Having to defend or apologize for an embarrassing president and policies that go against every fiber of my being is exhausting! Being an expat American for the past eight years has been a tough when strangers ask about my nationality. There is a guarantee of either getting sucked into a debate or listening to anti-American policy rhetoric that is difficult to defend. Asian friends would ask, “Why do you like Bush?” Canadian friends stare strangely and query, “Are you serious? You don’t have public health care? Your daughter’s broken wrist cost you $6,000.00?” European friends would demand, “How can you agree with the American foreign policy?” I would lamely try to explain that myself included, not all Americans agree with our politicians, and that was the beauty of being an American. We have the right to disagree. But I was tired of having to defend a country I dearly love, but whose policies I deeply opposed.

Now I listen to Barack Obama and I can feel it! HOPE! 

Thank you Americans all over the world for hearing the message of hope and wanting change. After the election we went to a party here in KL to celebrate and the atmosphere was electric. I hadn’t felt that kind of jubilation even in recent New Year’s Eve parties! The words dignified, peace, diplomacy, pride, justice, and optimism bounced around the room in many different American accents and a few European, Canadian, Aussie and Asian accents as well.  The jubilation in that condo was evident in everyone including the pizza delivery person!

I teach at an international school and I have nine different nationalities represented in my classroom. The day after Obama secured the election almost every parent congratulated me, as if I was the one who put him there.  I certainly did my part and voted via e-mail! My local neighbors cannot get enough of my time to discuss how thrilled they are at having such a great man become our next president. They talk of world peace and prosperity. As I walked through a downtown market today with friends, a man shouted out to me, “Obama number one, I love America!”  Rest assured I have NEVER had this experience before!  I held up my head and smiled at him as we exchanged the universal thumbs up!

I am not ignorant in thinking that the world will change over night or that America has the power to change everything. Perhaps we can dream of ALL working together now. I also know that all Americans may not agree with the decisions and policies that Obama will enact. However, I am anticipating the dawning of a new era.  We all feel it and embrace it. It is a feeling of pride and optimism. Barack Obama has brought people together from all over the world. He has energized us with a hope for a better future and a desire to achieve it. I will be proud to follow such a dignified leader!

A friend of mine summed it up when she paraphrased the book, The Kite Runner, and said, “Now America can be good again!”

 Friends celebrating Obama’s victory in Kuala Lumpur! “V” for victory and for peace!

Monks in the Grand Palace

Three friends and I left KL on Friday afternoon and arrived in Bangkok just in time to have a delicious Thai green curry meal and get an hour massage before heading to bed. We woke early to catch a taxi to Chatuchak Market, the largest outdoor market in the world.  Thirty-five acres spread before us as our minds burst with colors, sounds and smells and our wallets flew open so easily!  We shopped until the heat overwhelmed us and our feet were in desperate need of another massage.

The weekend consisted of way too many shopping adventures to mention, sight seeing at the Golden Mount to see Lord Buddha’s ashes, the Jim Thompson House, the Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. We ate at the famous restaurant, Cabbages and Condoms, nestled in a beautiful garden filled with twinkle lights.  The food was great and the décor was very interesting!  Mannequins are dressed and lamp shades are covered in condoms.  Money spent at the establishment funds rural development, education, HIV/AIDS awareness, and environmental protection.

Are those manequins dressed in condoms?

We took a leisurely cruise to a floating market and glided over duckweed and lotus flowers along the canals.  In addition to the floating merchants we saw water monitors, quaint village homes, people bathing and washing dishes in the river, amazing spirit houses and temples.  The side canals were a welcome calm to the boisterous floating market where sellers try to entice you to buy their wares. 

On the Way to the Floating Market

I love being able to hop on an Air Asia flight and be in amazing Asian Cities in a few hours. Living in South East Asia lends itself to cheap, convenient traveling.  In three short days I was able to get most of my holiday shopping done, have lots of massages, see entertaining night life, plus eat and drink delicious and affordable meals with pals. As if these points aren’t enough to entice anyone; I even came home with cash in my pocket! What a weekend!

Hundreds of tiny fish rushed at my feet and legs, hungrily eating the flesh as I tried to suppress the screams! Piranhas? Horror flick? No, the latest craze in spa treatments, Fish Therapy!

