巴刹生活 ’Pasar’ Life

(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation.)

巴刹 (pasar) 是个马来词,意为市场。马来西亚华人也通用此词在日常对话。

巴刹对马来西亚人来说可是生活中不可欠缺的一部分。当然,在许多庞大购物中心林立后,巴刹可能已不是大多数人的最爱。可是,我家还是保持着对巴刹的偏爱, 我家还是巴刹的忠实支持者 🙂

巴刹有两种- 一为早市(pasar pagi),另为夜市 (pasar malam)。通常,早市每天都有,一大早至中午。夜市则只一星期一次。马路会被封锁来给巴刹小贩摆档摊。

我家一早醒来,就会到巴刹吃早餐。家里的新鲜肉菜都是从巴刹采购。虽然未必符合先进国的卫生标准,可我们已习惯了,也很少有食物中毒之事。

晚上,工作后则会到晚市巴刹逛逛解压。吃小食,买便宜货,捡些盗版电影等,不亦乐乎。虽然,我家附近的夜市巴刹一星期只一次。在其他的夜晚,我们有时会跑到邻近花园的巴刹逛。

在澳洲住了那么多年,我对巴刹仍未‘忘情’,尤其是夜市巴刹。可能是我太爱它的小食了。我不管吃相如何不雅,我还是忍不住,一边逛一边吃 😉 其实也没什么大不了,反正很多人也如是。

通常我不爱拥挤的人群,也不会想买什么,可却爱逛。因为吵杂的叫买声,讨价还价的声浪,小食的香味,耀眼的灯光,让我感觉到勃跃的生命力。

所以,我很喜欢墨尔本在夏季举办的街头节庆 (street festival) 或夜市场。在马,就如每星期都有,可唯一不同的是没有拉阔音乐,可算美中不足吧。

Ed说,多伦多在夏季也有许多街头节庆, 让我好期待!

我妈妈买肉 My mother is buying some fresh meats.

顾客等待着他们的炒面。Customers are waiting for their fried noodles takeaway.

Pasar , is a Malay word, which literally means (street) market in English. It is an integral part of Malaysian lifestyles. Although the many new, big and modern shopping centres have taken away many people from pasar and it may not be the favourite for most people anymore. Our family remains as the loyal customers for pasar.

Generally, there are two types of pasar pasar pagi (morning market) and pasar malam (night market). Most pasar pagi open everyday early in the morning and close at noon time but pasar malam only open once a week. Several destinated streets are closed for the pasar hawker stalls.

We wake up in the morning, we eat our breakfast in nearby pasar pagi before we start our day, we buy our daily fresh meats or vegetables from pasar. Although it may not meet the hygiene standards of developed countries, we get used to it and rarely have any food poisoning incidences.

At night, when we finish our busy days, we go to the pasar malam (aka night market) to relax. We may eat some street foods, pick up some cheap clothes or bargains, or buy some pirated copies of movies 😉 Although pasar malam only opens once a week in our suburb, sometimes, we also go to suburbs nearby (probably only 10-15 minutes drive) that have pasar malam on other nights.

Though I have lived in Australia for many years, I still love pasar, especially pasar malam. I love the street food and snacks, to a point that I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself from eating while ‘shopping’ in pasar malam. I don’t care how I look or how people look at me. Anyway, many people do the same – eating and while walking at the same time 😉

Though most of the times, I may not buy anything, I simply like to walk around. Frankly, I don’t like the crowd but the shouting to attract customers, the bargaining voices, the lights, the smell of street foods all make me feel ‘alived’.

That’s why, I love street festivals in Melbourne during summer time. In Malaysia, it is like street festival once a week. I guess, the only difference is – there is no live music.

Ed told me there are many street festivals in Toronto during summer too. I hope I will get there in time for them !

Comments

2 responses to “巴刹生活 ’Pasar’ Life”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *