Time flies… We’re coming to the 2nd to last week of Ramadhan, and I’m counting down to go back to the peninsular. It’s weird that folks in my office kept on asking me whether I’m going back for Eid, of course I am!! I won’t miss it for the world! Maybe if they were in my shoes, they would’ve been back by now, but hey, my working hour is from 7.30 am to 1.30 pm these days, seems like taking days off would be a waste isn’t it?
I have been wondering why we don’t have any direct translation of “iftar” in Malay… “Berbuka?” So uncool, eh? Borneo folks (Miri and Brunei included) have a word for it, and it is “sungkai.” If you listen to the radio these days, tonnes of sungkai buffet promotion. The cheap ones can go as low as $6 per head and in high class restaurants or hotels can go as low as $28. Makes me think how expensive KL can be… Only Ikea offers a sungkai buffet for less than RM20, even so, I don’t know if the price has increased this year because I haven’t checked!
Ramadhan here is rather quiet, well it’s always quiet anyways. Tamu (or pasar in “peninsular” terms) is also common in the afternoons. In Miri, the condition is not much different from Peninsular, but the food variety is not as good. We have not found anything that makes us drool yet, other than the nasi kerabu and nasi dagang at the kem askar – the food goes out fast, if you reach there at 5, trust me you won’t be getting anything! In Brunei, for some reason, they are crazy about bbq stuff… Most stalls sell some sort of bbqed meat – we’re really not up for it.
All and all, I miss pasar ramadhan in the peninsular. Peninsular, peninsular, how thou miss thee… Tonnes of food choices and I can’t wait to be back… We will be back by the night of Sept 26th (Friday) and we’ll surely have a big sungkai plan the next day!
Filed under: Uncategorized