I love a good day at the spa with a massage, manicure, pedicure and facial as much as anyone.  There is a new spa in town that everyone is talking about.  Friends raved about it, my students giggled and could not stop talking about it and my student’s parents invited me to join them at the spa. However, fish eating the dead skin off my feet and legs was just too weird for me to try. Garra Rufa fish (aka: doctor fish, nibble fish, Chinchin or kangal fish) are stocked in a large tank and you stick your legs inside the water and let the fish eat off the dead skin.  Seriously, how gross is that?

My family and I were just too curious and decided to try it.  We walked into the spa and it was a gorgeous peaceful atmosphere. Quiet music played in the background, candles were lit, beautiful water fountains flowed and lovely art hung on the walls. We paid RM 38.00 (US $12.00) for a thirty minute session. We washed our legs and sat on the plush cushions beside the wooden pools lined with lilies and candles.  I plunged my feet in the water and had to refrain from squealing as hundreds of fish rushed at my legs and toes! It was the strangest sensation, but quite pleasant. It felt just like leaving your legs in front of Jacuzzi jets. We were able to relax after a few minutes and at the end of the thirty minutes my legs felt soft and rejuvenated! I can feel the line where my legs were not submerged in the water!

Garra rufa fish originate in the river basins of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq.  The practice, called Ichthyotherapy, was discovered a century ago to treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. It is becoming a new trend in spas which are popping up all around Asia and Europe. My husband, my son and I all loved it, but my daughter took her feet out within ten minutes.  She could not tolerate the tickly feeling.  I have gone back again and enjoyed it as much as the first time. I highly recommend it. This is one spa treatment you will never forget!

 A corner of my garden.

My father has an unexplained disdain for squirrels and rabbits who dare to enter his garden.  This is such a mystery to his family because he is an environmental engineer who fights to save our Earth! One day we came home to find rakes and shoes way up in the 20 foot pine tree.  Daddy shrugged his shoulders and said, “Squirrels!”  He had been throwing things at the poor defenseless squirrels to get them away from his garden!  My parents moved to a new house and my mother had to threaten daddy to stop tossing lawn furniture at the rabbits  because he was making a bad impression with the new neighbors.  Well the laugh was on him when he set out a “Have a Heart” trap.  The neighbors had snuck over and put their Easter rabbit decorations into the trap!  He was so excited to have caught the buggers! When he went out to look, he found the ceramic bunnies dressed in their Easter finest. He was embarrassed, but we all have had a great laugh at his expense since then. I suppose I have inherited more than I thought from my father.  I have been WAGING WAR with locusts!

When we moved to this tropical paradise I was thrilled to get started on a tropical garden.  However, we had not been able to find a house we loved (and could afford on a teacher salary) with a garden that we loved too. We settled into an adorable terrace house near the hippest village that we can walk to. However, I had to settle for grey tiled front and back yards . Ugh!  Never mind, I got creative and started a great potted container garden. I shop at the nurseries, re-pot, prune, fertilize, water, cut, trim, and sweat in the tropical heat to make my plants grow on the dreaded tile yard.  I have mini palms, frangipanis, heliconias (like birds of paradise), water lilies, roses, lotus flowers and bougainvillea to name a few.  These plants just thrive here so through my blood, sweat and tears I now have my own little Garden of Eden on ugly grey tiles. But the wrath of nature is upon me and I have been plagued by locusts lately!

    See the baby locust!  Their parents are HUGE!

These monsters are systematically eating their way through my hard work and pride.  I know I should be environmentally friendly and just let nature take its course, but I find myself burdened with my father’s curse!  When I have to water the plants or work in the garden, hundreds of little tiny baby locust fly at my face. The big four inch adult ones really hurt if they fly into you! I curse, swat, shake, spray and basically throw a temper tantrum as I race around the garden like a woman possessed.  My husband thinks I am nuts as I run screaming, “Do something, kill them!” My children just walk away as I hollar for them to help me swat them all away.  Nothing seems to be working and now my gorgeous plants are being eaten down to nothing.  The butterflies, birds and dragonflies are dwindling as the flowers disappear.  I finally resorted to evil measures and just got out the spray and let them all have it!  The bigger ones just flew off and were back the next day.  I have read that their skin is so thick that they are hard to kill with insecticide.  They just keep laying more and more eggs and I can’t get rid of them. I don’t want to use insecticides because I know how horrible they are for the environment and also since my gorgeous dogs and kids go out there daily. I want to save my garden, the environment and quite frankly my marriage! Does anyone have suggestions of how to get rid of these pesky critters without nasty poisons or going insane?

