bayya's eats… and other stuff: Ramadhan @ JB

Ramadhan @ JB

The main idea was to head to Simpang Renggam. It's like the holy grail to the cookies of ALL cookies to get for the Hari Raya festive period.

I've been there previously and I thought that it'll be worth it. The stuff are (mostly) freshly made and taste pretty good. Turned out, thousands of others thought the same way, too.

The place looked like there's been a clearance sale going on. Shelves were literally empty and the staff can barely able to fill them for the bottles of cookies were snapped before they were even displayed.

Then it's off to Ayer Hitam for those who wanna buy (fake) flowers.

The best part had been the journey from there to Plaza Angsana at Tampoi. We were foretold that the journey would take around an hour so we took the opportunity to grab some forty winks with Hari Raya song softly lulling us through the speakers. Aaahhh...

I managed to get all of 1 Baju Kurung (traditional Malay garb). Shopping mood kicked in, all right. But clothes that I took fancy to were either too expensive (Rm399, gah!) or just aren't my type. Seems like this year, it's all about the bling-blings. Scary, boy!

Break fast was at the famed Singgah Selalu. Been ages since I last ate there. I remember having sahur there, a couple years back, at the wee hour of 4am. Sigh.. Those were the days.

It's the first time I had buffet (excluding those bbq/steamboat places) for breaking fast. EVER.

And boy, was it a culture shock! There were soooo many varieties of food, done in the traditional kampung (village) way. I saw some minang dishes, some javanese, some chinese... etc. All for just RM30 per head.

I was delirious! These are the kind of food that I've been lusting after and it's all there! Under 1 roof, literally.

This thatched roof, I mean.

The buffet spread.

Looks like a lot? Hah!

See that man in red? In the centre? Beyond him was ANOTHER stretch of buffet spread. With dishes that were different from those in these pics, mind you. Can you imagine the amount of vareties available??

*hyperventilates*

My favourite zone. The salad bar. Kampung style.

Check out that sambal in the huge mortar!

Behind it were the ingredients for 'jenganan'. The javanese dish consisting of blanched veggies with 'sambal pecel' (spicy peanut sauce in the clay bowl) that's almost simlilar to 'gado-gado'.

Salad bar part deux.

In bottom-right, in the banana leaf-lined basket was the ubiquitous 'kerabu mangga' (mango salad). To its front, was the 'kerabu sotong' (squid salad).

On the top-left were the glorious 'ulam' (raw veggies/salad). The main reason why I lust after kampung food.

Centre-left was the 'Daun Tenggek Burung' (said to be good for men's virility). Top-left corner was the 'Daun Salom'. In the small basket at the centre was the 'Petai' beans. To its top-right were sticks of cucumbers, 'Kecipir/Kacang Botol' (4-angle beans) and 'Daun Pegaga'. Below it was 'Ulam Raja' which smelt delightfully like young mangoes.

All healthy stuff, rest assured.

Roasted lamb/goat.

oh, all that meat!

I braced through teary eyes, queueing in front of that smoky makeshift bbq grill, keenly looking at one of the guys carving the mutton right to the bones.

The grilled mutton (diced).

...with a healthy dose of black pepper sauce poured on it.

Check out those bits that are medium rare. Delightful!

'Gong-gong' (sea snails) cooked in sweet & sour sauce.

We ate this w/o any toothpicks in hand. It's such a disappointment to be unable to reach that lone claw and pull out that twirly, chewy meat inside.

Dengdeng Balado & Lemak Kupang (background)

Dengdeng Balado is a Minang (a province in West Sumatra) dish. Thinly sliced beef deep fried and then cooked with chill. Thankfully, this one here was crispy, unlike some of those I had before, where the meat turned out to be quite tough.

Lemak Kupang is simply mussels stewed in spicy cocunut gravy.

Cereal ~~Prawns~~ Shrimps

Too bad it's done the 'malay way'. No egg added to make more of the cereal stick to the prawns.

Our plate of 'sambals' (cili sauce) and salad.

Bottom-left is the sambal 'cicalok' (tiny shrimp fermented whole in a salt brine). Above it is sambal 'belacan' (dried shrimp paste), to its right is a blend of fresh chillies and tomatoes and in bottom-right is salsa.

All the greens in the background... why, they're my idea of heaven-on-earth!