The Faraway Tree at Chong Pang

Going to Chong Pang Market every morning is like a journey of discovery. Do you know the thrill you get when you open a present? First, there is the thrill of anticipation when you wonder what is inside the wrapped gift. Second, there is the thrill of discovery when you reveal the gift to your own eyes. I have always enjoyed the PROCESS of receiving a gift much more than the actual gift. Once opened, the mystery is gone and the thrill is over.

Thanks to itinerant hawkers, going to Chong Pang Market every morning is exactly like the process of opening a gift.

Every day, itinerant hawkers set up tables along the walkways. Every day, these hawkers change. For those who have read Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree series, you may understand how I feel. When you climb up the Faraway Tree, you get to enter a foreign land. These lands rotate away after a set period of time. You only have those few hours to experience the land before it moves away from the top of the Faraway Tree, to be replaced by a new land, with new surprises, and new excitement.

Daily, after my breakfast at Chong Pang, I am drawn to the walkways to browse these surprises. Doing so, I recapture the feelings I experienced in the Tasmanian Saturday market at Hobart, and the many street markets on different days in the different towns of France. Back in Singapore and Malaysia, I gravitated towards the pasar malams, only to find nondescript, boring wares, of lousy quality. Pasar malams are not worth the time it takes to walk through.

The Chong Pang Market's itinerant hawkers are different. They sell stuff that are of good quality and clever design, much like what one can find in Europe's open air markets.

A pair of shoes hawks at $10 and is the most comfortable pair I have ever owned. When I bought it, I thought it might fall apart after a week, like Rubi's shoes tend to do. To my surprise, I wear it daily and it is still robust after 4 months! I just bought a new pair of shoes at $8. If this continues, I shall be the Imelda Marcos of cheap shoes.

There are hawkers selling jadeite bangles, Tibetan vine bracelets, Baltic amber necklaces, bottle corks, foot reflexology tubs, potpourri. The range of goods is amazing and the best thing is that there are always refreshing new things to discover. Walking past these stalls gives me a series of pops of joy.

- Oooh! Look at this!
- Oooooh! That thing is for what?
- My! This is so clever!

Chong Pang Market is like a magic wonderland in the mornings.

Wears well and washes well. This is the first pair of sneakers that has not given me blisters from the first day. It cost all of $10!

These Minnie Mouse shoes wash well and wear well. This pair was a rather more expensive $22 but it too did not give me blisters.

This pair is only $8! Amazingly, it is made of silicon! I have not worn them at all, yet, because the other 2 pairs still serve me well. I grabbed them because I have never seen silicon shoes being retailed anywhere. I was also afraid that given the itinerant nature of the hawker, I would never see these same shoes again!

These retailed at $10 for 3 pairs. They have replaced all the yellow washing sponges in the house. Bathrooms, dishes and even Milo are being scrubbed with these silicon gloves. They last forever and clean much better than the normal yellow washing sponges. Best of all, they dry fast and are easy to disinfect. We used to microwave the yellow sponges every night. These gloves  do not require microwaving at all. We just wash and dry. Best of all, Milo, our dog now enjoys bathing. He loves the massage provided by these silicon gloves when we scrub him with them.

This is an iPad stand. It makes watching Chinese drama off the iPad so easy because it props up the iPad beautifully on the bed.

These socks retail at $10 for 3 pairs. There are clever features on them. There are silicon antislip buds. There is a nice pad for the balls of the feet where holes tend to form in socks. There are even girly looking lacy socks that make one's toes feel all feminine!