I just got back from a much needed rest in Pangkor Island, Malaysia.  This was my sixth trip to the Pangkor Island Beach Resort and I am still in love with it!  Pangkor Island is on the west coast of Malaysia and just a three hour drive from KL.  Of course everyone says that all of the beautiful pristine beaches with the gorgeous blue water are on the east coast.  We have been to Redang and many other east coast beaches in Terengganu and Pahang, but we keep returning to Pangkor.

Pangkor Island was my first glimpse of a Malaysian beach.  The drive there is easy and scenic.  Travel the superhighway for half of the trip and then enter the back roads for about an hour.  Buffalo, palm trees, plantations, local villages and rice paddies are common sights on the route up to the island.  After a twenty minute ferry ride, you board a bus and are at the resort in two minutes.  As you step into the gorgeous open wooden lobby, the senses are alive with the smell of the ocean, the white sandy beaches with lazy swaying palm trees and the gentle lapping of the waves.  The rooms are bright and cheery, the staff is sooooo friendly and the food is good. 

There are two pools with a pool bar and a kiddie pool.  The pools are right on the edge of the beach.  A small strip of grass separates the pool area from the white clean 1.2 kilometer secluded beach.  I love this because I can watch one of my children in the ocean and the other child in the pool at the same time!  There is plenty of shade from the gorgeous palm and tropical trees lining the beach.  At the ends of the beach, the rain forest just falls right in to the sea.  They clean the beach all the time, but there are plenty of shells to collect daily. Hornbill birds swoop in and out of the trees all day with their eerie cry and their alien looking faces! 

Our day begins with a walk either through the golf course, down to the small ponds, or along the beach.  We saw a huge 1.5 meter monitor lizard on the other side of the pond and he just slid silently into the jungle when he saw us.  Another monitor walked down the beach one day.  We head into the breakfast buffet and sit out on the wooden deck overlooking the beach.  The staff knows us now and they all welcome us with a hand over their heart and they are genuinely happy to see the diners every day.  After our leisurely breakfast we head down to a shady spot on the beach and unload our books, water, and supplies for the day. 

Some of our afternoon activities have been kayaking, bicycling down to the local village, snorkeling (not too great) golfing, tennis, banana boat or flying fish, and strolling along the beach.  On one of our trips, we went to town to see the sights.  It is a small island and there is not a lot to see for someone who lives in Malaysia.  Some of the sights may be more interesting for tourists though.  There is a small Buddhist temple with a small replica of the Great Wall of China. The fishing village is fun to look at and there is an old Dutch Fort.

The evening begins with another trip to the buffet line and a relaxing meal out on the beachfront deck.  Some nights we go to the other restaurant and order from their menu which is excellent.  When we are stuffed we head back down to the beach for our night time stroll with our flashlights.  We chase the crabs into their holes and enjoy the waves gently rolling up onto the shore.  A visit to the open lounge upstairs reveals a cheesy, but fun Pilipino band.  We sit and play cards there with the kids or head over to the pool and ping pong tables before crashing exhausted into bed.

Pangkor Island is the perfect place to take a few days off  to relax!  You won’t find a better place with the facilities, beautiful beach and great staff for the price!  If you want to dive or snorkel then take the time to go to the east coast or Sipadan.  However if you want a tranquil holiday to unwind, then Pangkor is the quickest, most convenient, and affordable place to go. 

   The large statue next to the 272 steps leading up to the Batu Caves.

Thaipusam, a Hindu festival to honor devotion to the Hindu deity, Lord Murugan, was celebrated in Malaysia on January 23 this year.  Devotees ask the deity for a favor, offer atonement or give thanks for a granted prayer.  The worshippers prepare for Thaipusam through fasting and prayer in the 40 days leading up to the festival.  On the day of the festival, devotees shave their heads and make a pilgrimage to the Batu Caves which is 15 km outside of Kuala Lumpur. The Batu Caves house a temple which is dedicated to Lord Murugan.  Devotees will climb the 272 steps to reach the temple and place their “kavadi” or burden at the feet of the deity’s statue.  

