Among the many joys of living in Indonesia or Malaysia (I lived in both) is shopping at the pasar malam, the night market. This is an open-air market where people, often entire families, set up a table with some shade to sell goods - fresh fruit, freshly cooked food, household goods, clothing, shoes. As a lover of fruit, that was always my focus. When I was new to life on the equator, I didn’t know what half the fruits were. Yes, I am a botanist who specializes in trees, but so many fruits were new to me, and I had to ask the sellers how to eat some of them. They were very patient with the dumb American.

Pasar malam is a vibrant social setting, where we talk with our neighbors, and ask about the best fruit or tasty dinner. It is not time to rush. It is an experience far better than any supermarket.

Have you ever seen 20 kinds of bananas in one place? Pasar malam can offer you that and more. One day, I saw a big crowd around a stall at the end of the fruit row of stalls. I walked down there and saw that they had a big banner: Washington Apples! They were selling red delicious, but I’m from New York and red deliciious is the last apple I want. Many of my friends who were waiting in line had never eaten an apple. I turned my focus to local fruit.

The closest we come in the US to pasar malam is the farmers market, which have grown a lot in popularity in recent years. But there is nothing as vibrant as the pasar malam.

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Photos: Pasar malam in Selangor, Malaysia, Wikimedia Commons.