Kuala Selangor

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the town of Kuala Selangor over the weekend. A small fishing village located at the mouth of a river, it is a modest town mostly famous for its population of fireflies. Just slightly over an hour from KL city, the town sees its share of tourists in the night.

However we were there for a different reason. My friend and I were there to carry out a charity programme and since we were in the area we did a bit of shopping and eating naturally.

My friend, Vish bought her kids with her so it was a very boistrous affair. We stopped at a fish market which both amused and grossed out the kids. City kids in wet markets are noisy affairs indeed. I wisely left the kids to their mom and busied myself with my camera


You can find almost everything short of a dugong here. Vish was excited to be here and I was starting to succumb to domestic instint by wishing I had a fridge so that I could "tapau" some squid or a snapper or two.




Vish bought enough fish to last her a month and I practised my people skills in getting people to not knock me down when I take their pictures.


The fishmongers were very friendly and this poor boy got so teased when I took interest in his catch. He may only look 12, but wielding his cleaver he expertly quartered the large sting ray within minutes.

After buying fish, we ate fish. The restaurant we patronised was right on the river bank and this much is true: when it comes to tucking into seafood one must forgo time, polite company and normal table manners and whack with all ten fingers. What would you expect when a carpenter's hammer comes with the crabs?

On the way back we stoped for rambutans and (oddly) pillows. Apparently the town also has a healthy cotton industry and along the highway, we often came across stalls with stacks upon stacks of pillows. And these are the kind of pillows grandmothers swear by, not the mass produced half-filled synthetic pillows you get at the malls.
But sorry la, no pictures of me and my blue bolster. It would be too embarassing.