Once pilgrims reach the site of the caves, they will show their devotion in different ways.  Many will bear a kavadi which could be a simple pot of milk carried on their heads.  The kavadis vary in size and weight.  Smaller versions consist of a small temple with a rod that is carried on the shoulders.  Many devotees pierce their tongues, cheeks or foreheads with small spears. The largest kavadis can be up to 2 meters (6 feet) high which are held on their heads and then attached to the body with 108 hooks piercing the skin!  Some devotees walk on fire, practice flagellation and pull a kavadi cart attached by hooks in his back. 

Needless to say this is not a festival for those with a weak stomach.  After living in Kuala Lumpur for three and a half years, I decided that it was time to go and witness this festival first hand.  My husband, children and I set off with our good friend and local guide, Lucas, and fourteen other teachers.  I was leery and expecting chaos, strange rituals, horrific masochistic feats and lots of blood. 

What I found was a spiritual air where families frolicked in the river, vendors sold their wares, and children shrieked with laughter. Most people were dressed in yellow sari-type robes with shaved heads.  As we walked through the grounds, barbers in tents shouted out to us to get our heads shaved, people smiled at us or giggled as we hurriedly snapped pictures so as not to offend.  However as the evening progressed, we realized that nobody was bothered by our presence or our picture snapping, they were proud of their sacrifice and burdens! 

It was a happy and spiritual atmosphere as family members gathered around their loved ones to organize for the final pilgrimage up the steps in the blistering tropical heat of the evening.  Lucas led us through the crowds down to the river in the foothills of the caves where families participated in ritual bathing.  We saw men, women and children carrying milk pots and smaller kavadis toward the steps.  Then we sighted the huge kavadis and meandered down to where the devotees were getting ready.   

The men who were readying to carry the enormous kavadis were surrounded by family and friends.  We watched with open amazement as one devotee who was shaved, bathed and in a deep trance began to don his kavadi.  Singers and drummers in colorful costumes beat their drums and belted out trance inducing songs to keep the devotee focused.  His eyes were rolled back into his head at some points but otherwise staring straight ahead with a look of total determination and love.  It was a powerful ritual to witness.  Men chanted and blew the smoke of incense into his face as the 6-foot kavadi was placed on his head.  More chanting, incense, drumming and words of encouragement were made as the 108 hooks pierced through the flesh on his chest and back.   

The devotee wobbled on his stool under the strain of the heavy temple, but never once did the man cry out or flinch in pain!  Not an ounce of blood was spilled as the hooks were inserted and then the spears were poked lovingly through his cheeks and tongue.  The drummers took up a more fevered beat and the man rose and began a jovial dance.  He jumped up and down as the enormous statue on his head bobbed and wavered.  The hooks strained against his body, but a look of spiritual bliss was all that was visible on his face as he communicated with his god.  He began to slowly dodge his way through the crowd toward his final destination, the statue of Lord Murugan in the caves at the top of the 272 steps!  His coaches, family members, the band and tourists followed his elated progress through the crowds to cheers of delight.   

We observed many more men carrying elaborate and enormous kavadis.  Couples who had babies carried their beloved bundle slung in a yellow cloth hung on a pole shouldered between the blessed parents.  Young children skipped alongside their parents carrying pots of milk or honey on top of their proud shaven heads.  One man sat in an enormous chair of spiked nails and alternately slammed himself into the chair and gave blessings to other devotees as they passed him. People had fruits hanging from their flesh by hooks and others carried burning oil in clay pots!  

It was an amazing night that filled me with wonder, bewilderment, awe and memories that will last a lifetime.  If you are ever in KL in January/February, this is a festival and experience not to be missed!  Thaipusam is a Tamil tradition observed mostly in Southern India, but festivals can be observed in Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius.  Have you ever witnessed Thaipusam?  Share your experiences with me. 

As I sit here writing this I hear the first crackles and booms of firecrackers and the beating of drums and cymbals.  It is the first day of Chinese New Year and a neighbor is having a lion dance!  I must go now and hear the rhythmic drums of another culture beat their way into memories in my mind.  It is another exciting holiday season in Malaysia! 

