The Ramadan Month and Its Delights

Ramadan falls on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The lunar calendar is being used by Islam where the sighting of the new moon marks the beginning of each month. Due to the lunar calendar being eleven days shorter than the solar calendar, Islamic holidays "change"  each year. This year, 2012, Ramadan began last month at the sundown on July 19th.

Ramadan is the month where Muslims around the world pray, fast and do charity. Fasting in the Ramadan month means that Muslims do not consume or drink anything including water while the sun is still up. Besides fasting, Muslims are also encouraged to give alms and donations to the poor.

It is the usual practice for Muslim families to get up early for Sahur, a meal taken before the sun rises. After the sun sets, the fast is broken with a meal known as Buka Puasa or breaking of fast. Buka Puasa usually begins with dates and sweet drinks that provide a quick energy boost.

Fasting is one of the five duties of Islam. As with other Islamic duties, all able Muslims take part in the puasa starting from the age of twelve.

Here in Malaysia, restaurants owned by Muslims are closed until at about 3pm, the time when Ramadan bazaar begins. Muslim civil government workers are also allowed to leave their office early, this privilege given only to the female workers, so that they can prepare the 'breaking fast' meals.

The Pasar Ramadan or Ramadan Bazaar are not the same as the night and Sunday markets as the Ramadan Bazaars sell mostly food and drinks for the breaking of fast.

Ramadan ends on the first of Shawal which is less than two weeks from the date of this posting. When the new moon is sighted, Muslims all over the world celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. In Sabah and Malaysia, it is known as Hari Raya Puasa.

The food sellers, who are given short-term license at allotted spaces by the local authority, usually conduct their businesses at wooden stalls or just using a foldable table and under canopies or huge umbrellas.

Normally, Ramadan stalls are open for business as early as 3.00pm and by late evening the bazaar would be packed with people of all races, Muslims and non-Muslims, all busy looking and buying their favourite foods. It is a once-a-year delicacies and favourite food event not to be missed.

Ramadan Bazaar at Lembah Impian, Penampang

Ramadan Bazaar at open-space near Servay Putatan

Ramadan Bazaar at open-space behind Standard Supermarket, Putatan

Ramadan Bazaar at Sembulan

For the food sellers, some of them being part-timers, it is a time when they can generate extra income for their families which they can use to buy necessities and luxuries to celebrate the Hari Raya Puasa.

From afar you can already smell the inviting aroma of the grilled fish or ikan bakar and the roast chicken or ayam panggang. Some of the dishes, local cakes, cookies and snacks are those that are not easily found in one place during normal days. This is also one of the reasons why Ramadan Bazaar is very popular.

From dates or kurma, you can also find your favorite food, like nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, nasi beriyani or traditional cakes, like kosui, popiah, pulut udang, wajik, kuih lapis, lepat pisang and popular drinks, like cendol, abc, coconut, sugar-cane and cincau.

You can find dishes of ayam and ikan percik, the evergreen Malay dishes like gulai masak pedas, rendang, ikan kari, ikan patin and many other favorite dishes.

There will also be the always-popular light food and snacks like roti jawa, murtabak, noodles dishes like mee kari, mee bandung, mee goreng, rojak and laksa.

For the fast-breakers, food will certainly look extra-delicious after a full day of fasting, and in fact they indeed are!!! And for the non-fast-breakers, it's a time for food celebration!!!

When the Ramadan is nearing its end, you will see more food and other essentials for Hari Raya Puasa being sold, like the ketupat, lemang and rendang.

You can find Ramadan Bazaars wherever there are big population or residents in an area, and they are usually located in open-area spaces (or parking lots) in the middle of towns, residential estates and villages.

Ramadan month is a time of unique events and attractions in Sabah and the whole of Malaysia. Tourists or travelers who visit Kota kinabalu or other parts of Sabah during the Ramadan month will definitely cannot afford to avoid it as it is one of the main highlights in our annual calendar event.


All pictures are copyrighted @kotakinabalutourism.com

Homestay Penampang Showcasing Traditional Food of the KadazanDusuns

One of the major attractions in Sabah and one that has huge tourism potential is culinary tourism. I consider it as a highly untapped niche as it is a unique tourism package and rarely offered since the product is quite new in Sabah. Its marketing is also still at its infancy stage. It is a great way to attract international travellers who are curious and eager to seek culinary pleasures.

There are three main ethnicities in Sabah: the KadazanDusunMurut or KDM (which is the indigenuous group), Malay and Chinese. The races in Sabah have their own distinct identity to present Sabah, Malaysian's Borneo, internationally. Owing to Sabah's diverse ethnicity, it is a melting pot of many unique culinary heritages.

