Thursday, August 04, 2005
Night markets are an integral part of a Malaysian's lifestyle. Commonly known as pasar malam, one can find an assortment of goodies peddled by the traders that set up their stalls by the roads.
It is also not unusual to find a Malaysian who can rattle off the days and area where a night market will be found. Wednesdays we have the Taman Connaught pasar malam, Thursdays at Taman Mutiara Barat, Fridays at Taman Segar, so on and so forth. Of course, the PJ folks will also be able to tell you when the night markets are on at Taman Paramount, SS2, etc. Then we have the slightly more upmarket pasar malam at Bangsar which happens every Sunday evenings.
I love night markets. I love making my way through the human traffic, the humidity, the smoke from the various traders selling delicacies, the cigarette smoke as a result of rude people smoking while being in such a crowded place, the streets filled with litter, the beggars that squat in the middle of the road asking for donations, ahh..
Sure, shopping at modern complexes and malls are comfortable with their clean and air-conditioned surroundings, and I love shopping at malls too. But pasar malams are better! There's nothing like getting all sweaty and smelly after a pasar malam excursion.
Last night I went to the Taman Connaught pasar malam, which coincidentally was featured in the papers yesterday. Touted to be the biggest in Malaysia, this night market boasts some 700 traders! So imagine the array of goodies we can indulge in! There's literally everything and anything under the sun - clothes, shoes, trinkets, accessories, pirated CDs, soft toys, household items, sunglasses, caps, bags, asam laksa, fried foods such as fishballs and chicken wings, bread, cakes, smelly beancurd, all sorts of herbal drinks, lemonade, meat, vegetables, fruits, cosmetics, under garment, pets, er.. you do know that I could go on forever right?
Me and colleagues ended up a feast pigging out on the spicy and sour asam laksa along with icy cold sugarcane drink. And what's a trip to a pasar malam without returning home with pirated CDs?
Looking forward to next Wednesday!
Posted by Doreen at 5:26 pm