This year, I plan to do something a little different.  I plan to consume more wisely.  I am not talking about dieting (although I am always in needJ). I am talking about consumption of goods and products.  I just saw an incredible 20-minute video, “The Story of Stuff.”    http://www.storyofstuff.com/  thanks to my friend, Jabiz who is my guru of conscientious living!   This short video follows our system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of “stuff” that we use in our everyday lives.   

Go to the website and check it out.  You will learn a few things, laugh at a few things and maybe even get angry and decide to change a few things.  There are some easy ideas to get started on changing our ways of consuming and disposing of our stuff.   

Last week I was shopping and I thought of how great it was to see some new American products in the stores here in Kuala Lumpur!  Hooray for Cheez-Its, Cheerios and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!  I can finally buy some familiar products!  Wow, they were imported all the way from the USA!  How great is that?  Wait a minute…  I have survived for almost 4 years without these products.  What was the cost of getting those products half way around the world?  Is it worth it so that I can consume a box of Cheez-Its, that frankly, I don’t need?  After watching “The Story of Stuff”, I began to imagine how much fuel was used to ship, the low-cost labor, the boxes and containers, the waste and pollution … I have been quite happy with the crackers and snacks that I buy in the night market.  These do not have boxes, these were not flown or sailed half way around the world and they were being sold by a local man supporting his family that I know and see every week.  

American strawberries in the large grocery stores cost RM26. for a small container (US $7.00).  I am too cheap to pay that when I can buy the same size container of local strawberries for RM4. (US $1.10) So, what is the real cost of shipping those strawberries half way around the world. The price difference is $5.90, but the cost to the Earth and its resources, the cost to families who are forced to work for cheap wages, the pollution and waste of buying these products is immeasurable. After watching this video, I am a little smarter and a lot wiser.  I will pay more attention to the items that I purchase, consume and dispose of in the year 2008.  I never really gave a thought to the “real” cost of products until I saw, “The Story of Stuff.”  Watch it and you may modify your New Year’s resolution too! 

(But right now what should I do with my box of Cheez-Its? I already bought them last week?!  I can’t waste them right?  Tomorrow is the New Year!  J)

Reality check!  Thanksgiving weekend in Malaysia was 90 degrees F.  It was hot, hazy and humid. The air was not crisp, but laden with so much moisture that breathing was an unpleasant activity. We worked on Thanksgiving Day.  On Saturday, we went to the pool at the club and then hiked in the rainforest. But, on Sunday, we spent the day with thirty friends cooking, laughing and sharing a feast of all the traditional Thanksgiving Day meals.  Even though it was a far cry from a Pennsylvania farm Thanksgiving, it was a wonderful day spent with good company. Many of our friends commented that they look forward to this day all year. 

Now it is only a few days away from my ultimate favorite time of the year, Christmas!  I love everything about it. I have to watch every corny movie and cartoon, see carolers, bake cookies and decorate the house.  The first year we decided that we would be too depressed to spend Christmas away from our extended family so we ran away to Phuket, Thailand, hoping to ignore the Christmas holiday.  It was a horrible idea!  Just like in “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” I realized that Christmas comes any way!  All we needed were a few new traditions and some great new people to share it.  Now my family stays in our house until after Christmas Day now.  If we travel, we leave after the 25^th.  We try to keep to some of the traditions we had in the USA, and we have added many new ones that make our holiday season special.  Today, we will hike with the dogs and then take a dip at the pool, finish our baking and sit down to watch some of the old Christmas classics that we bought on DVD and enjoy the day with each other.

How do you spend the holidays when you are away from “home” and family?  

It is a beautiful time of the year regardless of where you are.  Make the most of it and enjoy the festive season!  Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!

I choose to have my eyes wide open because there is an amazing melting pot of culture, religion, language, food and beauty!  “Malaysia, truly Asia!”    Malaysia is alive with three distinct ethnic groups, Malaysian, Indian and Chinese. The Hari Raya and Deepavali festivals have recently ended and the country looks forward to the Christmas and the Chinese New Year celebrations on the horizon. In every shop lot there is a dizzying array of Indian, Malaysian, Chinese and even western products for sale.  Every night we must make dinner choices, which may include chicken tikka with naan bread, nasi lemak, chicken rice, pizza, sweet and sour pork, or curry served on banana leaf.  Once the food choice is finalized, I have to decide if I will eat at a five—star restaurant or simply sit out on the street in a roadside stall.  When driving around Kuala Lumpur, I am in awe of the contrasting beauty between the striking architecture and the lush rainforest.           

