Around 3:30 this afternoon I had this sudden urge to go and have an adventure at the market place. The problem is that it was raining and not everyone enjoys being out in the rain as much as I do. (I had just come in from a walk so I was wet anyway and didn’t mind getting soaked all the way through.) After a little bit of talking I convinced four of the girls to go along with me.
I hadn’t been able to buy anything since we got here because I still haven’t gotten around to changing my money into Indonesian money. They let me borrow some money though and then we were off. What I had in mind was tramping through the rain, buying lots of fruit and having a good time.
First of all, we walked out to the main road and then waited for a bus to come along. And yes, this was all in the rain. The bus (which is more like an extra small mini van with benches along the perimeter of the vehicle) didn’t take long to arrive and we all piled on. I’m not sure how long it took us to get to the market place, maybe 10 or so minutes because the bus drove slowly and made stops.
After we got dropped off, we found the part of the market that sells fruit and started buying. It was really fun because there are rows of fruit with each little section having a different owner, therefore they all want you to buy their fruit and you can pick out the best. And they give you samples. Yummy. As I was picking out the fruit, I was standing about halfway under the overhang and halfway out in the rain, and the overhang was dripping huge droplets of water right on me. It was great.
After loading ourselves down with fruit, we continued on, just looking around. There are lots of little stands selling food and one of those places had donuts. They looked so good and fresh and smelled wonderful. (They make the food right there.) So, we went back and got donuts. See those round donuts in the middle? They normally roll them in sugar before selling them, but I got one before they did that. A sugar-free donut + me = good times.
And yes, you can see from this ^ picture that we are all soaked. After walking around for a little bit longer (and buying flip-flops because mine are about ready to hit the dust – and yes, pun intended), we rode back home on another bus.
This picture isn’t good at showing how much fruit we got. All in all we got: Rambutan, Mangosteen, Snake Fruit, Guava, and Duku Fruit. It ended up being just a shade under 20 pounds altogether. Yummy! I don’t think I’d ever tasted any of this fruit before coming here… Well, maybe without knowing what it was.
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| A close-up of Snake Fruit so y’all can understand the name better. The brown is the skin, the white is the fruit. |
I could not believe how much (or how little) I spent on the excursion. Including the bus fare there and back for five of us, six fresh, piping hot donuts, a pair of flip-flops and twenty pounds of fruit, I paid a grand total of eleven dollars and thirty six cents. That’s all, folks. Amazing, right?
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| And the inside of the Mangosteen. It’s probably my favorite thing I’ve tried here so far. |
What about y’all? Do you enjoy walks in the rain (when it’s not cold out)? What about fruit? What’s your favorite?
And… Sorry about not answering the comments! The internet is painfully slow here. Most of the time I work on editing while waiting for pages and emails to load. Since Noveltea reloads every time I respond to a comment, I’d be sitting at my computer all day long if I tried to answer them. I really do enjoy reading them though! Keep ’em coming!
Noveltea 
what does a snake fruit taste like???
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That sounds like a great outing. And tasty. 🙂 It's amazing how much things are different in the economy there. A haul like that from a store in the states would probably have run $30 or more. I recognize you and Sarah in the pictures. Are the rest of the young ladies in the picture your sisters? I'm enjoying hearing about your adventures there. Keep 'em coming!! Have a great day, Aidyl.
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I don't know how to describe it… Not one clue how to. The first time I ate it, I didn't like it very much. I like it now though. It's crisp. 🙂
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Haha, nope, none of my sisters are along on the trip with me. 🙂 And I'm glad you're enjoying hearing about the adventures. I don't want to bore y'all. 🙂
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Sounds like you're having a fabulous time so far! 🙂
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This reminds me soooo much of China. 🙂 We were there for a month, and, gah, rain. At least it came consistently, like always in the afternoon. OH and it's rainy season here in Australia and we went for a walk yesterday in the sunshine…and it absolutely bucketed. -_- I'm okay to walk in light rain, but we were swimming home. XD lol Love the pictures!!!
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Ah, this looks like so much fun, Aidyl!
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It looks like you're having so much fun! I am so glad you were able to go, Aidyl!! 🙂 I adore walks in the rain. Had I been there, I would have been the first to volunteer to go with you. 😉
Rebecca
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Thanks for convincing me to go along, Aidyl! It was lots of fun!
Hosanna 🙂
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Your powers of persuasion must have been exceptionally high to pull off: “Let's go walk in the rain, and can I borrow some money?” Talent, right there. x) That's awesome. Just don't do anything your sage elders wouldn't, and take care of my bro. And stay safe. And don't talk to strangers, and be home before dark. Oh, and wash behind your ears, and don't talk with your mouth open or chew with your mouth full. Have fun, we miss you two! 🙂
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She's in a land full of strangers. Don't think she can keep from talking to them. 🙂
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Like apple-type crisp?
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Yeah, she was good at convincing… she got me pretty excited about it too, and it was fun!
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You need to go back to that bakery and tell them they have “donut” and “cake” spelled wrong. 🙂
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I wouldn't really call it that, but some of my friends would describe it that way. My descriptive powers are quite lacking, so I'm afraid maybe you'll just have to try it yourself to get a satisfactory answer. 🙂
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Haha, and how in the world would I tell them that? The only word I'm comfortable saying in Indonesian is 'thank you'.
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Yes indeed! It's been amazing!
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A month in China? Oh, can I go along next time? I would be delighted if I could go there. And yes, walking in rain is a part of life for people with a rainy season, isn't it? Or maybe I'm just weird for thinking that. 🙂
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Thanks, Stephanie! It is. 🙂
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Aww, that would have been fun, Rebecca! Going on walks in the rain isn't really the normal thing to do here, but I think they realize we're weird enough anyway. 🙂
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Hosanna! You commented. 😉 I'm so glad you went, it was SO much fun. I've been having a blast spending a month with you. 🙂
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Aaron: My powers of persuasion might be good, but as Sarah pointed out: It *was* fun, and she had fun going with us. Besides I think that kind of talent runs in my family. x) I'm not sure which ones of my sage elders you're talking about, so therefore I can't agree to that bit of advice (if that's what you call it). As for taking care of David? Yeah, he's totally getting the best of care, although I'm not sure if I'm the one giving it to him… If you know what I mean… 🙂 And I think you got a little big carried away with the rest of your comment. Although staying safe is something I *am* endeavoring to do. And yes, we are having fun. And yes, we miss y'all too. Or at least I do.
David: Good point there. 🙂 Although I *could* stop talking for a month. Or wait, I probably couldn't…
Sarah: I'm glad you went and I'm glad you had fun. I think it was very much of a memory-making afternoon. 🙂
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just a random visitor here..
hahaha, i live in indonesia. been contemplating before deciding to inform that doughnut is called donat in indonesian. Cakwe and cake is totally different. It is unfortunate that i don't see a picture of you eating cakwe. I like it more than sugar dipped doughnuts =)
conclusion: there isn't any misspelled words..
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