BY GILLVEN MIXCOLLIN
KUCHING: Ramadan Bazaars by and large feature stalls offering a variety of ‘air balang’ or colourful iced beverages.
From ‘cendols’ to mixed juices and fruit shakes, the bustling bazaars here offer a variety of options to quench one’s thirst.
However, it is uncommon to find stalls offering drinks made with water that has undergone a reverse osmosis filtration process.
At Medan Satok’s Ramadan Bazaar, Kak Azizah who operates a beverage stall, emphasised the affordability and quality of her drinks.
The 42-year-old said she wants her customers to be safe in terms of health when purchasing drinks at her stall.
“I am committed to cleanliness, and thus the beverages use water that undergoes a rigorous reverse osmosis process with a Coway water filter,” she told New Sarawak Tribune.
Among the drinks she sells include floats with strawberry, corn, and chocolate flavours.
“Our hot selling item would be the chocolate float, it is complemented with a scoop of vanilla ice cream,” she said.
She said her drinks cost RM4 to RM8 each.
Meanwhile, one of the beverage stalls at KRT Taman Matang Jaya’s Ramadan Bazaar offers quite a unique twist of beverages that come with fruits.
Azie Bella, 36, the stall owner said their most popular drink would be the ‘Limau Longan.
“Customers just love it as it is refreshing blend of lemon, longan and cream soda with various fruits.
“Another one that customers go for is the ‘Ocean Blue’. It is a cream soda topped with lemon,” she said.
She also said that she enjoys experimenting with new flavours, ensuring her beverages are both refreshing and distinctive.
Further up in Kota Sentosa, a long-time vendor at the Ramadan Bazaar has been selling up to 100 to 200 packets of beverages since the first day of Ramadan.
Anita Saie, 51, said that her beverages feature a blend of barley, basil, orange, apple, Sunquick and lemon.
“Our signature would be the ‘White Lady’. It is a crowd favourite,” she said, adding it is available in both large and small cups priced at RM7 and RM5, respectively.
Other than that, she said customers often opt for the ‘Laici Kang’, which is a mix of variety of dried fruits and considered to have cooling properties.
Anita, who has been participating in and selling at the Ramadan Bazaar for nearly 18 years, expressed her joy at the positive response from customers.
“For me, all of the beverages are all equally popular among my patrons. From day one (of the Ramadan), they always sell out,” she said.
