Kuala Lumpur: Goodbye Imbi Market

Every Sunday morning, Abraham and I would go to Imbi Market - one of the highlights of my week! Here's our vege dealer.

Malaysians use this in their tea. It's called something related to rose.

"Boom Boom!" this fruit seller would yell from across the market at Boom. He hated how she invaded his space, as you can see from this picture. But, she was always playful to him and would help me get the best fruit. She is a refugee from East Timor, living here illegally as all refugees do. She couldn't stop crying when I said it was her last time seeing Boom, like she's felt abandoned one too many times in her hard life.

Our weekly flowers that Boom would select himself.

My famous blood circulation soup. I'd break into a sweat as my heart would start beating fast, often leading me to feel a bit woozy. Chinese-Malaysians use this soup with pregnant women to help their blood "circulate."

Every week Abraham would bring his nutella then spread it on his beloved "crepes." Let's just say the French would never call them crepes but my kids were addicted.

Circulation soup seller who would adore Boom, as only Chinese do. He was born in China and returns for weeks every Chinese New Year. I was bereft every Sunday morning when he was gone.

After watching Boom eat nutella crepes for months, the soup cook finally, bashfully, asked for a taste of her first nutella. She was hooked.

Our soup seller's friend gave us these American raisins, which she liked to put on crackers (!)

Crepe makers' son

Soup seller

Soup seller's friend who gave us the raisins in exchange for a nutella crepe. She had also spent many weeks lovingly wiping Boom's face to rid it of nutella, giving me napkins and using a bowl of water. Doting on cute kids is something that makes Chinese-Malaysians very very happy. We'll miss Imbi Market terribly, especially since we heard that, like most of KL, it will be mowed down soon to make way for a huge condo high rise. What a loss!

June, 2010