Friday and Cendol

Its Friday again. Friday afternoon is the time when the male Muslims went to perform the Friday Prayer. Its a mandatory for the male to perform the prayer, unless you have some solid reasons not to. Some Muslim scholars even made compulsory to the women too. I do remember there was an Ustaz (means male teacher in Arabic, but normally we refer them as the religious teacher) once shared his experience saying that in Mecca, during Friday prayer, people just left their business premises unattended to perform the prayer without any worries. I don't think that'll work elsewhere.

I am not a religious scholar nor the right person to lecture regarding the Friday prayer. However, during my college days, I do remember associating Friday prayer with having cendol after the prayer. Without fail, there will always be the cendol guy waiting outside the mosque in Seksyen 19, Shah Alam. Under the hot sunny day, the thought of having a cold cendol really quenched the thirst. Sometimes, we did have 2 or more servings. Please bare in mind that, we are not the only one were rushing for the cendol, there others too. Normally ordered few servings in advance just to avoid the queue.

For those who don't know what cendol is about, please read below extracted from Wikipedia.
Cendol [pronounced 'chen-dul'] or es cendol is a traditional dessert originating from Java, Indonesia, but is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Thailand (where it is called lorkchorng singapore ลอดข่องสิงคโปร์). The dessert's basic ingredients consist of shaved ice, coconut milk, starch noodles with green food coloring (usually sourced from the pandan leaf), and palm sugar. Red beans, glutinous rice, grass jelly, and creamed corn are optional additions. Cendol has become a quintessential part of cuisine among the multi-racial population in Southeast Asia and is often sold by vendors at roadsides, hawker centres and food courts.

However, please read also the following:

In Malaysia, cendol is usually sold on the roadside by Indian Muslim vendors. It is common dessert fare in Singapore popularly found in dessert stalls, hawker centres, coffee shops and food-courts, and served by vendors of various ethnic background. The first Indian Muslim vendors learnt the skills of making the cendol from the Javanese in Indonesia and brought the recipe and preparation methods with them to Malaysia and Singapore. Cendol is also popular as a snack, particularly after Friday prayers among Muslims.

See... I've told you earlier why Friday prayer reminds me of cendol. However, my preference is still having cendol by roadside instead of in a fancy restaurants. My top 5 ranking are as follow:

1. Depan Telekom Sungai Besi (now no more)
2. Behind Petronas Jalan Kolam Air, Ampang (the one with Craven, also moved)
3. Seksyen 19, Shah Alam mosque (only available on Friday, and same guy selling at Seksyen 18)
4. Near Old Post Office Taman Melawati
5. In front kedai motor nearby Menara Celcom (formerly known as Wisma Telekom Semarak)

Mana nak carik cendol kat US of A? I heard at Warong Selera they sell. Hmmmm...

Together signing off...