The Colours of the Satok Sunday Market

I went to the Sunday Market at Satok on one fine morning for a street shooting with my Jedis #001, #002 & #005. The Sunday Market started off as a place for the native people to sell their jungle produce but it has evolved into a large-scale open-air market over the years. It has now become one of the tourist attractions in Kuching. You can find anything you need for the household here; from food to ointment.

Colourful sandals for the fashion-minded.

More colourful sandals.

Bracelets made from beads with the motifs of the native people.

More bead bracelets.

Bags with colourful design for those who are fashion-minded again.

These primary-colour trays and buckets provide great colour contrast for a photography subject.

The Humpty Dumpties.

The making of the 'apam balik', a kind of pancake garnished with ground peanuts.

The finished 'apam balik'. Guess how many I gobbled up?

Salted fishes.

Salted-fish slices.

Dried shrimps.

Slabs of roasted pork.

Long beans, tomatoes and chilies.

The 'snake-skin' fruit.

Ointment made from seahorses.

The Japanese sweet potatoes.

Fish-cake fritters or 'keropok lekor'.

Packets of colourful biscuits.

The 'cempedak' which is related to jackfruit.

From Mykonos to Thira

When I was in Athens, I have already bought all my boat tickets for my island hoping trips, including the trip from Mykonos to Thira (Santorini) on 10^th July, 2007. On the day of my departure, I happily checked out of Pension Matina at noon time and requested Yanis to send me to the 'Old Port' to board the SUPERJET™ vessel at 2 p.m.

The car ride took only 10 minutes and I waited at the quay for the vessel to arrived while eating my 'lunch' with just cookies and plain water. I watched vessels harboured, picked up passengers and departed, eagerly looking for the sign SUPERJET™ on every fast-speed boat that arrived. Not until 1:50 p.m. that the bad news was announced through the creeping loudspeakers: "Otenshon pliz. The SUPERJET to Tira say-due at 2 pi-am haz been kanseled. Pliz go to the nieres tiket ofis to chiek for the nex say-due vessel." I almost couldn't believe my ears and double-checked with the quay guard about it. After getting the confirmation from him, I had no choice but to ask for direction to the 'nieres tiket ofis'.

When I arrived at the ticket office, there were already quite a number of agitated passengers who were supposed to be on SUPERJET™ throwing their tantrums on the poor clerk at the ticketing counter. Luckily, he has a lot of patience and apologised to everyone on behalf of SUPERJET™ on the cancellation. I overheard that the next scheduled fast-speed vessel was SUPERFAST™ that would depart at 4 p.m. but it was fully booked, and the next snail-speed vessel leaving Mykonos for Thira was at 8 p.m. A couple with a pregnant wife was able to convince the ticketing clerk to give them the two seats reserved for emergency use on SUPERFAST™ that would take them to Thira in two hours. When it came to the turn of a young American couple whose SUPERJET™ schedule had been cancelled for three consecutive days, they were so desparate to get on board of SUPERFAST™ without any assigned seats and were prepared to be standing at the aisle for the whole journey. I chipped in to make the same offer, but it was unfortunate that we were not allowed to do that due to safety reasons.

Well, we had to settle for the slower, and I mean really a snail-speed NTALIANA of G.A. Ferry that would leave at 8 p.m. The only compensation that we got from the cancellation was the refunded SUPERJET™ ticket and a free ticket on NTALIANA, plus free phone calls to the hotels in Thira to inform them the change in schedule.

Since it was sunset time on board of NTALIANA, I could only shoot a few blurry sunset shots on the moving vessels, with the rest of my time starring at the cold metal ceiling of the cabin.

NTALIANA took eight and a half hours to arrive at the port of Thira, an hour and a half later than scheduled. I told George of San Giorgio Villas that I would arrive at 3 a.m., so he waited for me under the cold wind starting at 2:30 a.m. without a sight of me until 4:30 a.m. George and Dina are the two nicest hoteliers that I've ever met. And I would recommend San Giorgio Villas to everyone visiting Thira without any hesitation.

George and Dina are two of the nicest locals in Thira that I've met. Despite his busy schedule, George arranged the transportation for my departure seamlessly too!

Oops! Now I remember that I promised George and Dina to send this photo to them. I better keep my promise by dropping them an email after this post is up. It's four months late, but better late than never!

Once again, remember that SUPERJET™ is extremely unreliable and San Giorgio Villas has my unreserved recommendation!

If you would like to read more of my travelogues on Greece, here are the links:-

1. Athens – The Homeland of the Gods

• Acropolis
• Ancient Agora
• National Archaeological Museum
• Exposé at the Parliament Building
• Neoclassical Trilogy
• The Walking Tour
• The Graffiti
• The Central Market
• Panoramic View

2. The White Dream in Mykonos

• Whitewashed Cube Houses
• Stairways to Heaven
• Barricades in Paradise
• Sea Breeze
• Wind Riders
• With a Little Bit of Red
• Roaming the Streets
• The Holy Ground
• When the Sun is Going Down
• I've Been to Paradise

3. Santorini – Almost Heaven

• Roaming Around the Streets of Fira
• Gazing at the Sea in Fira
• The Southern Crosses in Fira
• The Golden Hour at Fira
• Fira Sunset and After Dark
• Strolling the Streets in Oia
• The Cliffs and the Sea in Oia
• The Domes and the Bells in Oia
• The Barriers in Oia
• The Sunset at Oia
• The Volcano at Nea Kameni
• The Black-sand Beach of Kamari
• Ancient Thira

4. Miscellaneous

• Piraeus – Tinos – Mykonos
• Delos – The Open Air Museum on an Island
• From Mykonos to Thira
• Nuts about Kebab
• Patras