Saturday, September 30, 2006

Pasar Malam

Today I had a look at the Pasar Malam... in Bahasa Indonesia (same as in Bahasa Malaysia) it means Night Market... it's a yearly event, a market specialized in Asian goods...

So here I am, looking right and left at the stands... at the entrance gate, the first stand is for the Board of Tourism of Malaysia... now, everyone that truly knows me, also knows that I love Malaysia... the images, the posters, all the merchandise was great... great places, great views, good eye-catching commercial... but for crying out loud, it's time to change this old "Malaysia truly Asia" slogan... it's been there for ever, I know they tried to produce a name which would stick to the country, immediately recognisable... but, my personal opinion, it's getting boring... Malaysia truly Asia... ok, I know, what else?

Anyway, the market is made up mainly by Indonesian products... pretty obvious, given the ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands... so you have basically anything, from wooden craft to batik clothes, from bamboo furniture to silver juwels... some stands were really nice, nice stuff... if only I had already my apartment in Hong Kong, I could start thinking of buying stuff for it... but then again, wouldn't it be better if I buy that kind of stuff in Asia so I don't have to carry it around the world twice? I guess it makes sense, after all....

Anyway, I saw nice vases, lamps, plates.... all decorated in batik style... I got myself a couple of them, as a start... the prices are relatively fair, I have to admit... also the Thai and Chinese stands were nice... I bought a sculpture of Buddah's hand at the Thai's stand, very nice and peculiar...

After wandering around a little while, observing as well the incredible moltitude of races present at the market site, with some Indonesian music played live in the background, I found my way to the food department... You can buy anything, from fresh to canned food... you can get special imported chili sauce (well, at least 30 different kinds... with dry fish, spicy, very spicy, super spicy, burn your tongue spicy, burn your butt spicy)... or go for some papayas, little bananas, rambutan
, starfruit, mata kucing, longan, lychee, anything... even durians! Gosh, they stink! And they are sticky too... I never liked them, but who likes them, normally is crazy about them... it's a love them or hate them situation, nothing in between...

Finally, the food court... happiness sometimes is made up by little things... a flower, a smile, a memory... or... satay ayam with lontong! Simple, can find anywhere in Indonesia or Malaysia
(better if sold at the roadside...) but that's what I call yummy... Yummy? I never used this silly word, well, stupid word before in my life... so I would say this is what I call tasty, good food, even if simple... the real satay, not the Dutch satay... and to finish, some pisang goreng... you always finish with dessert... and a cup of kopi-o or teh tarek... the only pity is that no one knows or cooks my absolute favourite nasi lemak (coconut rice, fried mini anchovies, fried or boiled egg, sliced cucumber, roasted salty peanuts, sambal, possibly fried chicken wing with curry sauce...sometimes otah otah too, all served on a banana leaf), laksa, Norm's favourite and ais kacang... infact, I love desserts with red bean too, like the ones I got both in Malaysia and Taiwan :) they are more Chinese specialities.... Well, I guess I will have to pay a visit to the East to get my favourite food... ehm, in fact, I will ;)

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