Farmers' Permit @Pasar Tani Paroi

(YB Dato' Yunus Rahmat, exco Pertanian Negeri Sembilan)

(My brother and hubby waiting for the YB)

(My brother shook hands with the YB)

(YB reading our flyer)

(YB presenting the Farmers' Permit to my hubby)

P

(The Permit hanging proudly at our stall)

Hubby and I reached Pasar Tani Paroi at 8am Sunday morning.   Our workers, my brother and Acot had already set up our stall.  2 kgs of mutton were already sold.  The crowd this morning was exceptionally huge, probably because of the event being held, i.e. the presentation of the Farmers' Permit by YB Dato' Yunus Rahmat, exco Pertanian Negeri Sembilan.

There was a colouring contest for kindergarten children at one of the tents.  They had to colour pictures of the local fruits available at our Pasar Tani.  Prizes were given to the winners and also to those who did not win...meaning every child received at least a consolation prize.

The YB was very sporting when he rode the three wheeled motorcycle around the pasar tani site.  He then went from stall to stall to present the permits to its owners.  My husband was one of them.  We are the only stall selling mutton.

Our nephew and his wife came to buy 2kg of mutton.  Thank you Irwan and Mumtaz.  Oh yaa, my secondary schoolmate from Singapore, Siti Hawa and her family, also visited our stall.Thank you Siti Hawa.

Rendang Ayam Kampong

(the chicken rendang still cooking in the wok)

My husband is still in Bangkok. So Khairulzaman and I went to Pasar Tani Paroi to sell our mutton this Saturday morning. We pushed off from our abode in Kajang at 7.00am. Khairul drove the 4WD. It was drizzling until we reached the Ampangan Toll. The weather was cloudy after that.

When we reached the site, our helpers had yet to arrive. I phoned my brother, Zulkifly enquiring why the delay. He told me he had to deliver two live goats to a client in Seremban before coming to the Pasar Tani. He was with Acot.

So while waiting for them, Khairul and I had breakfast at the Pasar Tani. I had fried mee hun whilst Khairul had mee hun soup and... two plates of beef mertabak!!! My son can really eat lah.... but he hardly gain weight at all.... Perhaps its because he is so active in sports. He plays football and futsal almost everyday... He also has his own blog and forever requesting that everyone become his followers.....

Anyway, when Zul and Acot arrived, they set up our stall. We had our first customer at 8.30am. He bought 4kg of mutton. Alhamdullilah. We sold every piece of mutton by 11.00am.

Here at Pasar Tani, we can find almost anything for cooking. There are fishmongers, butchers (our stall included), vegetable sellers, herbal sellers, cooked food and drinks, and also ready made clothes.

Since I wanted to cook chicken rendang for my dear husband who is returning from Bangkok (having to eat tom yam all the time there), I bought all the necessary ingredients at the Pasar Tani. I bought santan (fresh coconut milk), lemon grass, turmeric leaves, onions, garlic, lengkuas, kerisik (coconut paste), bird eyes chillies, dried chillies etc. Everything can be found here.

From the Pasar Tani, Khairul drove me to my parent's house in Ampangan. I had bought for them Siakap fish, quail and vegetables. We could not stay long because I had a wedding to attend in Kajang.

We reached home at 12.15pm. I then took Sofiyah with me to my friend's son's wedding at Taman Cuepacs. Khairul was too tired to follow us. Anyway, after zohor prayers, Badruzzaman sent Sofiyah to her school. She is representing her school in the ABIM inter-school sports. She is participating in the 200m sprint and Netball.

After sending Sofiyah off, I took a nap. I only started to cook the chicken rendang after solat asar. The rendang should be ready in three hours.....

Pasar Tani (Improvise)

(hubby and I, resting...)

(the view from where we sat..)

(my bro Zulkifly and Acot, manning the stall)

(Acot cutting up the meat (must wear gloves next time)

(our new set up...neat and informative..)

This Sunday morning, we drove from Kajang to the Pasar Tani, at around 7.00am. We reached Paroi at 7.45am. My bro Zulkifly and Acot had already set up our mutton stall. We now have a new set up, as seen via the pictures above.

By 8.00am, customers started coming and we had our first customer who bought 2 kg of mutton. Business was a bit slow, because, there was also another Pasar Tani at Paroi Jaya. The Paroi Jaya Pasar Tani has been around for years and it also has a large number of stalls selling various agricultural products.

The Pasar Tani at Paroi, is still new, only a month old. The site itself is very convenient, by the main road to Kuala Pilah, and having a large parking area. Also, the stalls are clean and well organised. At Pasar Tani Paroi, we have a deejay, who is also the officer in charge of the Pasar Tani Paroi. His name is Encik Rasheed. He would advertise the products found at this Pasar Tani with music in the background via the radio.

At 11.30am a meeting was held between the stall owners and the management. Encik Rasheed chaired the meeting himself. My husband attended the meeting whilst my bro, Acot and I cleaned up our stall.

We returned to Kajang at noon. I truly enjoyed myself, helping my hubby at his stall. Next week I will be wearing the uniform (an orange tee shirt), thus I am now a full fledged member of the Pasar Tani Paroi. The Pasar Tani Paroi opens on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, morning only...

Pasar Tani @ Paroi

(Hubby and I at our stall, very basic our presentation)

(My bro Zulkifly, Acot and hubby, cutting the meat)

(our very first customer)

("Thank you, Sir", said my hubby)

We had dinner at Pizzahut in Tampin last night. It was raining heavily when we left Pedas for Tampin. When we arrived at Pizzahut, luckily it was still open and there was quite a crowd too.

When we returned to Loteng (our abode) on the 1st floor of our office building in Pedas, it had stopped raining. Anyway, after watching a movie on TV, we slept.

The next morning when I woke up for dawn prayers, hubby was not around. I thought he had left for the pasar tani (farmers' market) without me. I got ready anyway, and called him on the mobile. He was at the farm getting ready to bring whatever necessary for our first day at the pasar tani.

We pushed off to Paroi Seremban at 7.00am and reached the site at 7.20am. Hubby then went looking for our plot to put up our stall. We are at no.13. We then put up the table, laid the plastic sheet, and put the whole sheep on the table. Then we realize that we should have brought along all the necessary gears to display our product.

By 8am, the customers started pouring in.... we had our first sale at 8.05am... This gentleman bought 1kg of mutton from us. Whilst my hubby and his assistant, Acot, manned the stall, my brother Zulkifly and I distributed our flyers to the customers that came to our stall. By 10.30am, we sold all of our mutton.

Whilst our helpers were cleaning our stall and getting ready to leave, hubby and I took note of what we should bring along tomorrow. We need to improvise our stall.

On our way back to the farm, we went to the stationery shop and bought plastic frames to put our price list and halal certificates in. By noon, we were so hungry and wanted to have lunch at Rembau town, when hubby suddenly remembered we have a wedding reception to go to. Thus we had lunch at the wedding of my husband's good friend in Pedas community hall.