Please solve this mystery for us!

[bubbles]

I would love to know where that fish market is too. I love fish to eat - not sure as a diver I should admit that - but there is no way I could choose which lobster would meet its doom - I would then never be able to eat it!!!!

[littleleemur]

These fish markets are found all over Asia And are very popular with locals and some tourists.

Most of them are right at the docks, piers or along the riverbanks. The vendor usually has a slip for his boat at the back of the stall, or the vendor is selling directly from his boat. Then the place to get them cooked ranges from curbside kitchens to full service restaurants.

In more popular tourist destinations like Phuket Thailand, they've refined the process a little too much for squeamish tourists and you just choose a restaurant now instead of first choosing your fish. When you go outside of these tourist hubs, you can still find these traditional outdoor markets and kitchens.

There is also something very similar but is done on wooden rowboats (Sampans). You choose the party boat (basically long narrow rowboat with a long dining table down the middle and bench seating along the sides, and the ferryman/woman paddles out. Then you are approached by fruit, vegetable, meat and fish vendors also on boats to pick out your groceries. By then, you'll have a few "kitchen boats" paddling alongside, offering their services The seafood vendors have live fish & other seafood in buckets and will net them and hand them over for inspection and approval.

The Chinese seafood resturant is a very refined version of this tradition. It can range from a big wall of fishtanks and a wet area with an attendant right at the front entrance, to having the whole set up in the kitchen (in very very fancy restaurants) and you just order by the catch of the day menu which would be changing as you choose.

Many traditional Asians will not eat fish unless they've seen that same fish swimming a few minutes beforehand.

I prefer the outdoor markets & I love the Sampans because they are so much fun. & the good thing is that this experience is at once familiar yet so different each country you go to in Asia.

[bubbles]

Wow that sounds an amazing exerience - very unlike a trip to the supermarket then home to cook it yourself - wonder how many minutes or rather days or weeks since those fish last swam!

[rubber chicken]

I remember, many years ago, visiting a place in Malaya, which sat on stilts over the sea. Upon placing your order, the waiter would nod sagely, walk nonchalantly to the rail and then suddenly dive over the side, reappearing a couple of minutes later with a struggling catch in his hands. As a youngster this impressed the hell out of me. It was only much later that I realised that they had holding tanks under the restaurant.

[bubbles]

Brilliant! LOL