Malaysia Hall's Bazaar Ramadhan 2011 is also back!

Wow, Ramadhan bazaar in Melbourne TWICE  a week! What more could you ask for when fasting away from home right? :)

Source via Malaysia Hall's Bazaar Ramadhan Event Page

The bazaar is going to be held EVERY SUNDAY, starting tomorrow August 7, from 3.30 pm until Iftar.

Location: Malaysia Hall, 4K High St, Prahran

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Market Updates

If you're looking for places to shop or browse for stuff, other than at shopping streets and shopping malls, try checking out some markets from this list by Only Melbourne.

You're sure to find some pretty unique things from the markets ;)

Festival Malaysia 2010 @ Queensbridge Square, Southbank Tomorrow!

Festival Malaysia 2010 tomorrow, Sunday 2 October 2010! More info here: http://www.festivalmalaysia.com.au/

Pasar Malam Chinatown

Here are some snapshots from our visit to Pasar Malam Chinatown. Sadly though, we didn't see any stall with a Halal sign. Maybe in the future there could be at least one Halal stall?

* * *

In conjuction with Asian Food Festival in Melbourne this month, I was thrilled to have read from a poster in the trams about a Pasar Malam in Chinatown. ‘Pasar Malam’ is Bahasa Malaysia for ‘Night Market’, and it is also the same in Bahasa Indonesia. Either way, I was thrilled that it was called ‘Pasar Malam’, which suggests a strong link to the Malaysian and Asian culture of night markets.

So here we have Heffernan Lane in Chinatown, a small lane that connects Little Bourke St and Londsdale St.

And last Saturday, Heffernan Lane was transformed by a row of 18 tents - turning it into a Night Market. Niches in between buildings and in front of steps and doors became spots where friends gather, and also shelter from the brief drizzling rain.

By night time, Heffernan Lane became a full-fledged “night” market. The narrow sidewalks were common spots for people to stand, eat and chat with their friends.

Temporary events like this, particularly if they revolve around food, are always great ideas to liven up the city from time to time. Will Melbourne adopt this at least once a month or once every season, and embrace the potential of a night market in the city?

Eid in Melbourne

Eid Mubarak, friends! We came to know from our friends and also ICV website that Eid in Melbourne will be on Friday. Eid prayer will be at the City Mosque, Jeffcott St at 7 AM. As what we have been told, Malaysia Hall will not be conducting Eid prayer this year. However, we surfed for some info online, and found that there are several other places that will hold Eid Prayers.

1) ICV, Jeffcott St



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2) Indonesian Muslim Community of Victoria: at Southern Community Centre in Mulgrave, and Coburn Town Hall

3) Info via AussieMuslims.com

Preston Masjid: 8am
Fawkner Masjid: 7:45am
ICV Masjid: 7am (Friday)
Dandenong Showgrounds: 8am
Lysterfield Masjid: 8am
RMIT Prayer Room Swanston St Building 11 level 3: 8.30am
Al-Taqwa Mosque, Sayers Rd, Truganina (Hoppers Crossing): 8am (Friday)
Debneys Park, Flemington: 8am (Friday)
Dandenong Showgrounds: 8am
Lysterfield Masjid: 8am

Hope this helps. We're glad to find and share these list of venues that hold Eid Prayers. Wish all of you a blessed and joyous Eid. Eid Mubarak!

+4) Monash Uni is also organizing an eid prayer at the sports complex in Clayton. Prayer starts at 8 am. (Thanks, Amrah!)

Asian Food Festival in Melbourne this Month!

We were in the tram today, and we saw a poster about Asian Food Festival going on in Melbourne this month of September 2010! And when we browsed through their events via their website, it was great to see that there will be a "Pasar Malam" at Chinatown. This will surely be an event to visit!

Together with Chinatown Precinct Association, the laneway will be packed with simply deliciously scrumptious food, dumplings, rice, noodles, satays, Asian tea and coffee, cakes and souvenir stalls, launching the Chinatown Market – “Chinatown Pasar Malam”. The whiff from the hawker-style stalls will entice you to stay till the night, where you will see the transformation of the laneway – the “Magical Mirabella Globes” will certainly light up this laneway, bringing with it a true Night Market (Pasar Malam). Come and join in the hawker-style eateries and Asian stores. We have even invited our neighbouring Greek Precinct to showcase their renowned coffees and cakes. East meets West – what a hustle and bustle in this little brightly lighted place – just that perfect little “laneway”, with a whiff of the aroma from the hawker food in the open air – truly an Asian Bazaar!

Let's check out the Melbourne version of Pasar Malam at Heffernan Lane, on Saturday, 18 September 2010, from 12 noon to 12 midnight.



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Bazaar Ramadhan @ PaRam Melbourne! Some pics from last weekends

Salam & Good Day to All our Visitors :)

We know a lot of you here are searching for Bazaar Ramadhan in Melbourne, or as some call it in Malaysia, "param" - a casual abbreviation for Pasar Ramadhan. Ramadhan Bazaar has been a part of the Malaysian culture for years now, and I think every where we go in this world, every time Ramadhan comes we always want to find that piece of home, however small or big it may be. Whether it's the congregational Tarawih prayers, or the Ramadhan Bazaar with the stalls, the crowds and the aroma of cooked food!

So thanks to Bazaar Bersama and Malaysia Hall, this year we have two Bazaar Ramadhan locations - one in Fawkner and one in Prahran. It's not big, but I would say it's full of heart :) Much thanks go to the vendors, who are students and families residing here in Melbourne, for without their efforts to become vendors and cook/bake/make all those delicious Malaysian food and delicacies, I don't think they will be a bazaar at all. Hope to see more of you there next time.

Here are some shots from yesterday's bazaar at Malaysia Hall.

And here are some from the Pre-Ramadhan Bazaar at Fawkner last Saturday.

Pasar Ramadhan Australia on Twitter!

I found that Pasar Ramadhan KL is on Twitter - @PARAMKL, and thought, why shouldn't we here in Australia have one too right? (Would do just PaRamMelbourne, but there's only TWO going on so far this month!). So, voila! Now we have @PaRamAustralia!

Do follow us, and definitely we'd love to hear about the 'param' near to where ever you are in Australia. Nice, eh, having a little piece of home here in the down under :)

*Kind reminder: Since it's Ramadhan, and a lot of our cousins in other countries are suffering and living in poverty, please spend moderately on our food this month, Insha'Allah.

Bazaar Ramadhan by Malaysia Hall

Another Ramadhan Bazaar in Melbourne!

Malaysia Hall will be organizing a Ramadhan Bazaar every Sunday, starting this weekend on the 15th of August.

Dates: Sunday - 15/8, 22/8, 29/8 and 5/9

Venue: Malaysia Hall, 4K High St, Prahran

Time: 4.30 pm until Iftar time



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If you're interested in becoming a vendor at the bazaar, drop me a comment or e-mail, and I'll share with you the rest of the info.

Ramadhan Bazaar Bersama!

Bright, Victoria

It's like a 'tradition' for Malaysians in Melbourne to go to Bright in Autumn. We've seen friends' photos of the colourful hues of autumn leaves and thought that we have got to check it out ourselves. Bright is located about 3.5 hours drive from Melbourne, towards Mt. Hotham and Falls Creek, located at the North-eastern part of Victoria. We went for a day trip, while some friends stayed overnight. If you're going for a day-trip, don't forget to pack up some lunch for a picnic, and bring a jacket along in case it gets a bit windy or cold. The time to go, as according to others, is during the dates of the Bright Autumn Festival. If you like parades, then it's probably a good to go during the festival, but if you just like to enjoy the country side, then anytime is fine. You can check out more info here, on Bright Victoria.

Bright's community parade - has a small town feel to it

Autumn leaves - you'll be able to see them along the road sides while driving

Ovens River - a park within the town

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Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is coming up this week! It will be held at Carlton Gardens, a World Heritage Site, from 24 March until 28 March, 2010.

Visit the website for further info.

St Kilda Beach Night Market

We've finally visited St Kilda Beach Night Market, and this time, we waited until it was dark outside to visit a Melbourne night market... to really get the 'night market' feel as oppose to an 'evening market'. The night market is located at O'Donnell Gardens, just right next to Luna Park. On the way there, you'll definitely get attracted to the lights of Luna Park, and soon after, you'll see some hints of colourful light bulbs behind the palm trees - that's the night market.

You'll find stalls selling different range of food, from Jamaican, to Argentinian BBQ, to Indian food, and we spotted a Turkish Gozleme stall (we'd have to double-check next time if they're Halal, which we reckon they are, but we'll reconfirm back since there was a bit of crowd last night that we just enjoyed our walk at the night market without purchasing anything). And you'll surely find a lot of clothing items, accessories, cute stuff for little kids, art works, bags, reiki massage stall, and really, there's just a mix range of things that's worth checking out.

