Exploring Chanis, Panama

A few days before leaving Panama, I went for an evening walk to explore the local neighborhood....

I have always been curious of the country socio-economy and by exploring a localized area I get to see how the locals run their daily life. So, one fine evening, I ventured out of the expat area after work.

Left the office around 6pm++ before the skies turned dark.

Here's how the office looks like around that time....empty....coz their office hour is until 5pm.

Instead of taking Uber, i walked along the main road (Av. Centenario) and turn into the junction which connects to a few other neighborhoods. Continued walking towards Chanis, which is the nearest one.

Then, i randomly went in to this Korean fast food restaurant, coz i was curious on how it looks like inside and of course - the menu....

Menu board - seems like it has a variety of Korean food such as kimchi rice, bibimbap, ramyeon, japchae....looks yummy from the pictures. The price is within the range of their fast food price. For example, a McD set meal would usually costs USD8++, so it is around this range for the Korean fast food too.

Clean, quiet and peaceful environment, no K-pop songs nor K-drama airing like our usual Korean restaurants. I noticed that there weren't many people in this restaurant, despite the dinner time. The locals don't fancy Korean food?

I sat for a while to enjoy the air-cond.

Left that place after cooling myself and then got 'sesat' at some housing area....

Without a signboard, these houses definitely look like some sort of terrace houses in the Klang Valley. In fact, it looks so similar that i felt like missing home (during then). Across the globe, there is a place that looks so similar to my home-sweet-home 'taman'. And yes, their houses have grill and gates too.

My apartment is seen in the background (one of the 2 tallest tower behind).

Later, passed by another eatery place with only 'food take-away' counter (no dine-in).

I can smell the grilled meats from across the street!

there was a long queue too! So i went near to kepoh...

indeed this place has a variety of more 'interesting' local foods with affordable price...cheaper than USD6. Now i know why that Korean restaurant is so empty.

This place sells tacos, burritos, sancocho (meat stew)....and lotsa interesting food.

It was rush hour in the evening along a busy main road. There was a police guarding the traffic too.

After passing by some housing areas and some abandoned rows of building, i reached at another fast food joint. Yes, Popeyes and Burger King! Aha, familiar brands!

It's a building shared by these 2.

It has separate counters and kitchens, but the dining area is interconnected, so one can get the Popeyes and dine-in at Burger King, and vice versa.

I miss Popeyes chicken, but am not buying this time. I need to clear off my food at home.

I stood there to 'analyze' the menu like a 'soh poh'. The staffs must have thought i m crazy!

On my way home, passed a few local burger stalls that looks like our Ramly burger stalls....

I also walked past 'Super 99' supermarket, which reminds me of '99 Speedmart' in Malaysia😂

This Super 99 is much bigger and established supermarket like our Giant/AEON/Lotus's.

Went home after 2 hours of 'adventures'. I've walked more than 5km!

Conclusion: Apart from currency, driving direction, local language and people, there's alot of similarity with ours. Anyway, their people are cordial. Stranger greetings & small talks are quite norm too. If you can speak their language, you can easily make friends. Despite a multiracial country with immigrants from neighboring countries (Venezuela, Caribbean islands, and other Latino countries as well as China), everyone seem to assimilate well into the society without getting discriminated.

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[Below] The snacks that i bought from the apartment mini mart....

Takis, takis, takis and takis....of different spiciness😂

yes, i like spicy takis....so yummm!