Ramadan Bazaar 2010 @ Sg Penchala, Petaling Jaya

multi coloured kuih

I'm slowly getting into the groove for visiting the bazaars as the weather was perfect for picture snapping, a little too much sun but I still preferred the rays versus the drops from the sky. I finally made it to the Sungai Penchala Ramadan Bazaar, one which I have heard bandied around on Twitter that it is superb.

retro soft drinks and quail eggs

It may be quite small as it is only within a carpark area just before you enter the village but it comes with a pretty wide variety. Parking can be quite a nightmare but be a little patient and you will get a space as people continously leave the bazaar to go home. Just before I got to the bazaar, I spotted two kinds of monkeys: the real ones hanging around to eat some food given by someone and two kids swinging from a lorry. Too bad I didn't snap the real ones and compared them to the other type of swinging "monkeys"!

kuih cara

I must admit I often bump into people unexpectedly when I'm trawling through the bazaars, one time it was a reader who recognised me snapping pictures away in Subang Jaya. This time, I spotted JD and Dilly from the Red FM Breakfast show who were also doing the rounds. It was fun catching up with them and trading notes with both of them on different bazaars. They even have a "lemang rating" system for the bazaars! Read about JD and Dilly's experience at the Section 14 and Bangsar's Ramadan Bazaar on Dilly's blog.

the queue....and the objective is the fat golden brown murtabak

Back to the bazaar. One stall doing brisk business is the murtabak stall with a long queue snaking around it and impatient men with their hands crossed over the body waiting for their pan fried delicacy. I'm not too sure what is the attraction but it could be that they tend to be quite generous with the fillings and it had a golden brown crust from the frying. Not being a person with a lot of patience, I didn't wait for the murtabak. The stall next door also looked interested - all the body parts of the cow laid out for you to choose to have with your soup including the prized marrow bones.

fluffy putu piring

Instead, I went for putu piring. A firm favourite of mine, there were two stalls selling this but I went for the slightly busier one manned by two ladies. The putu seems to have shrank in size as I remember larger ones. It didn't taste too bad except they weren't generous enough with the gula melaka filling. Seems this putu piring stall is here all year round as they have pasar malam on Wednesday nights and a morning market every Sunday.

"monkeys", pulasan, petai and marrow bones

There's loads to see in the market. I discover one stall selling freshly picked petai and bags of quail eggs. Another stall sells fresh fruits like duku langsat and pulasan - a fruit similar to rambutan with a sweeter taste.

three colours of kuih, rissoles, ice cream ketam (crab meat with ice cream sticks)

There's a good variety of kuih stalls selling all kinds of colourful and tempting sweet delights. I came across one unusual item, the rissole - an Indonesian deep fried roll coated with breadcrumbs.

ice lollies

Loads of unusual items here including ice lollies or the home made ais krim Malaysia to cool down. One stall was selling old fashioned soft drinks from Kelantan with retro like labels for American Ice Cream Soda, Ginger Ale and Sarsi. These reminded me of the infamous Berkat soft drinks you get up North. That same stall also sold bottled nira water - the sweet juice extracted from the nira palm akin to our toddy. I tasted it once on the way to Sitiawan in Perak and its refreshing especially drank chilled.

rendang tok from Perak, satay

This bazaar is definitely worth returning for as it has so many tempting items. The Warung Cherry stall from the Kg Sg Penchala area also has a stall here selling all kinds of curries and cooked items. One particular Kelantanese food stall looked very tempting as crowds of people would flock around it.

Ramadan Bazaar

Kg Sg Penchala

Off Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Petaling Jaya

(To get here from the LDP, if you are heading towards Kepong from 1Utama, go up the ramp to Penchala Link. Go straight and keep left till you hit a traffic light. Turn left and the bazaar is across the road in a carpark area. For more pictures, see my Flickr set.)