Entree Kibbles: Last Part of Gaya Street Sunday Market @ Kota Kinabalu [Sabah, East Malaysia, Borneo Island]

The way i planned the postings for the weekend market at Kota Kinabalu was mainly in chronological order but for the sake of categorisation, do expect some deviations.

Hence, let's start the last post of Gaya Street Sunday Market with the picture of the Chinese style archway signifying the main entrance to Gaya Street.

Packets of sushi for sale - long accustomed to having them stored in partially refrigerated compartments, i am apprehensive on their freshness under the hot sun.

Balloon man who was trying his best to keep his floats intact from a sudden gust of strong wind!

Biscuits again - wait, something caught my attention; was the lady trying to pick her nose!?!?!? Am i disgusted? Of course not! Whoever says they don't pick their nose is lying!

Walking back towards the direction of Jesselton Hotel.

Socks and rattan hats - short people (like me) should not wear the straw hats. Our short stature would likely irritate taller people who would have the stray rattan strips slapping against their face / neck even though it isn't their fault for being taller.

Are you a big fan of postcards? Not me since i prefer to take photographs using my own camera and then framing them up if they turn out well.

Wheatgrass honey water! They used to be really popular in Singapore and i vividly remember my greenish output 8 hours after having my first cup!

Fruit saplings for rambutans and cempedek! Speaking of cempedek, it's difficult to explain what it was to a non-southeast-Asian native as it appeared to look like a jackfruit yet the taste of the fruit was vastly different.

Mini computer for the kids although my eyes were centering on the portable fans. Would love to purchase one to dry up my perspiration except for the fact that it would attract too much attention on a man who wasn't pushing a pram!

Old-school toy.

Focus of attention - the sour plum juice to soothe the body on a warm day!

Quite a number of Chinese rice dumpling stalls with jaw-dropping prices! Tagged at RM 2 for most rice dumplings, the low price was literally unheard of in Singapore nowadays.

And they were not plain, filling-free rice dumplings! Those RM 2 ones had "liao" one okay! I didn't buy any to try out as i know for a fact the carbohydrate content would be super high!

Other kind of kuehs on sale.

Seedless guavas with an appearance that would not appeal to many, especially the picky Singaporeans; some parts of the fruits were black in colour lor!

Crowd at 9.30 am.

Live animal section - the stalls were spread throughout the street although in essence; you could find a higher concentration in the middle of the Sunday market.

Budgies, known as seekers in KK, were priced at RM 50 each. I don't think they were that expensive in Singapore even though it has been quite a while since i last checked on the prices.

Goldfishes! Among pets, rearing a fish would be the last thing on my mind. I have had enough experiences to confirm i am better off eating them than keeping them as pets.

Fish feed and accessories.

I did contemplate marine fishes as pets but after a few snorkeling expeditions in Thailand, Malaysia and Maldives, i feel that they would be better off in the vast ocean.

Pretty fighting fishes.

Chicks and ducklings - unlike the ornamental fishes and dogs, the chance that these young poultry were bought as pets would be very slim.

Most would be slaughtered for meat when they reach adulthood while a selected few would continue to live if they could provide nutritional eggs for the human family.

Baby geese! Do you know it's quite hard to get your hands on roasted goose meat in Singapore due to import restriction?

Rabbits!

Puppies! After Rubee's demise, i could not bring myself to have another dog to call my own. Come to think about it, he had passed on for almost four years!

Dog collars! I used to seek out various designs when Rubee was younger and it eventually dawned on me that sturdiness and durability were way more important!

Kittens for sale - it's quite disturbing to see visitors poking their fingers into the cages! There was one cruel kid who intentionally used his finger to irritate the poor kitten and i almost told him off!

Sometimes, i wish the animal would strike back although given the supposedly moral standing of a mere human, the animal would most probably be condemned to an unfair death.

Hamsters!

What is your first thought when you see the above sight? I thought it was very civil minded of the citizens to contain all the rubbish at one location rather than throwing them anywhere; positive thinking. Some would, however, immediately pinpoint on the lack of rubbish bins by the city council.

Siew mai - travelling had taken a toll on my food postings! It has been really long since i last had dim sum!! To think i used to be extremely obsessed with those little bundles of joy!

