Char kuay kak, a delectable hawker cuisine featuring rice cake fried with crunchy bean sprouts, fresh ku chai (Asian chives), thick soy sauce and a spoonful of flaming sambal, is one of local Penangites' favourite form of breakfast. Normally, this dish never fails to seduce passers-by with its distinguished aroma, but here at Apollo market, it faces a long lane of competitors.
Located along Jalan Raja Uda, Penang, this morning spark of the town dates back to the 1960s, when the earliest sellers set up small stalls (most of them illegally) to sell vegetables. When the number of stalls increased from 37 to 112, as did the number of illegal ones, the then municipal councillor moved the haphazard market to the main road, so that entrances to the housing areas were not blocked. The market was not officially given a name, but locals took to calling it the Apollo market, using a bar called Apollo that used to be on the same street as a landmark. The name stuck.
Under the hot honey bars of sunlight, Apollo market glimmers with a wide plethora of treasures sold, ranging from stark white chicken feet to red-eyed fish to wobbling home-made jellies to daily toiletries to a vast array of garments, and not forgetting the bewitching hawker food. In other words, 'everything also got!' No doubt, this market serves nearby residents better than a convenience store as it offers not only the nearest, but also the freshest. Believe it or not, say you forgot your money, sellers even allow you to bring the groceries back home first and pay when you visit the next time! Talk about trust.
Imaging yourself as a drop of water, forcefully pushed along a narrow pipe. Relax, at Apollo Market, you do not end up in a sewage, you just get bumped by people carrying baskets full of wet substances until you reach the end of the 500-metre lane. Indeed, getting a share of everyone else's perspiration does not have a nice ring to it, but here, market goers do not seem to mind it one bit.
As you push your way deep into the market, you will encounter beaming faces drenched in sweat, trying to shout over the deafening music of the market, the price of their goods. One seller, who is obviously more innovative than the rest, uses a loudspeaker to promote his clothing, "Buy one free one!" If you are so lucky to meet a particularly merry seller, you can expect to receive an extra bunch of leafy vegetables or a larger slab of freshly-cut meat. No matter how busy, the sellers are always jolly and talkative, and if you listen closely, you might catch a gossip or two whispered between stalls.
Back when I still lived in Penang, I used to visit Apollo market on Sunday mornings with my mother. The vegetable stall that we frequented sells tomatoes red as Snow White's lips, kangkung fresh as the morning's dew, pumpkins fat as seals and chilli padi as spicy as itself.
Next to this vegetable stall, the rhythmic bouncing of knife on chopping board echoes the heartbeat of people nearby. Bloody pieces of meat hang like clothing in a wardrobe, waiting for passers-by to take their pick, while a little down the lane, glassy-eyed fishes glare at market goers, daring them to fish out their money in exchange for their own glittering wet bodies. All around, the clattering of trays on weighing scales, sloshing of water as sellers clean their stalls and chatters of bargaining as add to the drumbeat of the meat stall to create the booming music of the market.
The next part of Apollo market features locals' most-loved hawker delicacies. One stall sells char kuay teow while another makes popiah. There is fried kuih on the right and steamed ones on the left. This uncle does fried pancakes while that auntie serves drinks. It is a small food haven that allows old-school reunions and catch-ups over a table of tantalizing hawker cuisine.
There you have it. Raja Uda might not have a community centre, but this market by the road more than provides locals with the opportunity to be acquainted with one another. Apollo market is a tourist attraction, the locals' sanctuary, and the beautiful heart and soul of this small city. If you doubt me, go see for yourself.
It's a funny thing about coming home. It looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You realize what has changed is you. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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