By Sarawakian
At the beginning of the fasting month, I looked forward to visiting as many Ramadan Bazaar as possible. I managed to visit 3 locations. One was at SS19, the other at USJ7 and the last one at USJ4. Apparently when I read about the locations, SS19 was expected to have 20 stalls, USJ7 with 60 stalls and USJ at 140 stalls. The latter location was the largest in Subang Jaya.
The most popular location as the years before has been USJ4. Perhaps having the largest numbers is a key factor of attraction. I would normally go to the Bazaar between 4pm to 4.30pm and walk around the entire length. I would then decide what I would get for dinner.
The Bazaar at all the 3 locations were neatly placed as always. Much like the Pasar Malam we used to go to in SS13, any bazaars would always entice me. SS19 and USJ7 were smaller in scale but do have enough for you to find your favorites.
This time I found that the practice of using your own food carriers is not as much as when we had the bazaars as soon as it was allowed post Covid-19. The use of plastics and disposables has come back again as a norm. Cashless payments are not as encouraged as before as some QR odes only allow direct debit instead of the typical Touch n Go, Grab, Boost or any other e-wallets. Sadly, some still insist on cash payments. That hindered my shopping as I only brought my phone as payment mode and prefer not to pay with a direct debit QR.
I was on a mission to find unique dishes within the Bazaars I visited. As I would like to avoid crowds, I would always come between 4pm and 4.30pm. Even then, the one at USJ4 would already have a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. I wanted to look for some nasi dagang and nasi kerabu but very few stalls had them. Everyone seemed to be intent on selling briyani and murtabak. The ones at USJ7 and SS19 were not as crowded, and you do not need to be shoulder to shoulder when looking for your choices.
The food prices were quite expensive with rice-based dishes costing on average no less than RM10 for a small portion. There are one or two which start from RM8 onwards. Then again, some stalls are also familiar faces from the SS19 Medan Selera. It would have been great to have more home cooking entrepreneurs join the bazaars. They should add to the unique offerings of their home recipes. Inflation is real as prices of goods have affected prepared food.
The drink vendors in most of the bazaars I went to were not as popular as before. I also overheard quite a few preferring to get drinks elsewhere as they would want one with less sugar. That is a good thing to overhear as it helps with health. Food handling practices have changed compared to the years following Covid-19. Otherwise, I would say it is quite reasonable in terms of hygiene practice but certainly improvements can be made.
Nevertheless, my nasi kerabu daging cost me RM10 for a decent, small portion, my stick of Sata cost me RM6 for 5 pieces at the USJ4 bazaar. I also got some great on site made onde-onde at RM2 for 6 pieces. However, getting good nasi dagang was harder, so I gave up as the crowd was just too overwhelming. The bazaar is too crowded, and it is hard to buy with people crowding.
Perhaps it would be better to have a longer line on one side instead of having a double lined arrangement. At least you could move easier like what you get at SS19. Then again, it does not really solve much 100%. I pity some traders located in the middle may not have sales as the crowd is just too thick. Extremely hard to browse. The murtabak stall as usual got the best location as the first or last stall depending on where you enter from. They have better space around them. That perhaps helped. Maybe the line needs a break in between to allow for some crowd dispersion so all stalls have a chance. In the end, it would help everyone.
At the USJ7 Ramadan Bazaar, it was less crowded but not with many varieties as the one at USJ4. Some popular stalls at USJ4 were also found here. I guess it would be about convenience in reaching the masses. Then again, it would create quite a few similarities in having similar entities taking more than one location. Maybe something needs to be done in the future by MBSJ to encourage more participation.
I found an interesting stall selling Nasi Ganjo Perlis. That immediately got my attention to try. It cost me RM8 for one which included dalcha and chicken. I chose ayam kicap as I wanted to try something different from the typical ayam goreng berempah. This was the best one I found in all the bazaars I went to. Really unique to me. This year, I stayed away from briyani and murtabak. I was tempted to try the red-coloured sausages called Tongmo. This originated from the Cham community in Vietnam and Cambodia. However, I missed that out on my last visit.
As always, I still look forward to more unique family recipes being offered at the bazaars in the future. I do hope that we do not suddenly face a situation where the bazaar stalls are nearly all the same as what we can get outside the Ramadan Bazaar period. I am happy to have my nasi kerabu daging, sata, onde-onde and nasi ganjo Perlisn as my favourites.
It was great to see Subang Jayans, regardless of faith and ethnicity all supporting the bazaars. Let us remember this unity going forward.
To all my Muslim friends and all readers, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
