The train stopped by Kinarut station for about 30 minutes. The streets in front of the station were very busy and lots of local people swarmed around. I wondered if this area was always like that or not. We walked around the market near the station going with the flow of local shoppers. Meat, vegetables, seafood, clothes, stationery, toys,,,everything was there. In a storehouse-like building I found a drugstore, where medicines, hygiene goods, diapers,,,were displayed in a jumble. I felt that some medicines contained an overdose of their principal component for the OTC medicines.
I was surprised to see fresh fishes being placed on stands under the tents without any refrigerating installation. Kinarut was located near the coast and fishes might be fresh, but they would be rotten in the afternoon in such poor conditions. The fish departments were about five times wider than those of meat.
I found a cotton candy stand. Then I shouted unconsciously "Watagashi!", which means cotton candy in Japanese, and just at that time, the shop owner, a middle-aged man and maybe his kid replied, "Watagashi, watagashi!" I didn't know why they knew the Japanese word of "Watagashi", but we had a really short chat. They asked me how much a bag of cotton candy in the following picture was in Japan, and I answered that it would be 20~30 ringgit, which surprised them.
(Vocabulary)
refrigerating installation 冷蔵設備
cotton candy / spun sugar / candyfloss 綿菓子
マレーシア旅行記： 北ボルネオ鉄道 キナルート駅停車
キナルートという町で停車。約３０分の時間をもらって街を散策。駅前はとても賑やかで、毎日こうなのか、それとも今日は市の立つ日なのか、とにかく買い物客に混じって市場を歩いてみた。肉、野菜、魚介類、衣類、文房具、おもちゃ、、、、なんでもあるといった感じ。建物内にはドラッグストアがあり、薬、衛生用品、おむつ、、、。OTC薬にしては成分の量が多いなあと感じる薬品もあり、ちょっと不安を感じるものも多少有り。
魚は露店に並べられていた。ここは海岸から近い場所だから新鮮な魚かもしれないが、冷蔵装置なしで大丈夫なのだろうか。魚の売り場は肉のそれに比べてざっと５倍以上の面積を占めていた。一角に綿菓子があった。無意識のうちに「あ、綿菓子まである」と声を発してしまったのだが、売っている親子から日本語で「綿菓子！」「綿菓子！」と声が上がった。日本の綿菓子はどれくらいの値段かと聞くので写真に写っている袋一つで２０～３０リンギット（５００～８００円）と答えるとそんなに高いのかと驚いていた。これがいくらで売っていたのかは聞いたのだが覚えていない、、、、残念。
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