I had a chance to visit a homestay runned by Mrs Mathilda and her family, who lived at Kampung Putaton, Inobong Penampang. On the day my friend, Lorena and myself visited Mathilda and her family, they were expecting three guests, to savour the culinary experience that they're offering as part of their homestay packages. Guests will also be given the experience to cook some of the local delicacies themselves.

Mathilda's house is a double-story house, built on family's land, probably previously built on stilts like most other kampung houses in Penampang villages and then when the family expands and more rooms are needed, the kolong which is the open and airy ground floor, is converted into a proper ground floor with concrete walls. They also have a big backyard with several fruit trees which were fruiting abundantly and barns for the chickens, pigs and wild boars.

We arrived about an hour earlier than their guests. So we had a good chat with the host and even  feasted ourselves on a rather late and delicious breakfast. We then roamed about the place, enjoying ourselves by randomly taking pictures of the beautiful flowers, fruit trees, disturbing the caged wild boars and playing with little Achoi, Mathilda's grandson.

Our breakfast

Jojoba tree

Water Guava tree

Little Ah Choi

Jetropha tree

When the familiar tourist van finally arrived at Mathilda's house, three foreign guests, emerged from the van along with Randall and Danny, two staffs from Borneo Eco Tours.

The guests were from Melbourne, Australia, and introduced themselves as Barb and Megg Ross and Tali, the couple's beautiful 15 year-old daughter. Yes, this was a family vacation.

Randall and Danny took out the vegetable, fish and chicken which they bought from the market (Rita guided them when they visited the market earlier) and laid everything on a table. Without wasting any time and before our stomach croaked, food preparations were immediately undertaken. The Sayur Pakis was unique to the Australian family, so, they were taught how to pluck and choose the edible part of the Pakis besides being told that the Pakis grew mostly in the jungle.

First we need to do the hard work...food preparation !!

The Ross' Family at Mathilda's House

Mary teaching Barb and Tali how to pluck the Sayur Pakis

By looking at the food preparation, I knew most of the dishes they were going to prepare. We would be having the Hinava, Manuk Lihing, Sayur Pakis, Sayur Kampung Campur, Pinasakan, Tuhau, Bambangan, Noonsom and the Rebung for our lunch on that day. The food preparations were done rather quickly as they were several people doing the work and some food like the Tuhau, Bambangan and Noonsom which are Sabah's local pickled food, have already been prepared in advance.

Tali and Barb were given the honour to cook some of the dishes while Megg looked on and busied himself chatting with Randall and taking snapshots of the culinary event.

Tali cooking the Sayur Pakis

Barb posing with Rhododendron flower tucked between her ear

It's amazing to see what culinary interest can do to our lives...one shot for the album!

Finally, the moment of truth...

After all the hard work phewww, foods were finally served...

Traditional Food of the KadazanDusuns

Hinava is raw fish cooked with fresh lime, mixed with shallots, ginger, chillies, salt and shreds of Bambangan seeds. You also have the option to add bitter gourd into this dish.

Manuk Lihing is chicken cooked with Lihing, our local rice wine.

Sayur Pakis is a fern type of vegetable and is usually stir-fried with red chillies and dried shrimps. If you don't like seafood, you can leave out the shrimps.

Sayur Kampung Campur is mixed local vegetable that is comprised of Bunga Kantan, Sayur Bawang and Green chillies.

Pinasakan is fish that is simmered with water and fresh ginger, turmeric, some vegetable oil and salt are added to it.

Tuhau is wild ginger (the one with strong pungent smell) and mixed with lime, salt and bird's eye chilies.

Bambangan is a type of mango fruit, has thick but peelable brown skin and yellow flesh.

Noonsom can be either pickled meat or fish that is mixed with white rice and preserved with Pangi, a natural preservative made from pangi seeds.

Tali who usually steered clear from seafood dishes, this time, had an exceptionally difficult time keeping away from the 'Hinava' dish. In fact, it was her favourite food, the one that she liked the best. She also enjoyed the Sayur Pakis and the Rebung.

Barb and Megg also expressed their satisfaction and complimented on the deliciousness of their newfound menu from Borneo. Mathilda shared some of the Sabahan traditional recipes with Barb. Barb and Tali said they would attempt to prepare the dish when they're back in Australia.

As for me and my friend, the two Borneo Eco Tours staffs and the host family, we too were busy savouring and enjoying our food. To me, it was a rare experience to have one hundred percent traditional food served on my plate.

With good food, good host, new friends and wonderful guests, we were on cloud nine!

Food experience can indeed bring people come closer together.

I find that homestay can give a more real experience, not just in culinary but also other aspects in tourism. It is the best and most relaxing way of learning the everyday lives, culture, language, costumes and food of the Sabahan people.


For more info on Homestay Packages in Sabah, please contact: homestay@kotakinabalutourism.com.  All pictures are copyrighted to @kotakinabalutourism.com