For over a month i have been plotting a cozy Christmas away from home for my team. I even packed stovetop stuffing mix and a can of cranberries in our luggage. But there is still local preparations to make... like acquiring a turkey stand in. In this case, said stand in was to be a chicken. Me and Mike headed to the fresh market- not referred to as "the wet market" for nothing... the floors are always awash in unidentified juices and the run off of frequent hose flushings. While we are at the markets often, its certainly less often that we go to buy a whole chicken (generally we purchase recognizable parts of meat that are lying out pre-cut). Happily, my local friend accompanied us and the chicken acquisition was accomplished rather easily. And by rather easily i mean with a certain amount of yelling and pointing while a lady dug through cages of fluffy white (and truly unfortunate) fowl, dippings and de-featherings, amusing translations, and finally some rather gruesome encounters with a cleaver: "Can you tell her we can do without the head?!". At last we departed with a (still warm) chicken about the size of an overfed pigeon. Haha. Some people's pre-Christmas shopping consists of a visit to the mall and a stop by Starbucks; for others, well, its looks a little bit different.
Ignore the flayed rabbits and try not to notice that she hands you your change in already grimy (and now damp) bills with same hand she gutted your chicken with... yay for fun at the wet market!