By D’Diggers Team
BAU, May 25: Why bother going to a performance when you can experience the greatest showmanship right here in the heart of Serikin, Bau, where salespeople promote their diverse merchandise with the flair and drama of a theatrical performance?
To thrive in Serikin’s bustling marketplace, one must wield the art of eloquence to attract the crowds, and amidst the diversity of sellers, one ‘performer’ (salesperson) stood out with his relentless demonstrations.
The D’Diggers Team came to a halt, curious as to what the salesman had to offer as he was found seated by his stall before an array of merchandise and props needed to promote it.
“Come! Come!” he called in a voice so loud and engaging, “This glue is the best glue, because, look! It (glue) is very effective and doesn’t take long to take effect. It only takes a second!”
There was never a quiet moment as he continuously engaged the onlookers, his potential customers, as he cut pieces of rubber and applied glue to a brick before affixing the rubber.
D’Diggers Team looked on in awe at the effectiveness of his merchandise as he held up the rubber, demonstrating the glue’s superior adhesive strength.
His remarkable showmanship was truly entertaining as an increasing number of onlookers had gathered to witness what he had to offer at his stall.
Showmanship was a common trait among most Serikin salespeople to attract prospective customers to their stalls, exemplified once again by yet another salesman who called out to the D’Diggers Team to showcase his product.
“Come here, let me show you some magic!” he called, fascinating us with his opening line.
He dripped a few drops of red ointment onto a piece of paper, folding it several times before demonstrating its efficacy by pressing the paper against the back of one of our journalists from the D’Diggers Team.
According to our journalist, there was initially a cooling sensation, which was later replaced by a spreading heat.
There were also other types of ointments, all intended for massages and were believed to offer various health benefits. Among them was the ‘minyak lintah’ (leech ointment), containing leech extract and ‘daun bungkus’ (wrapped leaf).
His sales pitch could only hold the attention of the D’Diggers Team for so long before we moved on to explore what else the Serikin market had to offer.
What would you buy in the Serikin market if you had RM100 in hand?
Serikin offers a plethora of products, from authentic rattan furniture to jungle produce, and it left the D’Diggers Team unsure of what to purchase especially with such an abundance of choices all at once. Such was a time of great uncertainty.
One of our journalists was particularly drawn to a rattan shoulder bag, and with Serikin’s myriad of choices in shapes and sizes, the decision-making process was made even more challenging.
Thankfully, the purchase of a rattan shoulder bag was successfully made; otherwise, we would have been stuck in a perpetual state of indecision.
I don’t know. Do you?
Plagued by the decision of where to go for your next meal? Continuously haunted by the question of “Where to eat?”.
Then if you’re in Bau, perhaps you could stop by the ‘Bù Zhīdào’ Café (Don’t Know Café) located at Lorong Taiton 30.
Heading to the café was an impromptu decision as the D’Diggers Team always had a good chuckle every time we drove along Jalan Taiton, finding the café’s name borderline genius; which led us to stop by after the trip to Serikin.
Don’t Know Café is a quaint spot with a few tables and features a kolo mee stall at the front entrance. There were plenty of customers, whom we assumed to be regulars by the way they eased into the place and ordered without even glancing at the menu.
The team stopped by to quench our thirst and curiosity towards this peculiarly named café, and was delighted to find that it serves fine coffee and delicious ‘teh c peng special’ (special iced milk tea) at only RM3.60. — DayakDaily
