Paddy's Market

I don't know what's taken me so long to go to this market. It is only about 20 minutes from where we live, and I loved it. It is what I think shopping in a foreign country should be. (ie. busy, chaotic, smelly, random, cheap{er, than the regular store anyway...})

I went specifically for the fruits & veggies, but there are fresh eggs, cheeses, seafood (really adds to the aroma of the foreign country market experience...), clothes, homewares, shoes, make-up... you name it. It's not really a tourist market, in that I didn't see any stalls with miniature boomerangs or koalas that pinch onto your collar. Plus, I don't know many tourists who like to buy produce in bulk. But it was a good market, nonetheless. I'm sure I'll go again.

The majority of the venders were Asian or Indian with a few Greek-ish (?) folks. There were the most awesome looking fruits/veggies--many that I have never seen before like 'jackfruit' and 'bitter gourd' from India (not pictured, sorry).

I came home with way too much perishable food.

At the market it looks so colorful and fun! At home, I got tired thinking about washing and preparing it, much less making space in our fridge.

I'm used to paying $5/kilo for apples at the grocery store; I just couldn't resist getting an entire box for $7! And, if one eggplant is tempting at $4, who can resist a box of 15 for just $10? You get the picture...

By the time Matt got home from work, I was in no mood for making dinner. My afternoon of grazing on kiwi, strawberry, avocado, banana, red capsicum (bell pepper) and lebanese cucumber left me with a bit of a belly ache.

Lesson learned.