Actually, I wanted to write about something else, but my head is practically spinning for some reason, and I don’t think I can manage to write about something serious at the moment. It’s been a long day for me. So I think I’ll just skip my fairy tales and my usual rantings and venting.
Instead, I’d like to share some tips on shopping in Bazaar Ramadan with all of you out there. Ohh, don’t give me that look. I know most of us are guilty for food gluttony during this fasting month. Whether you are a Muslim or not, I’m sure you guys have a fair share of visit to the bazaar in the quest for delicacies. So, here’s some tips for you guys.
1. If you hate the crowd don’t hunt down the delicacies yourself, instead, ask a friend or your spouse who are going to the bazaar to get them for you.
2. Ramadan Bazaar IS NOT your regular night market (pasar malam). If you’re a non- Muslim, just remember that this is a fasting month, and you can’t go around eating or drinking the stuff that you bought on the spot. Try to refrain from eating or drinking the stuff that you bought on the spot if you don’t want people to give you nasty glares or rude school kids who will shout “Eee…tak malu, tak puasa” at you. That will be pretty embarrassing, wouldn’t it?
3. Shop in moderation and just buy what you really want to eat instead of buying whatever that is within your reach. At first glance, everything seems to be priced reasonably, but if you see properly, not everything in the bazaar is cheap. In fact, some of the are more expensive than the one sold in regular mamak stall.
4. If you plan to shop a lot, prepare a lot of small change, in case the stall owner doesn’t have small change to return the balance of your purchase. This will spare you the agony of waiting for your balance in the sea of sweaty and hungry human beings.
5. Take a good care of your wallet and purses as well as your handphones. If you happen to drop them in the bazaar, there’s a chance that you won’t be able to get them back, so you can kiss your techie phone and wallet goodbye if you drop them in the bazaar.
6. Beware of pickpockets. Even though it’s said that the demon and satan are locked up in hell during this month, it doesn’t mean pickpockets are chained up as well. Pickpockets do not care if it’s fasting month or not. If they want to steal anything from you, they’ll do it anytime and anywhere. The real demons are actually humans.
7. Ladies, exercise caution when you shop in the bazaar. Horny assholes who are sexually deprived are everywhere. There are bastards on the loose who will try to ‘accidentally’ bump on your butt or your breasts. If I shop alone in the bazaar, I always make sure that I have my pepper spray and umbrella with me. In case there’s any unwanted attention on me, I’ll just whack the offender with my umbrella or abuse his eyes with my pepper spray.
8. Parents, please take good care of your children if you decided to bring them along to shop for food in the bazaar. NEVER let your children walk alone without parental supervision. Children can get lost easily in the crowd. They can easily be harmed and injured too if they’re to fall down and get stampede by the horrible crowd. The kids can be kidnapped by some fucking syndicate too. Don’t say I’m paranoid when I advice against giving young children freedom to walk by themselves in places like this. Remember Nurin Jazlin Jazimin? She walked in the night market nearby her home WITHOUT parent/ guardian’s supervision, and see how she end up like. She ended up being kidnapped and her private parts being stuffed with brinjal/cucumber and suffered a horrible death. Even her parents could not recognize her dead body. Parent’s, you don’t want anything untoward to happen to your children, right? It doesn’t matter if they are boys or girls. Do not neglect your children’s safety when you are shopping in a crowded place like the Ramadan bazaar.
9. If you feel faint or hard to breathe when you are shopping in the the bazaar, stop shopping for food and make haste to exit the bazaar. Remember, your life is more valuable than those delicacies you’re after.You wouldn’t want to faint in the bazaar and get trampled by the shoppers over there. Even if you’re not trampled by the people over there, you might get a concussion during the little trip to the ground.
Last but not least
10. Make a trip to the bazaar during the ‘almost breaking fast’ time. The food sellers usually will sell their goods at a cheaper price as they are in hurry to close their stalls to break fast. Sometimes you can even get free food too. Well, at least, I know I always get a lot of free food when I go to the bazaar late.
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Cleffairy: I hope the tips are useful, and please feel free to share your own tips on shopping in Ramadan Bazaar with me. Happy food hunting, and happy breaking fast, people.
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Sigh….today raining heavily…. cannot go Pasar Ramadan. Have to eat the kueh teow soup that I cooked for lunch!
