back in my hometown ipoh, night market is every sunday but here in UAE (united arab emirates), malaysian pasar malam or night market is a rare occasion, celebrated far and wide!
on friday, the embassy of malaysia in abu dhabi hosted the malaysian night market with a variety of malaysian food on sale, as well as traditional dance performance, and even an appearance by malaysian nasyid group, in team.
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from left – me, kak moi’s mom & her daughters, kak moi in pink tudung, kak riri, glowing mom-to-be zura and feeza
dengan berkobar-kobar, about 5 cars filled with malaysians (and 1 singaporean on a bike!) drove back to back all the way from dubai to abu dhabi. we first had lunch at indonesian restaurant sari rasa (delicious lauk-lauk nasi padang), hung out at abu dhabi heritage village – and then headed on to malaysian embassy for the night market.
WHAT?
makanan dah habis! food was slowly diminishing from the tables and stalls! we were too late!
never under-estimate the power of malaysian food and the smell and taste and savours! and NEVER under-estimate MALAYSIANS too! especially hungry ones! hihi. people came in throngs as early as 4pm to get ready for the night market opening.
it’s NIGHT market maa.. we thought night time also still got food lah! aiyo!
kecewa makanan dah habis but still ceria dapat hang out with our dubai buddies
only the satay stall was still actively operating, and even so, orders have piled up to the brim that whatever satay they’re burning right then, are all booked and sold. the other stalls are either empty (owners have packed up and gone back for the day), or you can see owners packing up.
satay!
so what did i come back with?
there’s one stall still open selling cupcakes, so i bought those for my boys – a pistachio cupcake and an almond one. also, i bought a few packets of sup bunjut from the last stall. tu je. sob sob. uhuk uhuk. where’s my lepat pisang, nasi tomato and kuih kemboja? semua dah habis…
but what a sweet surprise – one dubai friend, lai shan got her long-awaited order of satay, but she so kesian with us that she gave a few sticks to us since we arrived late and didn’t get any yummies. so sweet of her! thanks lai shan!
at night, the malaysian traditional dance troupe performed the popular traditional dance of ‘poco-poco’ for the folks still lounging around. it was loud, festive, and very malaysian!
..and interesting enough, these days there’s always a mini bike show of harleys and some other big bikes lined up in front of the malaysian embassy. ramai malaysians bawak harley rupanya, including my mr. khairul lah hihi. since mr. khairul was bringing us, he drove his car. if he had gone solo, his bike would be in the line-up too..
at the embassy i met kak mira and a very pregnant rosma! surprise lah! great to see you fine ladies!
sigh. didn’t get the food i wanted (except for the satay, itu pun ihsan dari orang hihi THANKS again!) but i must say the gathering of good friends has compensated for the lack of food! it was great meeting dubai friends i haven’t seen in awhile and hanging out sharing stories and gossips.
good food is great, but fine company of friends is better. *smile*
…but put together – is the best! hihi. after the frustration of not getting malaysian food, a big group of malaysians left the embassy towards chinese restaurant ‘noodle bowl’ abu dhabi for a makan besar. i had my favorite char kuey teow, and it was a tummy-filling ending after all..
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there’s talk of having this night market a monthly event – PLEASE! then i would have a second chance in getting my favorite malaysian dishes! i think i don’t need to say what a great idea that is – malaysians can get a taste of home every month, gather together over our local food and just have fun. let’s do it, then!
7 comments:
makanan malaysia memang sedap..cepat la lakunya. rindunya pasar malam!
Yeah, the Malaysian night market should be held more often and with more food. Takpe, there's always next time.
>> nadiah, mana2 pegi pun msian food semestinya the best!!! rindu pasar mlm kat ipoh jugak!
>> having it once a mth would be a great idea if ppl are too bz to do it every week. but definitely will have big support!!!
yes, hopefully luckier next time! :)
wah, kalau saya... dah sedih dah bila x dpt makan. hehehe.. mesti rindu dengan makanan Malaysia kan?