Coin banks! No pigs, no like. :(

Poison for pests like rats, lizards, cockroaches etc. I can understand why people want to get rid of rats and cockroaches but lizards are great to have at home as they prey on those bloodsuckers; the mozzies!

Nicely packed biscuits again, including those offered to Chinese gods.

Antique ware - kamcheng and even traditional iron that require burnt charcoal to smooth out the wrinkles on your shirt! Guess you would have to use good quality charcoal too as bad ones could emit too much smoke.

Local souvenirs.

Natural handmade soaps with ingredients like sea cucumber (popular with Japanese), noni. coconut, cinnamon and mangosteen.

Unlike peninsular Malaysia, Christianity seemed to take up quite a significant proportion among Sabahans and it's not limited to just the Chinese.

Old fashioned, model bicycles.

Glow in the dark figurines made of luminous stones.

Plastic bags?! Frankly, it did make perfect sense to sell them in the weekend market; there might be merchants who need them for their customers!

Plant saplings again; many of which were orchid species.

Fake branded goods - surprisingly, i didn't see that many in this Sunday market which was a good thing since i am totally not into branded goods.

If i am a female, i would choose the above bags over branded bags. Why waste money when both bags serve the same purpose?!

Lo Han Ko & Dried Longans drink! It should be similar to the incredibly delicious Air Mata Kucing drink at Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur!

Business at the fruit juices stall next door paled in comparison; could not blame the consumers as i guess we do recognise that the fruit juices as labelled were merely concentrates and not freshly squeezed.

Woah, these bags would be quite trendy for the wet markets!

These are not whiteboard dusters! Their function would be similar to a sticky roller even though the ones shown in the above pic were capable enough to pick up tiny stones too!

Lemongrass tea.

Piggy banks made of coconut husks!! At almost RM 20, i gave up the purchase after thinking it through; think i still prefer pottery / porcelain type.

Canvas paintings! I like the one with an owl.

Keychains! If you have been following all the postings on Gaya Street weekend market, you should have realised the keychain booths were quite numerous.

Personalised postcard by a very talented man who, by the way, wasn't Chinese despite the very Chinese artwork! Rest assured, the postcards were accepted by the Malaysia national post office to be mailed overseas!

For a non Chinese, he wrote beautiful Chinese characters! Compared to him, i should just bury my head in the ground out of shame.

More biscuits! Do note the melted chocolate in the container on upper left of the photograph; this would have illustrated my apprehension when it comes to buying prepared packed food in an open air market.

Dried seahorses - in traditional Chinese medicine, their benefits include treatment of asthma, throat infections, insomnia, abdominal pain and are believed to be aphrodisiac.

Colourful Sarawak kueh lapis that came in many flavours! I tried a few when i was at Suria Sabah earlier but they weren't as yummy as those from Batam!

Brooches.

Sabah made iron wood chopping board - trust me, mom would insist on getting it and hauling the heavy item back to Singapore if she was there.

Chilli padi chocolates?!?!!?

Street buskers! I didn't take his picture as he was visually impaired and would not have known if i had taken his picture.

I finally got a bottle of seaweed bird nest drink at RM 3.50! Wrong choice as it tasted nothing like the Coral Seaweed i enjoyed so much!

Guess the stall owner was giving discounts to clear his / her stocks.

Henna tattoos that can last for a week. You may also engage them to plan parties and carnivals which may include magic shows, face painting, clowns and balloon decoration!

Tired feet? Engage the blind masseurs at RM 20 for thirty minutes to give your feet a well deserved treat. Their location? On the side of Jesselton Hotel.

Hairpins i think.

Magnets of quality and designs that i didn't like.

Got these unique magnets instead!

Last stop - the stall facing Jesselton Hotel which offered a humongous amount of Sabah made, natural handmade soaps!

Aside from goat milk soap, there were also soaps made from breast milk and soaps specifically for your hair and even for your beloved pets!

Alex got the above free as the owner could not believe he is past 30 years old! Upon seeing his IC and admitting defeat, she ordered the staff to let him select five soaps of his choice; lucky ass saved RM 25!

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