And still I find myself there every time, walking around, deliberately trying to get lost in the crowds, in the small allies of stores and stalls, of cloths, and food, and toys for children, toys for adults, beautiful artifacts for the home, second hand shoes, puppies, guppies and other strangeness delights for a nice Saturday afternoon.

I do have an excuse as I like to buy my oolong tea, in big bags of odorous leaves from a famous shop which sells spices and herbal mixtures right in the middle of the market. Well, near the middle. If you ask me for instructions I will not be able to help, and I don’t even think the store has a sign or even a name. I just find it like a homing pigeon, circling around getting closer, trusting the force. Well, trusting my luck.

And that is the best way to enjoy this market, this huge playfield of whatever money can buy, and whatever your wife will let you carry home with you, to just let go, and abandon yourself to the natural flow of the market, that ebb and flow inside a wandering mass of people, not looking for anything specific but just roaming the buying fields , waiting for something to catch your eye.
And when it is hot enough? When you have suffered enough and are completely wet and puffing reed? That is the time to aim your steps to section 7, the art galleries in the market, where young artists display what will not go to the fancy galleries in the center of town.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, art is great and all but this is not why I sent you there. In the entrance to section 7 is the best lychee shake in the world, or any other fruit you might desire. They serve them in hand made huge painted glasses which resemble more flower vases. Ice, fresh fruit, a bit of syrup for the kick and you are a new person, ready to continue trailblazing for something more to buy.