craving ke kak? huhu..takpe insyaAllah ada pasar malam next time..tp ramai gak ye malaysian kat sana..teringin nak pi sana
>> liz, mmg sedih tp lepas tu ramai2 buat rombongan ke restoran spore 'noodle bowl', dpt la makan makanan ala-ala msia punya :)
>> amirah, sini mmg ramai msian. meriah! :D
Zura...he he. 'Peristiwa GreenTown Mall' - sebuah kisah yg tkkan mungkin dilupakan oleh kita 'bertiga'...abg singgah & dtg demi semata2 nk menjayakan kisah istimewa yg ditetapkan takdir utk kita bersama (mereka yg lain belum tentu melalui detik sebegini dlm hidup - anggap saja kita bertuah kerana 'terpilih' melaluinya; sebagai kenangan utk diceritakan kpd anak2). Ringkasan; abg bertindak dgn membuat 'deklarasi' bahawasa msa tu kalian milik abg (kira mcm syok sndiri le..he he) dan abg berjuang habis-habisan membuktikannya; trmasuk mengharungi segala rintangan demi membuktikan bahawa kalian 'special'. Masa tu; kalianlah wanita paling top di Greentown Mall mengalahkan semua yg lain. (yg lain kira mcm pelakon tambahan saja lah..) Abang lah 'pailang' (gengster ditakuti ramai lelaki yg cuba nk mengorat kalian) dlm masa yg sama; abglah 'pelindung' (pencinta sejati). Abg sanggup bersusah-payah demi semata2 mendapat kebenaran nk tatap wajah kalian yg cantik semulajadi (semenjak kecil) itu...(cantik original, tk perlu make-up.) Dan abg berjaya....(dpt kebenaran yg rela dari kalian..) Terima kasih Zura. Kalian adalah di antara wanita paling berani, tabah & sporting di Ipoh. Di ketika org lain takut dgn abg (waktu tu); kalian tahu bahawasa abg hanyalah menjalankan 'tugas' menjadikan kalian istimewa...Di penghujung babak, memang abg sngaja nk Zura kecewakan abg - supaya abg akhirnya boleh melangkah pergi (sebab episod kita bersama sudah hampir ke penamat). Abg tinggalkan greentown mall bukan dlm keadaan kcewa, tetapi bangga berserta doa semoga Zura bahagia & berjaya...Memang dari awal cerita lg abg tahu bahawasa kisah ini hanyalah sementara - tetapi abg guna 'waktu sementara' yg 'kita ada itu' sebaik mungkin bagi menjayakan 'Peristiwa GreenTown Mall' - sebagai salah satu kisah hidup paling istimewa utk kenangan seumur hidup. Perlu kalian tahu; abg bukan berlakon dlm membuktikan segalanya pada ketika itu. Semuanya terjadi secara semulajadi atas kehendak takdir. Segala yg brlaku adalah 'original' - khas utk kalian sbagai 'heroine' GreenTown Mall ketika itu (di mana smpai skg dan bila2 pun tkkan ada dah sprti kalian) Harap2 tiada sesiapa cemburu sb kisah ni adlah 'sejarah' - nanti anak2 tahu 'mummy' suatu ketika dahulu - pernah memegang gelaran wanita tercantik di greentown mall...(ingat tk betapa byk lelaki2 (member2 abg) dibawa 'mengadap' kalian waktu tu?..dan smua rasa seronok serta mengakui kecantikan kalian)
Sebelum abg berundur; abg nk jwb satu persoalan yg byk trtanya2 ketika itu: 'siapakah yg lebih utama SEBENARNYA di antara Zura dan Ida?' (Takkan le Zura tk tahu siapa pemenangnya?....... - Zura le.) Insyaallah kalau ada rezeki, abg akn buat novel bertajuk 'Deklarasi Greentown Mall' supaya zura tahu: 'kenapa' zura-lah yg lebih utama - walaupun abg tahu; zura tk pernah pentingkan tentang siapa menang atau tidak. Abg pun mcm tu, tk fikir psl tu...tp 'betapa terserlah'nya zura; membuatkan abg rasa tak adil kalau terus beranggapan tiada pemenang sampai ke akhir babak. Ini bukan keputusan abg seorang semata2, tetapi keputusan 'takdir' - berdasarkan apa yg telah berlaku. Take care. Semoga berbahagia hendaknya bersama keluarga tercinta. Mohon maaf andaikata ada tersalah bahasa. (sipnosis novel: abg dtg, abg cinta, buat pengumuman sendiri kepada seluruh GreenTown Mall bahawasa kalian milik abg, dan kemudian berjuang hingga ke titisan darah terakhir bagi membuktikannya - bermakna; syok sndiri abg umumkan kalian milik abg waktu tu; bukan deklarasi (pengumuman) kosong semata. Tetapi deklarasi sejati seorang lelaki demi kerana cinta, kasih dan sayang. Abg buktikan pada kalian dan juga GreenTown Mall ketika tu; kalian-lah wanita istimewa (tercantik) yg mengalahkan semua wanita lain yg ada di situ, di GreenTown Mall...dan abg berlalu pergi mendoakan kalian bahagia setelah tugas abg selesai...tq.
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