I like going to the traditional market with mom, experiencing the energy, the colorful offering, and the ‘genius’…
Mom knows where to find the best buy: we would get up at 6AM then (bike) raced to the market to get guavas (before good ones being taken); we would ride over half an hour to another market to look for vegetables. She would carefully pick each sweet potato, bean…etc. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s worth the efforts (save NT 5-10) by paddling around. Yet she would buy the biggest fruit or what we like for sister and I.
Our bike has a basket on the back seat. Mom advised me to first put a huge plastic bag in the basket, filled it with all kinds of purchase, then tied it up. It forms a hill and maximizes the capacity of the bike. Plus, you can hang a few more bags of lighter goods around the basket. We’re packed then head home for breakfast. I feel sad for mom’s ‘super power’ (when I’m not around, she is one bike).
In mom and my after dinner walk, we noticed an older man playing a bamboo-made instrument on the side walk. We didn’t have money in our pocket. Mom asked me to remember to bring NT 50 coin next time. Sorry, I forgot. The following afternoon, we happened to walk pass and saw him again. No coin in our pocket. Mom gave him a NT 100 bill and said happy new year. It brought tears in my eyes. That’s mom…always think of others before herself.