GETTING MY FREE McD BREAKFAST

Life is not always a bed of roses so it always feels great to be appreciated once in a while, no matter how small the gesture is. So this morning I happily marched off the nearest McDonald's restaurant to redeem my voucher for the free breakfast meal.

The free breakfast for a teacher

 

The real breakfast of a teacher

The reason I love the McD opposite/near Pasar Borong Pandan is that there are not many people there most of the time. I was the only dine in customer this morning so I had known I could simply wear whatever I wanted to get there.

One happy teacher

Thank you McDonald's [Malaysia] for the kind thought. Hopefully there will still free meal vouchers for teachers next year and many more years to come.

IT'S CHAPATI FOR TEA

I couldn't even remember when was the last time I had chapati for tea. The place I would visit was this stall at Pandan Market, and mine was always complemented by its kimah - mince meat dish.

It was time to introduce my companion in my gastronomic adventure to this eating spot operated by the Pakistanis [I think]. Mr. Syazwan Shavarein had his chapati with mutton and I heard positive review from him.

It should be tea but it was quite heavy so I hope I could skip dinner this evening. Note to self: No more heavy meal after this.

 

PASAR BORONG PANDAN DURING THE MCO PERIOD

8th APRIL 2020 ` It had been weeks since I last went to Pasar Borong Pandan [translate: Pandan Wholesale Market]. Why this place? It is near to my house, within 5 minutes' drive if the traffic is clear. And the prices of food items sold here are much cheaper than the ordinary market. This is because this market is meant to be a wholesale market and it is still opened to the public and allows customers to buy in small quantity.

The normal operating hours is actually at 5:00 p.m. until an hour past midnight. However, during the MCO period, the market is operating from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. I was there a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. because a neighbour told me it would start business at 4:00 a.m. 😁

The gate was still closed but there were already people who had arrived much earlier than me. I was in dilemma, whether to stay and wait or just go back as I would have to wait for an hour. Soon more people were arriving and they started to form a queue in front of the gate and I decided to just join the crowd. Furthermore I was at the front part of the line so I should be let in earlier.

One good thing was people were all wearing face masks and they observe the rule of social distancing. Unfortunately while I was queuing up, there were these two inconsiderate men who were puffing away their cigarettes without feeling guilty at all.  We were all standing near to each other in a confined area so there would be no way for the cigarette's smoke to escape. I was about to tell them to go somewhere else to smoke but they might get offended and this could create an ugly scene there. Luckily I did not do that because after that I saw one senior police officer was also smoking at the gate. 😐

By 7:30 a.m. the line had grown longer, and people were already standing on the main road.

Finally the gate was opened at 7:45 a.m. The police officer did the temperature check first before letting us in.

There were lesser people doing business transaction as they tried to have only 60 customers in the market at one time.

I managed to get my supply of fish and vegetables for two weeks from the market in less than 30 minutes. The queuing took much longer than the shopping. As I marched out happily from the building, there were still people waiting for their turn in a long line outside. In one aspect, MCO has at least taught Malaysians to be more obedient, disciplined and patient, and we know together we can win this fight against COVID-19.

"MOREH" SESSION AT McDONALD's

*MOREH - a late meal taken after the "terawikh" prayers at night in the month of Ramadhan.

20th MAY 2019 ~ McDonald's Malaysia was giving away vouchers for free McChicken or Fillet-O-Fish to all teachers in conjunction with this year's Teacher's Day celebration. I thought I was the only one who was yet to get the free meal but luckily there was also someone else. Eventually we managed to get the vouchers redeemed just at the eleventh hour. Literally speaking, we were there at about 11:00 p.m., before the offer became obsolete.

As expected, there were not many people at McDonald's Pandan near the wet market so we could sit and chat comfortably, before the clock struck twelve and the chariot turned back into a pumpkin.

Thanks again McDonald's Malaysia for the special gift on Teacher's Day. I have never felt so special and appreciated like this before.

ENJOYING PAKISTANI FOOD FOR SUPPER

If you want to find a happening eating place in Johor Bahru after midnight, just go to Pandan Market. I will try to write about the wet market later, once I can get people to snap photographs for me. The place is bustling with humans' activities. It becomes lively because people go marketing for fish, meat and vegetables and all sorts of other things past the midnight hour and stop for a quick bite (or a heavy one) at one of the many stalls selling variety of food. On Friday and Saturday, you can find Singaporeans in abundance so do try to avoid these two nights as the place will be crowded.

One of the stalls that I love to stop by is the one operated by the Pakistanis. They sell food like capati and naan bread. What makes the food tasty is the keema gravy, some sort of spiced and spicy minced meat. The taste is just different, the one you get from mamak restaurant is not the same. Thanks to Mr. Masrizal for the trip, even though he had to travel all the way from Batu 5 Tampoi for a quick supper.