...taman maju night market...

yesterday,Intan finally submitted 5 copies of her draft MSc thesis…at around 1130pm, we went to ipoh to celebrate…our plan was to watch ‘Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa’…yeay...i like to move it move it...

we secured our seats for the 130pm showtime…the cinema was jam-packed with children (school holidays – as expected)…anyway, i’m happy happy as the movie ticket here was rm6 only…

before the show, we had our lunch at Secret Recipe…i only had mushroom soup with ice lemon tea since i’m still full after having fried meehoon for breakfast…Intan ordered her favourite beef lasagna…the service was quite poor…after waiting for quite sometime, we were eased by the ‘on the house’ appetizer…we were given the tapioca chips served with Thai chilli sauce dip…that could actually costs us another RM4 minus the taxes…huhuhu…

Madagascar 2 was an awesome movie… i enjoyed the early part where the gang were having extreme plane journey with the Skipper’s group ‘Penguin Air’ flight…i laughed most of the time…there were also a lot of touching moments – parents & child, friendship values, friends’ love…the plot was light and lasted for merely 1.5 hours…

after the movie, we went to perform our Zohor prayer…since it was still early, i went to the Center Court to have a peek at the ‘Popular Book Fair’…yeay…happy happy too because i got a real deal of three books for less than rm70…it was like buying 2 books and get 1 for free…i bought Danielle Steel – Sisters, Dorothy Koomson – My Best Friend’s Girl and a compilation by David Tong: Laughter, the best Malaysian…these has added to my ‘yet to read’ booklist…9 altogether, okay…and i’m eyeing to purchase 4 more books that i’ve surveyed at MPH recently…what to do…what to do…so much to read, so little time…i need long holidays…just for me and my books…lalalalala… Intan and me decided to have our Asar prayer before heading back…

because of the good weather that evening, we stopped at the J&E Car Wash Centre in front of the Courts next to Kinta City…ryan had a standard bath for rm10…expensive laa wei…in KL, ryan could get a better bath for rm8 at Caltex station (near the traffic light junction at Wangsa Maju LRT station)…the best absolutely is in Klang, rm5 only (at Kay SS Car Wash)…i’m not comparing based on the price, okay…the quality is more or less the same…i don’t see any difference as each of them is using the Snow Wash technique…they puffed the soap from the machine…they are also using the same conventional vacuum cleaner…logically the one giving you the lowest price is the best, right?!! enough said…

at around 530pm, we were on our way back to UTP…ohh…wait…it was Wednesday evening and the weather was fine…it was time for Taman Maju night market – my routine when i was in my undergrad years…i really missed those times…and guess what, when Abie and me were in our 1st year, we cycled (seriously we cycled) to Taman Maju to get to the night market…ohh yaa…Harni, do you still remember? sometimes, you do follow us, right? we went straight there after having our lab session at Block B (now – UTP Gymnasium)…i still can’t believe we used to cycle…hohoho…a long, long way man…even with cars…how can we cycle back then?!! whoaa..i’m impressed with myself right now…kuangkuangkuang…

during my 2nd year, it was Uncle Devan’s bus time…rm1 for return trip…

in my 3rd year onwards, Shin Chan was already with me and retentate…

hurmm...what is so special with Taman Maju night market?!! definitely of the fairs that i can’t find in any night markets in KL…

let’s start with my favourite kebab stall – Nur Ain Atikah Kebab Ayam…I always ordered the Pita Bread Chicken Kebab without mayonnaise and chilli sauce (tomato ketchup, please)…ohh...so heavenly...

next, the famous ‘Rojak Berkat’…the pakciks usually had already pre-packed either rm2 or rm3 rojak items but my girlfriends and i prefer to choose our own combinations…then only we get to opt for the rubber squid and fried small fishballs…
for heavy main course, Abie used to buy either Beriyani Rice or Tomato Rice from this ‘Pak Cik Topi’ stall…he got that name simply because he is the pakcik who wears a cowboy hat…i love Kerabu Rice with roasted beef from this Kelantanese family stall…however, you need to get there early to avoid long queue… the best Yong Tau Foo soup version is at Chef Kadir Yong Tau Foo stall…Beebee loves the ‘kain buruk’ and i like the soft stuffed tofu…they give you the hot shrimp paste sauce if you opt for the soup version…or you may go with the normal honey peanut sauce…the best noodle soup (be it mee, meehoon, kuey teow) can be found at this Indonesian lady stall…soto are nice too because of the power of the soup…

however, i usually buy Satay Padang at this stall…it is very very nice and different from our normal satay…Satay Padang is a serving of marinated, grilled beef satays with pressed rice together with thick, spicy herbs sauce and beef floss…the taste is irresistibly hot… okay, now, let me bring you to the snacks / light foodstuffs that i enjoy…a must-have for me are the currypuffs from this ‘Nenek Orang Kampung’ stall…yaa…she put sausages as fillings for the ‘Karipap Hotdog’…innovative, right?!! i also like to buy this Percik Gravy Grilled Fishballs…simply marvellous… a healthy choice would be Wizam Pau…i love the savoury ones either Chicken or Beef steamed pau… not so healthy choices are Samosa (at Pakcik Alim stall – the pakcik this time is wearing kupiah)…

also not so healthy snacks are the Keropok Lekor at Pakcik Kurus Misai & Makcik Gemuk’s stall… back to healthy options are the steamed mini Apom Tapai and sweet mini cup jellies at the Kakak Pregnant stall…but now that Kakak has already delivered her baby (the name does not tally anymore laa kan)… another healthy option snacks that I like are the wet Popiah S. S. Ali…the fried ones are not so healthy choice…ahh well…the wet ones are the crowd pullers anyway… Murtabak Erina is the best murtabak…or rather, they have cute looking murtabak sellers (a cute pakcik with his 3 cute sons)… ohh…actually, it was raining (maybe in the late afternoon)…that’s why i can’t seem to locate my 4 other favourite stalls…1) the rm1.20 per small, clear glass cup Fried Kuey Teow stall (a makcik with her daughter)… 2) the maize stall selling all varieties (steamed corn in cup, boiled corn on the cob, grilled corn and even popcorn)… 3)the fresh soya bean stall with the best tau foo fah and cendol (Makcik Soya Van)… 4)the char kuay stall (they even sell their char kuays at Kuala Kangsar’s Sunday morning market)…

finally, i’ll end this entry with the drinks i like at Taman Maju night market…my recommendations would be either to have Coconut Shake at Ashpey Corner…a refreshing mixture of Vanilla ice-cream with some evaporated milk and young coconut juice with crushed ice…so wonderfully nice… or take the fresh fruit juices offered by Abang Gaban’s stall… it is better without ice…two thumbs up for Honey Mango and Kedondong juices…