mingle or socialize besides shopping.

Little eggplants girl... She's either helping her older sister with the sales or there's in no one to look after her at home so she had to come along. Or maybe she's such an angel who wants to help out... awww... she was looking kinda bored so she probably had to come along... hehehe...

Okay, you are probably thinking "I am only seeing veggies...!! Can I really find something else besides veggiessss....." Well yes... yes... more pictures some of the stuff you can find at the tamu and they are non-veggies... Hehehe...

A man is selling cucur badak and murtabak. Cucur badak is made using flour and shrimp as ingredients while murtabak has meat shreds, eggs, onions and vegetables as filling,  folded into a thin skin of wheat flour.

Roasted corn is one of my favorite, yummmmmmy..... I also like roasted sweet potato. I love local cuisine like penjaram, kuih pasung, wajik, kuih piring (I don't know it's real name but it is round and flat so I called it piring.. lol). Sorry no pics, I'll try to get pictures of this local cuisine later.. hehehe...

Now let's take a look at some of the photographs I took during the tamu in Pitas :)

Fabrics of various patterns and colors are laid on a mat on the ground, you can only see this style of fabric display at the tamu in a small town.

Sling bags, some come in fake brands, of course the quality is not the best. I bought a sling bag here for my camera. Though the outside still in good condition but it's already ripped apart at the inside. Lol. I was actually looking for a green sling bag that was very commonly used by students in the 80s in Sabah. The man who was selling me the bag said I could no longer find it in the market... Sob! I wish I have it, it's really classic :)

Toys, glasses, tomatoes, dried fish, sandals..

Clothes, bag, belts, sunglasses and mobile phone covers.

Dried salted fish, prawns and anchovies. It's very tasty but the process is terrifying for me..

That's all the good pics I have from the tamu at both towns. There is much stuff you can find but it would be crazy to try to photograph all of it and upload it here. So I just chose a few that I like. Hehehe.. It is common to do some shopping for fresh produce and other essential household items at the tamu. Shoppers and traders came from various places and gather during the tamu to sell what they have or get what they need that usually can't be bought in daily supermarket or perhaps trying to get at cheaper price. It could be livestock, fruits, vegetables, clothes, toys, local crafts, local food, traditional medicines or even wild fruits. The price is reasonably cheap. Next time you need a cheaper napkin, you might be able to find a good one at the tamu.. 

Tips : Always bargain at the tamu ;)

Well, until then have a great time. Hope u enjoys my ramblings for today. Ciao :D