Saturday, November 19, 2011

Fish & Fish - 基隆港

Hola!

If you like sea species, whether to see, buy or eat, then you should visit the fish market in Keelung Port area ( around 25 minutes far away from Taipei heading to the north ) and only during night time (I visited at 00:00 ), when fishers arrive the port with all cargo.  


So, let's go outside Taipei city, take the highway, activate car light speed and have some fun!




Once we arrived at Keelung we parked the car in a red line. I loved this because it seems traffic law is not applicable in Keelung area during night time, so this was my first Oh My God, so cool, or OMGSC! We finally arrived at our destination, the fish market. Tip: I do not recommend you to try the 58 or 85 degrees coffee unless you love coffee with a nice fish smell :-)


First encounter was with a lady selling big quantities of all clam types (big, small, white, brown, male, female...). This situation raise in my mind the second OMGSC! She even had a big room area behind her, so to store all items.




We keep walking and see what the market offers to buyers. Near the clam girl, there was another stall selling several type of fishes, but there was one type which was giant!! I would say around 1 meter long! Third OMGSC!


You can easily notice the fish and seafood smell everywhere. Suddenly, a stall with all type of cocktail shrimps, fully peeled! Fifth OMGSC! At that moment I wondered, is the seller peeling all shrimps by hand or does a peel machine doing this job? The answer, the seller is doing this job by hand!!! Sixth OMGSC, hahaha!


Anyway, I do think it is more convenient to sell no peeled shrimps! Same as this guy.



Obviously, we are in Taiwan, and a stall selling "Pin Lans" or 檳榔 (a kind of chewy nut) and tobacco MUST be near the area. Seventh OMGSC!


What more surprised me was not a big fish or a red clam, but a seaweed. Yes, a seaweed! How come a seaweed can have this size!?? The only answers are, whether has eaten a whale (which I don't think so) or nature is just amazing! Eighth OMGSC!


Suddenly, a guy with a moto-car pass by, full loaded of crabs! I like and I love eat crabs! Don't leave, wait for meeee, I want to buy all your cargo! OMGSC!!!!!!!


I decide to get involve in a direct deal with a local seller. First of all, you need to identify your target and then, Operational Procedure starts, bargain time! The basket on the right was my target, and the main mission was, get it as cheap as possible! Yes, OMGSC!!


Around 3-4 kilos of fresh sea crab for 20 Euros, which is around 850 TWD!!!! This deserves the eleventh OMGSC!!!


Time to go for a walk and check around the market. The area is very small, you just can walk around 2 streets, so it can take you around 30 minutes to check it all. Next, some selection of what you can see!



Fishes have been just loaded into truck from boats in port and these are unloaded in the same street where the market is located.



Main street is really narrow, as trucks are in the middle of the road and at the same time, unloading goods. This way is really inconvenient for pedestrians, as there is no space for a confortable walking. I do think trucks should unload goods in other areas designed for the purpose.


Overall, the experience is really impressive. You shall definitely visit the fish market and of course, use your bargain skills when purchasing any item. OMGSC!!!


Fish and fish!



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