Malaysia is not Expat Living for Dummies!  It is a unique country with so many diverse cultural, natural, and gastronomical experiences.  On each side of our house, my female neighbors wear different types of clothing; one wears a sari, one wears jeans and short shorts, and one wears a headscarf.  Each morning when I shuffle downstairs, I can hear at least six different languages through my open kitchen window.  I smell the curries, the sausages, the rice, the fish and the pancakes cooking at 6 am.  When I take my morning walk, the call for prayer sounds from the local mosque as I see my Chinese neighbors doing Tai Chi in the park.  I am constantly immersed in international culture!          

If my friends and readers have been wondering where I have been lately because of my lack of postings, I have been here trying to make some tough decisions.  My family and I had concluded that we might leave KL after this year. This option did not feel right to any of us.  We are NOT ready to leave this extraordinary country that we have called home for almost four years. We have decided that we will stay right here for another year and continue to explore all of the fantastic sights in and around Malaysia!  A friend of mine laughs at me and says, “Anni, you are still astounded by seeing a coconut on the side of the road!”  This is true!  I guess the day that I cease to be excited by wild coconuts will be the day I leave KL!

                  

Sunday night in our neighborhood is the Pasar Malam or the local night market.  Traffic is impossible and people are wandering everywhere with bags, trolleys, small carts, back packs.  A road is closed off and in the middle of the road are stalls with rickety tables, portable awnings, and a massive throng of people.  Smells of fresh fish, flowers, and cooking food waft through the air and your mouth begins to water.  You brace yourself and push headlong into the crowd to begin bargaining. 

Every Sunday I have a rendezvous with the nut man at the Bangsar Pasar Malam!  He and his wife and son run the first nut stall on the street with giant 10 kilogram bags of nuts that are loosely covered with old plates.  Nuts are my favorite snack and these are the best nuts in the world!  I have tried other stalls at this market and all over KL, but nothing compares to these nuts. Once a selection is made the stall keepers will weigh out your nuts and then seal them in a bag with string.  My usual choices include the yummiest dry roasted peanuts, cashews, pistachios and hot and sweet covered peanuts.  YUM!  Sometimes I buy the dried banana chips and the hot spicy noodles with wasabe peas and nuts. 

Next it is on the fruits and vegetables… You have to squeeze through the crowds of people shouting and bargaining as you dodge trolleys and parents with their toddlers on shoulders, and bags hanging everywhere.  You find the stall you want and a dirty old basket is handed to you and you pile all of the types of fruits you want inside the basket.  You will see 15 types of apples from around the globe, 5-6 types of oranges, at least 10 types of bananas and plantains.  Then all of the tropical fruits like mangos, papayas, rambutans (like a lychee) magosteens, longons, durian (YUK!!!), jack fruit, dragon fruit and too many that I cannot name. 

I purchase the normal western vegetables and stare helplessly at most of the other vegetables in the stalls.  What in the world are they and how would I begin to cook them?  Sometimes I just buy some that look good and try them.  Most of the time we are pleasantly surprised, but their names I cannot pronounce or remember!   After the fruits and vegetables, I find one of the best stalls here in the market the flowers and strawberries! The containers of local strawberries that are grown in Cameron Highlands are RM10 for 3 boxes (US$ 2.80).  Beautiful roses, lilies and other flowers are cheap and fresh.   

All this shopping works up an appetite!  Dinnertime!  What to choose tonight?  Fresh hot yummy Satay is cooking over hot grills as the men fan the coals in the hot humid evening.  The next grill contains chicken which is served with rice and vegetables.  At one stall, they are making a very thin pancake and filling it with unknown vegetable and nuts.  It tastes yummy!  Stalls have out fresh home cooked local curries and dishes. 

After purchasing dinner, it is time to meander home past the stalls selling t-shirts, phones, toys, watches, batiks and socks. I like to shop, but it is the whole experience of markets that I love!  I can remember shopping in the souks in Bahrain as a child.  I love the floating markets and Chata Chuck market in Bangkok.  The street shopping in Vietnam and the markets in Cambodia with all the wares laid out on the floors are amazing to see. It is the experience of being in the middle of all the culture with the local language, noise, smells and unfamiliar products that brings my senses to life each week.   

Where are your favorite markets?