Pasar Malam Exploration in Johor Bahru
“Pasar
Malam” was among the few Malay words I had encountered in my first three months
of stay in Malaysia. “Pasar Malam” means Night Market. It is a time where a lot
of people gathered together to sell and buy products basically on food, garments,
and services as well.
As a foreigner under a spouse visa in this country,
I need to adapt things that are essential for my longer stay here in Johor
Bahru, Malaysia. I need to know and understand the basic events, public holidays,
festivities, and other interesting facts of life in this place
About Pasar Malam:
I had to encounter this Pasar Malam outside part of KSL City Mall, Johor Bahru on my few months of stay in this place. I was told
that this Pasar Malam was one of the longest night market in the city compared
to other Tamans in JB. 
My
wife and I had been in this place for quite few times. Of course the purpose
was to buy food, fruits, and experience walking and looking new things which are new to me. This exposure is also a good avenue for me in my adaptation of culture in
this community- Malay (Bahasa Melayu) language
and different Mandarin dialect like Cantonese, Hokkien, Tu-chu and others.
This
Pasar Malam opens from 4 PM until 11 PM. Thus, an expectation of
traffic connecting the road within Jalan Seladang at Taman Abad is already normal to the
locales.
What about the food display:
Usually
you can see different kinds of food like Malay food such of kuihs, nasi goreng
(fried rice), fried chicken, ayam merah (basically spicy food); Chinese food
like steamed paper chicken, char kway
teow, carrot cake, Chinese rojak (mix fruits), siomai and different kind of pau;
other food stuffs like fried pork, squids, seafood (prawn, crabs, and lobster),
cakes, bread, and other pastries. Different kind of beverages are also available
like soya milk, sugar cane juice, flavoured juice, sea coconut, and others. 
You
can also buy and tastes some of theirs sample fruits like dragon fruit, pears,
pineapple, guava, jack fruit, papaya, coconut, watermelon, jamboo, oranges,
apples, longan and others. All are guaranteed fresh.
Actually,
with most of my experiences in this night market, most of the food were cooked
on the spot. Most of it were the carrot cake, fried chicken, fried noodles, fried
squids, and pork. For the sugar cane, you can physically see how they extract
the juice from the fruit itself. This makes people have a long queue to buy one.
Other thing they sell:
Aside
from food, this Pasar Malam also sells medicinal plants, herbs, ointment,
kitchen utensils, household stuffs, clothing, blankets, pillows, gadgets, and
other services like massage and others.
People who patronize this Pasar
Malam:
I
may be wrong but in my observation, a lot of people from different races goes here
to buy their food and other stuffs. To name same, it is a mixture of local and international
tourist, locales, and foreigner workers. To name some of the nationalities, they were composed of Bangladeshis, Indians, Chinese, Singaporeans, Thais, Vietnamese,
Filipinos and other nationalities from Myanmar, Laos, and even from the European
Countries.
How about a place to stay:
If
you are a foreigner and don’t know where to stay. This would be a minor problem
as JB has a lot of accommodation places. JB is situated with 1- star up to 5-star
hotels, budget hotels, and even homestay places. Hotel accommodations would
cost from a minimum RM250 and above while for budget hotels, it will only cost
you a minimum of RM68 and above depends on the location of the hotel. Homestay would cost you a minimum of RM50 per
night.
Transportation
It
is easy, always make sure that your land mark is at the CIQ 1st link
JB Sentral bus bay. To go to KSL City mall, look for S1 bus Service of Causeway
Link and it will direct you exactly at KSL City Mall with a bus fare rate of
only RM1.50.
But
if you are coming over from other places, you can use grab or uber.
But be mindful that it is a bit pricey compared to the fare from public bus transport.
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