Yeah, Pete… my place here rain cat and dogs too. Perfect for curling in bed and sleep, not for shopping. I din go to the pasar ramadan too today cuz of the rain. Maybe wanna go and grab some bites over there tomorrow. 🙁
Lizzy, got your site from QQ. Heard you’ve been hard at work with your new novel. Take it easy, girl. Come visit us soon, miss ya a lot, girl.
Thanks for visiting my blog. 🙂
Angel…ermm…let me guess, from HeavennHell guild? 😀
You’re welcome, Kikey. Feel free to express yourself here.
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I NEVER go to a Ramadan Bazaar… I hate crowded places and I dread looking for a car-park…. well, not never.. sometimes I do go.. LOL… Have 2 bazaars near my place.. one at Tasik Permaisuiri and another at the carpark in Bdr Sri Permaisuri.. :).
I also HATE crowded places, but the temptation of food is too big for me to handle. LOL.
hv been planning to go to the nearby pasar ramadan, but always get engagements last minute…damn. it’s one place where one can find the creme dela creme of malay delicacies. (dunno why all of a sudden, better food, more variety, better quality..gosh) and also check out on those antics of those hungry people…..apparently they hv embrassed the term kiasu …. too … lol.
Ktx, the kiasu are actually sore loser in comparison to the hungry ones in the bazaar. They are far more kiasu and aggressive. Pretty scary. It’s like human eat human world out there in the bazaar. I’m dragging my other half to go there today. Feel like eating those kuih. LOL.
1. all hubbies beware. if your wife request you to buy food from the pasar ramadan, either say you have tummy upset or headache. works for me….lol.
2. in kuantan, whenever i buy i eat right in front of them. ramadan is a period of testing for the muslims. back home, we usually meet friends and colleagues there. no issues, usually they just laugh and perli sikit sikit lar…but dont lah purposely eat in front of children who are fasting. they might cry…hehehe
3. i dont really buy their lauk because full of flies everywhere. got food poisoning before. i only buy their kuih and not so oily stuff. and you’re rite clef, some items were unusually expensive.
4. no comments here. have as many rm1 and coins. common sense tells you dont buy rm2 kuih by giving rm100 notes. they’ll stare at you and say youre cocky.
5. not only wallets and hps, even car keys got lost. but in kuantan, not many cases. got an incident last year where a guy tried to snatch a lady’s handbag, got caught and was bashed up pretty bad. people here quite helpful, unlike kl when my wife almost got her backpack snatched. the people just stare and say kesian…wth!!!
6. well i guess its so rampant in kl that you have to be careful with everyone. not much an issue in kuantan. so no worries…but then again, have to be vigilant at all times.
7. this one very common, esp in kl when its damn crowded. not only during ramadan. my advise to women….or men *giggles*, grab the crotch and twist it around. let those bastards squeal in agony. hahaha
8. aiyo, go this type of place oso want to bring your children. except of course if you really had to. i really dont understand those people who brings their little infants (2-3 months old) out to buy food. damn crowded, and you expect people to give you way when you’re with your child. have to use otak abit lor….
9. not sure of the crowd in kl. but in kuantan, there’s still air for you to breathe. i only cannot stand the mat rempits with their dirty shirts, smelling like garbage, never wash or wash still damp and not dry. got bohsia follow oso *shakes head*. “gua mat rempit man!!! mati dengan gaya….lu bohsia mau ikut?”
10. there’s pros and cons. sometimes the leftovers looked like they were eaten and spurted out, all mashed up. only advise to buy the kuih. cheap, yes!! good quality…..not sure.
hope my comment did not bore you to death…hehehe. got some time to spare today.
go to pasar ramadan near buka puasa time, and shop until they near closing their stall, u will get “buy 1 free 5” from them, hahaha
i do that every year.
I just went to my first ramadan bazaar just now. Port Dickson seemed to have a lot of Indonesian “Malay” .. so i had my berkedel from a shop.
I do what Garfield does…My tip will sound ironic but … don’t shop on an empty stomach. I tried fasting once and did the shopping. I bought unbelieveable number of stuff to eat. kekek
Hi Cleffairy, Holy Smoke, you carry pepper spray with you? And a cruise missile….your umbrella?
Terok tu, get blinded, get poked! Ha ha.
You the kind of woman I admire, a Merdeka kind, ha ha.
I will not be surprised you glare at whoever ‘accidentally’ brushes against you at crowded markets, you say, “go ahead, make my day”,ha ha.
