While looking for my bus connections during the day, I had stumbled upon the night market and Ramadan Bazaar that would take place for two weeks, starting that evening. It was advertised for good shopping, local food and a few events, though one booth in particular caught my eye. The rows of chairs stood empty, but I saw the sign advertising the Mee Goreng Eating Competition. Mee goreng (mie goreng in Indonesian) is the basic, fried instant noodle dish that is very popular among the locals for being both easy and cheap, so the noodle dish had also become a favorite of mine, changing flavor slightly based on the seasoning used in that particular area. As you can imagine, I was really excited to see this sign, and I went straight inside to ask if there was still time/space to sign up for the competition beginning that night. The workers were excited to see a foreigner signing up for the contest, and there was still plenty of space left, so I filled out the form and got ready for my chance to eat a few massive plates of noodles (and get a free dinner in the process). I had never done an eating contest, though there has recently been some talk of a challenge involving Chipotle burritos back in the US, so I didn't really know how I'd do, but I couldn't stop thinking about it during the day.
The competition began at 8:30 that night, so I showed up at 8, actually feeling a bit nervous about the event. I have also become fairly proficient with chopsticks, though I was already to blame them for any shortcomings of mine during the event. Sitting under a large tarp surrounded by about one hundred plastic chairs was the stage, backed by the huge banner and basically just consisting of the speakers for the MC and a long, long table with fifteen chairs spread down the row. As the event began, the announcer introduced the event, and the crowd began to gather. I was actually the first one to be called up to the stage, and I attracted a bit of attention when she announced that I was from the US. The other fourteen contestants made their way up to the stage one by one, a mixed group of men all from Brunei ranging from a few teenagers to a few overweight, middle-aged men that would probably provide some good competition. As we sat at the table, the rules were explained - each contestant would have a heaping plate consisting of three packs of instant noodles, along with a bottle of water to help the noodles go down and a cup of tea that would have to be consumed only when the noodles were finished, since the tea company was one of the sponsors of the entire bazaar. The overflowing, steaming plates of noodles were brought out one by one, and I was happy to see that we would actually be using forks (perhaps as a result of me asking the coordinators whether we'd be using chopsticks or forks, since they first told me chopsticks), though the tiny plastic forks were way smaller than normal.
Just as they were about to start the competition, the speakers blared with music, people gathered around the table, pushing their way up to the front of the chairs to stand around and get a front row view of the feast that was about to take place, and I was both nervous and excited, not knowing how my noodle eating would fare against the locals. Then the announcer began the countdown and the plastic forks began to fly. We all started off with huge piles of noodles, trying to cram as much as possible into our mouths and not choke on them in the process. The cheering began, people yelling and screaming, cameras flashing, and it all became a bit unreal. Being at the very end of the table, I had a hard time judging my progress, but I felt like I was going pretty quickly. The two teenagers next to me were slowing down, and I hoped that was the case with the rest of the table. Then, as I was getting fairly close to finishing the huge plate, I heard a huge roar come up from the middle, and the announcement came that we had a winner. We were encouraged to keep eating, so I quickly finished my noodles and my cup of tea, finishing a respectable second place, though the contest wasn't all that close. I actually noticed that my hand was shaking a little bit from all of the excitement when I set down my fork.
As it turns out, there would be two competitions a night for the next 7 nights, with the winners all facing off on the last day of the fair for the grand prize of 30 cartons of noodles. The way they used the word 'cartons' and not 'packs', I think this actually meant 30 boxes of the instant noodles, since 30 packs would not be that big of a prize. So I would be in Singapore at the time anyway, so I justified not winning the event, though I was jealous when I saw that the winner did get a t-shirt. The second competition that night was a little more peaceful for me, watching the event from the other side as a Japanese tourist competed against the locals, though he was one of many who couldn't finish his entire plate. The announcers came by to talk with me afterwards, thanking me for participating and anxious to hear what I thought about the event and wanting to send me a few pictures that they had taken. Walking back to the hostel just around the corner, full of noodles, I was really glad that I had stumbled upon the event, since there was really no other nightlife to speak of in the quiet city. The next morning, I caught the bus heading South, making my way down the coast, back through immigration and back into Malaysian Borneo, ready for a few more hikes and adventures before leaving Malaysia.
(I randomly stumbled upon this Ramadan Bazaar, and the huge banner caught my eye. Mee goreng/fried noodles are a staple of many people here, including me, and so I couldn't pass up the chance to try my luck eating noodles against the locals.)
(Since I was one the first one announced, I got to sit on the end, ready to gorge myself. We had to eat a huge plate of three servings of instant noodles and then drink a cup of tea. The fastest of the 15 competitors would be...the winner...that's kind of how competitions tend to work.)
(Just before the start, I was sizing up the competition. I had about an 18 year old next to me, then a random guy, then a worker from the KFC booth inside and then a bunch of pretty fast eaters that I couldn't see.)
(As you can see (or can't, in this case), the tiny plastic fork was a little feeble for the heaps of noodles.)
(With the crowd cheering us on, we continued eating and eating, with a few of the guys eventually giving up, but I thought I might have a chance at winning, so I powered through it.)
(I'm in deep concentration here, but the guy next to me appears to be in disbelief. I was actually nervous before the start, since this was my first eating competition, especially on a stage in front of a bunch of locals.)
(We ate and ate, but as I was getting near the end, the announcer came over the loudspeakers and proclaimed that we had a winner, and then I finished up after that, claiming second place.)
(There were two competitions a night for the seven nights of the festival (mine was the first one), and the winners of each event would face off in the finals in early September, so I think I subconsciously let someone else win, since I wouldn't be able to compete again anyway...or maybe he just ate faster. Either way.)
(Once the MC gave the countdown, the music started, the forks started flying, and the crowd of about a hundred people pushed closer to get a good view of the action. Though I didn't win, it was a great experience, and it was also a free dinner, so you can't beat that.)
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