Just take a walk through our street markets in the region and you will realise why a British film crew had this to say after combing the busy wet markets of Guangdong in China -" …they will eat anything with wings except an aeroplane and anything with legs except tables." I can vouch for that. Travelling widely as a photojournalist gave me the curious satisfaction of peering my nose and lens into the colourful street markets around Asia.

While I grew up admiring the heroic antics of the cartoon hero "Biiiirddd…man!", a walk through the street vendors in Luang Prabang in Laos reduced all that childhood fantasies somewhat. I saw a woman plucking feathers off a bird meant for a waiting customer's dinner. The bird was still alive. Considering that it was a "dog eat dog" world out there, man eating birds did not really faze me. Not that a nagging cough and cold could either.

A Chinese physician (whom I consulted at the strong advice of my well- intentioned mother), suggested that I make this herbal tea concoction that featured a potent ingredient - BEES! Yes, those dried and shiny stingers that when spanned, could be as big as the mouse you are clicking on now. I had to boil them with some dried kumquats. I did not know if it worked but I dared not speak for the next three days and I felt better on the fourth. Whether it was the bees or the rest that worked, I still have no idea. Thank goodness for mysticism.

Let me humbly narrate this naïve-of-me story. While in Wuxi, China for an industrial shoot, we were hosted to a dinner at a rather posh restaurant. As the dishes were ordered, I was asked if I liked frogs. Visions of a piquant pot of herbal ginger frog legs stew popped in between my ears. I gave in with an emphatic "yes". When it arrived, I was most delighted to notice that it was served in a huge bamboo container and steaming hot-- a definite bonus to the fragrance. Ever ready to tuck in with my deft chopstick skills, I looked intently for the longest sliver of that sweet flesh. It looked back at me! It was actually a herbal pot of frogs - head, skin, webbed feet, stomach and all. Now I know why the ang mohs (caucasians) don't eat fish head curry.

On a backpacking trip to northern Thailand, the inevitable aroma of spiced grilled meats wafted the street air on most evenings. A chicken here and gizzard there and some fish somewhere…what you saw was what you would get for dinner, at a price. Imagine if I had not watched closely at that "grilled pigeon" that had a thin neck, I would have bought and eaten a mouse! - a field mouse nonetheless, with a tail masquerading as a pigeon's neck. That would have been my most priceless experience yet.

Then, there was also Aquaman. This swift moving marine cartoon superhero that zipped around Neptune's world on the back of a sea-horse to champion the cause of justice. Frankly, I don't remember much of his adventures. But the most memorable adventure out of that episode was the purging of toxins and the invigoration of my body. Again it was the brainchild of my well- intentioned mother, after watching a weak and sickly 7 -year old me struggle to enjoy yet another episode of Aquaman on his sea-horse. She promptly whipped up this invigorating bowl of antidote broth made from-- yep! --you guessed it - dried sea-horses. I'll share this much with you - it was kinda strange drinking hot soup out of a bowl with a sea-horse staring at you, especially as a kid! I suspected it worked because I was playing football the following week.

In essence, we are not what we eat, otherwise we'll have feathers and fins. We are an essence of what we consume. While we don't eat aeroplanes and tables, some of us will fly to Bangkok's weekend Chatuchak market and watch the locals buy a packet of live Maeng-da beetles, sit by a table, slice it apart and slurp in something resembling vanilla essence from its belly! Uuuurghhhhhh!

photos by KF Seetoh