Think you should tukar your callsign to ‘ClintCleffairy”, ha ha. Lee.
cleff is not going out alone
no. 7????
seriously?!?! i mean it is supposed to be a “HOLY MONTH” and they are still pervert roaming around freely?!?! “hou sam la”…they carry their activity for months/year, should it be right for them to at least take a break from all the “raba-ing” for a month or so?!?!
no. 2?!?!
for me, sometimes i will forget that it’s fasting month and tend to eat in front of Muslims. which in case, i suddenly remembered, i will say “paiseh and sorry” stuff…usually they are cool with it…
if any rude malay kids said that to my face that i should be ashamed of myself for NOT puasa-ing…i WILL SHOVEEEE somemore FOOD in my mouth and make sure they are either lollipops, French fries or just plain water JUST to irritate the rude kids…lol
hohoho…”so i eat in front of u is a rude act la…you called me tak malu because i dont join in puasa that is polite lo” lol
evil me~~~
Carry pepper spray, banyak aggresive woooooo……
LOL…Calvin….we wives very pity wan… you wouldn’t want us to get squashed in the crowd, do you? *blink blink* Later get bruised leh…very pain wan. Ahahaha… aiya… yesterday Sunday, you so free to comment for me? Your missus still not back from taiwan ah? So pity you.
Actually I agree with your number 2, but unfortunately, not everyone’s temper during Ramadan is good. 🙁 I’ve seen a lot of awful drivers during ramadan. Yesterday only, while out with my husband, we almost crash into some cars a few times, just because they’re driving recklessly. A test of patience indeed, in many ways, not just to the Muslims, to everyone too.
Garfield… buy 1 free 5… hahaha… sometimes I get stuff for free. They just shove food to me and say, “Ambillah,dah nak tutup.” and I would gratefully take it. LOL. (I know la, I’m a cheapskate!)
Amoker… LOL…yea, I agree… NEVER shop on empty stomach, cuz you tend to shop as if there’s no tomorrow. So I guess it explains why there’s such gluttony in the bazaar… cuz people are mostly fasting. Hahaha. 😛
Uncle Lee, haha, safety first. Assholes are everywhere, so that explains the pepper spray and umbrella. LOL… umbrella is very, very useful. Usually I carry it around to shield myself from the sun and rain, but yeah, it function as a weapon too. Actually, pepper spray should be improvised. The liquid that comes out should brightly coloured, so that when there’s any pervert around and we women get to use it, it’ll taint the perverts’ face. Like this more syiok, easy for people to catch! Huahahahaha! Actually, people should be thankful that carrying a hand grenade around is illegal. I would have toss em at some asshole of mat rempits and blow them off to the next dimensions if hand grenades are made legal to be carried around. 😛
Rose, not all are perverts la, usually it’s those mat-rempit kind. This kind of people won’t give any of their stupid activities a break during puasa times. I went to the Lake Garden with my husband yesterday, and guess what I saw? Young man and woman who are Muslims fondling around in public on their motorbike. Now that the Eye of Malaysia is gone, I daresay their activities are going to be more active then ever, now that tourists would be going there a lot less.
Whoa….remind me not to make you my enemy, Rose…you’re quite mean too. LOL. Even to kids. But heck la, rude kids should be thought a lesson.
Malimdeman, yea, banyak ganas ooo….nenek kebayan teach me wan. I am nenek kebayan’s great grand daughter.
hahaha… i miss those kuih-muih a lot ….
erm, only can have a bite once a yr when i was studying in japan, then i off travelled around the world and now working, roughly 7yrs i havent been to those market for puasa food as my dinner… yeah prepare own grocery bag if you buy more… say no to plastics =p
I had diarrhea over the weekend!! Sheesh…….
Ah Fu… lol… seems that you’ve been busy. Have a bite of it once a year during your stay in Japan? Eh? There also have this kind of market? Or issit in the Malaysian Hall? 7 years without those delicacies? Wow…that’s long. LOL…i dun usually bring my own groceries bag when i shop for these food, cuz i dun usually buy a lot, but when I shop for groceries in the wet market, I bring my own err… aunty’s basket. 😀
Kevin, you see la… eat til food poisoning. LOL. Now ok oredi or not? 😛
Not really ok yet.. haha.. over weekend went to Kuala Selangor.. bought myself a fine 3.8kg Garoupa… family had fish head curry which was fantabulous.. from a fresh garoupa, the meat was sweet, succulent and tender and odorless. garoupa head makes the best curry and I had triple portions of the head… gazunked the fish eyes as well… then towards dawn my stomach churn…
=.= aiya… eat in moderation lah. See…. now the fish revenge on you liao. 😛