While Ariel's parents were visiting, we saw some interesting places. One of the uniquely asian experiences was a trip to a seafood market. After a long subway ride filled with many transfers, we managed to find our way into a warehouse filled with vendors. It was a little disturbing to see so many ocean creatures clamoring in tanks waiting to become dinner. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience. The ground was wet with sea water and animal guts. Ariel and I both rolled up our pant legs before entering. I expected it to smell unbearably fishy, but the air just seemed thick and musty.
The warehouse was full of massive shrimp, abalone, enormous mussels, snails, squid, octopus, fish, skates, sharks, eels, and many more marine creatures. Octopus were sitting in tubs of water and crawling out, only to be poked and prodded by a woman with a long stick until they relented and stayed in the tub. Shrimp practically the size of my head rested on beds of ice. Mussels and snails gasped for a breath of sea water as they lay stacked in a pyramid.
We stood and took in the sights. We gawked as men grabbed fish out of tanks and beat them over the head until the flopping subsided. We watched as people filleted fish and laid it on beautiful platters. We took pictures shamelessly. I only saw one other white person. It was upsetting to witness the raping of the ocean (I even saw some sharks in the fish tanks), but I don't regret going.
1 comment:
Your most morbid post, ever. Even though it's disgusting, I would have liked to see that, too.
It's like a bad smell. When someone says "this smells terrible, smell it" you alway have to lean in and see what the fuss is about.
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