Here in Thailand also, you can find fresh market anywhere, and they are filled with mouth-watering smell of freshly cooked food, cheerful calling voices of all sellers, and people of all ages. How I wish I could go there as often as I like! It would be so great to be able to walk casually to the market after work and get some fresh food that you cannot get in normal roadside stalls.

But the problem is, a local fresh market is a huge challenge for a totally blind woman to walk around. Wait, let me put it again. I can walk around, yes, my O&M teachers, but to get what I need?? Hmmmm… that’s a different story. The small vendors constantly changes their spots. The market is normally packed with people, so my beloved white cane cannot be of much help (Otherwise I’d trip and poke a dozen of people there). Certain things are quite easy for me to detect, like grilled corn on the cob, grilled chicken, fresh and not-so fresh seafood, pungent durian, etc. But what about Chinese cabbage and tomatos? Eggs? Meat, yes, because I can hear the butcher cutting meat with bones with a big butcher knife. But how about bread and uncooked rice? Hmmmm, right?

So a visit to the local market is a kind of luxury for me at the moment. Actually, there is a trick: I could take a motorbike taxi, and let the driver accompany me. But sadly speaking, those motorbike drivers are not keen shoppers like us many women… Someone techy out there, please invent a cool device that can shout out “Passing a meat shop!” and “Fruits to your right” to me.