And one of the festive part of this market is the sounds! If you go, try paying attention to the layers of sounds at this market - percussions, Jamaican music, some earth music, the different languages that from the crowd, and of course, the rattling roller coaster track and the screams.






St Kilda Beach Night Market operates in the summer on Thursday evenings, from 5.00 pm - 10.00 pm. Their final day market will be on Thursday, 25 February 2010.

It's located at O'Donnell Gardens, next to Luna Park.



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Suzuki Night Market @ Queen Victoria Market

If you haven't been to Suzuki Night Market (or miss the overcrowding ambiance of Malaysian pasar malam) then you should plan an evening to visit this night market. We haven't been to this night market yet this year, but these are photos from our visit last year. It was surprising at first to see this much crowd concentrated within one market place. The crowd was the only thing that reminded us of pasar malam. Other than that, the market is still different from pasar malam, from its layout, how the stalls are arranged, how the products are displayed, and one major difference was that they provided tables and chairs for people to eat food that they purchased from the vendors. From last year's experience, you can find Halal food here, but prepare to queue the long lines! Massive crowd, and you won't believe you're in Melbourne (at least we didn't for the first few minutes upon arrival).

You can find a range of things at Suzuki Night Market, from craft, artist's products, food & drinks, general merchandise, music, activities for children and more.

The Suzuki Night Market opens every Wednesday from 25 Nov 2009 until 24 Feb 2010, from 5.30 pm to 10.00 pm at Queen Victoria Market. Entry is FREE.



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Christmas at the Art House Meat Market - Photos

Since it's near Christmas, there's quite a number of markets being held around Melbourne, one of which is this Christmas market at the Art House Meat Market in North Melbourne. The market operated on Saturday & Sunday of 12 & 13 Dec 2009, from 11 am - 8 pm. In markets like these, you'll find a good range of crafted works from bags, cards, paper products to skirts, scarves, women's dresses, baby clothings and t-shirts. It's a great place to see what local artists have to offer.

Kulcher Food Fest - Photos

Kulcher Food Fest was the first cultural food festival organized by Migrant Hub. It comprised of residents from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, with visits from people from diverse cultural backgrounds as well. The event was held on Saturday, 12 Dec 2009 at an open space behind Sistems Golf Complex in Werribee from 12 noon to 7 pm. We arrived there in the afternoon and were just in time to indulge ourselves in the range of traditional food sold by the vendors. During this event, there were 16 stalls, and according to the president of Migrant Hub, they plan to have more events and markets like this in the future.

More Markets to Watch out For!

It's time to get some cross-cultural experiences!

SATURDAY, 12 DEC 2009: KULCHER FOODFEST '09
Organized by the Migrant Hub, this event will be held at Sistems Golf Complex, 240 Hoppers Lane, Werribee from 12 noon - 7 pm.




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SATURDAY, 12 DEC & SUNDAY 13 DEC 2009: CHRISTMAS AT THE ARTS HOUSE MEAT MARKET
On both of these days, the Arts House Meat Market Pavilion will be transformed into a vibrant Christmas Market. From 11 am - 8 pm, the market will be held at Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, North Melbourne.




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Melbourne Design Market @ Federation Square Parking Lot

The Melbourne Design Market was held at Federation Square indoor parking lot (such an interesting venue for a market, isn't it?) It's not a market that operates regularly, but sort of like an event. It's a great place to see the range of designed products such as paper/print products, t-shirt designs, and a mix range of things at this type of market.


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The Melbourne Design Market @ Federation Square Car Park

More cool markets in Melbourne! If the Arts Centre holds part of its Sunday Art Market under the bridge, and if Flemington Market is on a racecourse, then the Melbourne Design Market will be inside the Federation Square car park. This would be a great scene to check out.

The Melbourne Design Market will be this Sunday, 6 December 2009, from 10am-5pm at Level 3 of Federation Square Car Park.

Flemington Craft Market

It's always fun to visit open-air markets around Melbourne, as it constantly reminds us a bit of the Malaysian street markets (although they are very different). The Flemington Craft Market is organized based on a rotation schedule with other craft markets, and this one is held at the Flemington Racecourse. Entry is free, but you'd have to pay for parking for AUD3.50. Strolling at the market (and just windowshopping) can still be worthwhile to see products and crafts by Melbournians.

Flemington Craft Market is located at Flemington Racecourse, Epsom Rd, Flemington.




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