Jiaji Town Market 海南琼海加积市场

After bringing the children on an outing to the seaside in Boao the day before, they became more attached to me. During breakfast, they suggested we have a barbecue that night.

The adults thought it was a good idea, so elder daughter-in-law Tian volunteered to drive us to Jiaji town to buy the food for the barbecue event. I thought we were going to the supermarket, so I dressed up in a pretty floral cotton dress. But Tian brought us to the local wet market. I stood out like a sore thumb among the locals in the market.  LOL

The wet market is situated in a busy part of town. Housed on the ground floor of a 3-storey building, there are approximately 100 stalls selling fresh vegetables, seafood and meats.

The upper two floors are shops selling household products, textile and garments.

A vegetable stall similar to the ones we have in Singapore. Since we plant vegetables on our farm, we bought mushrooms and corn. 

We stopped by a stall selling a variety of live seafood. There are live fishes too, but dead fish are sold more cheaply. We bought some clams

Stalls selling meat, note the signs in front of every stall displaying the owner's photo and name. We bought some beef for the barbecue.

Met these two brother who were helping their mother sell freshly wrapped dumplings. I stood in front of their stall admiring their skilful and speedy wrapping of dumplings. The family sell dumpling wrappers too.

In front and behind the main building are some terrace shops which sell dried goods, frozen foods or kitchen supplies. We picked up charcoal and skewers.

I was delighted to find the frozen chicken because I could cook our famous Singapore Hainanese chicken curry. The fresh Wenchang chicken on our farm is a little too tough to cook in curry.

We bought 5 kg of frozen chicken wings, some crabsticks and Taiwanese sausages.

We went to a dried goods shop to buy some marinating sauces. I was pleased to find several varieties of dried cuttlefish. They enhance the flavour of savoury dishes and are widely used in our family recipes.

In front of the market are these motor cyclists waiting to send pillion riders to their destinations for a small fee. They are a common sight in Hainan.

When we are done with our marketing at the wet market, Tian drove us to a nearby local supermarket. It is a huge 2-storey building with mostly made in China products.

The kids asked if I could cook them an English breakfast or make sandwiches for the next day's breakfast. I tried looking for bacon, sausages or cheese but these were not available in this supermarket. I could only find milk and white bread.

I noticed the kids were looking longingly at the carbonated beverages and snacks. I do not encourage children to eat snacks, especially processed foods, but I told them to pick something for themselves and I would pay for them. They shyly placed some chips, crispies, chocolates and several bottles of gassy drinks into my shopping trolley. I paid and we went home happily.


孩子们要办一个烤肉会, 大媳妇载我们到琼海加积镇菜市场买菜。这个菜市场面积挺大, 约有100多摊位。鱼虾肉菜、水果、米面油、调味品干货都有，可算是比较全面的平民菜市场了。与摊贩们聊天, 发现所有的摊位多是夫妻店或家族店。

孩子们还要我做西式早餐, 我们又去当地大型超市买食材。但除了白面包和牛奶, 这间超市没卖热狗、煙肉 (培根)和乳酪 (芝士)。看來隔天要做西式早餐, 非动一点脑经不可。