Supermarket Pig
A store on Nanai with a "twist"

- © by Travelers' Net
- Pictures and text by Michael Bjorklund

For the untrained eye, this might look like just another supermarket on Nanai Road, Patöong Beach. But it's not. Once you've bought something in here you will never forget this place. Guarding the place and greeting the customers is a huge pig with the tender age of eight months. For most people who come to this store, he's an attraction. For the owner of the store he's a beloved friend.

When I first got to the store with my camera, the pig was asleep. "He just ate and he'll be out for a couple of hours" the shopkeeper informed me. There was no mentioning of waking up the pig so I could get my pictures. She just smiled and said I could come back later.
"I found him outside my store when he was a very small baby" says the shop owner. "I tried to find the owner of the pig but nobody seemed to know where it came from. I felt like I had to feed him until I could return him. But the days became weeks and now he's been with me for eight months. Although his size s changed slightly he'll always be my baby..." The pig is housebroken and like any other pig, he's a clean animal.

The pig's diet includes six packs of milk and lots of sweeties every day. In between the goodies he'll eat whatever the people around him eat. So far he hasn't rejected any food presented to him. Every time nature calls he'll wander through the store and go about his business outside. When he's tired and wants to sleep he'll retire to his quarters in the back of the store. Sometimes he'll just walk around in the store as if he wants to check that everything is alright. He can't let his store turn into a pig sty, now can he?