Monday, July 07, 2014

Gourmet Trip to Malacca - part 2

The weather was extremely hot down there! The sun shone brightly and everyone took out their umbrellas and sunglasses to protect themselves from heat and the sunlight. Sweat flew continuously from the head skin and droplets of it could be seen all over the face and neck. We had to drink more water to prevent ourselves from dehydration.

We started walking from 3pm mainly along the Jonker Street (Chinatown of Melaka). But before that, on the way there, we passed by the Baba and Nyonya House Museum. We never went in as we expected that it would be displaying quite similar cultures with what we had back home from our previous ancestor.

Modern and heritage buildings around Jonker Street

There were shops selling crafts, accessories, clothes, antiques, etc. We passed by many Café, bar, snack shop, food stalls and so on. At times, we went inside the shop to get some cool air blown from the shop’s air-conditioner.

Peranakan cultures stuffs :)

We took a look at the local craft like batik (traditional textile), kebaya (traditional blouse for woman - see photo above), wooden handcraft, paintings, antiques, bakiak (Chinese wooden clogs - see photo above in red and pink), beaded shoes (see photo above - the one in green), array of local attraction keychain, magnets, etc.

When passing by the shop selling traditional local dessert, such as: ondeh ondeh, I stopped by and bought few to share. It was made fresh on the spot, shaped and boiled, and it tasted really delicious! In fact, it was one of my favorite kueh (sweet desserts).

Mamee Jonker House - Malacca

There was Mamee Jonker House displaying some cute displays and at the same time selling their snacks products. Undoubtedly, Mamee (crispy noodles) has been one of our local favorite snacks since childhood times, whether it’s in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Even until now, I still keep one packet inside my cabinet, the best accompany while reading my books on my bed :)

We bought numbers of shirts too as they sell sleeveless and short sleeve shirts for man and woman. It was best worn during such a hot weather like that! The price was quite reasonable, set at 2 or 3 for RM50. We saw many couple shirts too, which were quite cute.

After a while we reached at the junction of San Shu Gong (三叔公), a shop selling local delicacies such as: Dodol (sweet confection made of coconut milk, dark brown sugar and rice flour – some added with Durian, called Dodol Durian), Lao Bo Bing or wife cake, variety of local biscuits, pineapple tarts, white coffee mix, and so on.

Durian Cendol from Lao Qian Ice Café

Inside, there was Lao Qian Ice Café, a small counter selling the Durian Cendol (traditional dessert made of shaved ice, coconut milk, sweet red bean, green starched noodles with pandan flavor, plus the famous Gula Melaka or brown sugar syrup) and other hot and cold beverages. We ordered two portions of Durian Cendol and a cup of white coffee. We shared all that together, increased our feeling of togetherness as one family ^^

From there, we walked to the Melaka Hard Rock Café to purchase some t-shirts as souvenir. Once done, we crossed the road heading to Stadthuys, an old Dutch spelling, meaning city hall. The building was in red, built in 1650 by the Dutch occupants. Beside it, there was a Christ Church.

Hello Kitty decorated trishaw in Malacca :)

My Mom and two children were waiting near the small water fountain, built in memory of the Great Queen in 1904, Victoria Regina. The place was very crowded. Many foreigner and local tourists visited the area. There were many colorful trishaws and nowadays many were decorated mostly with Hello Kitty, Minions, and other cute cartoons to attract the visitor.

Stadthuys and St. Paul Church - Malacca

Five of us climbed up to St. Paul’s Hill where we could find the ruin of St. Paul Church, built in 1521 by Portuguese. From there, we could see the beautiful view of Melaka with sea at afar. I felt peace and serene up there. There were artist drawing and displaying their creations in color and also black and white.

By the time we came down, it had already 6pm. The sky was still bright though. The street singer was singing and making the place more alive and comfortable. Few shop owners whose shops located at the side of the church were starting to store their things back and to close it for the day.  However, the trishaw drivers were still there trying to get some customers and to transport them around the city.

We walked back to our hotel direction passing by the Jonker Street. But this time, the road had been closed for vehicles. Shopkeepers took out their goods and displayed in on the street. Many food and beverage items were sold too at both side of the road. It resembled our “Pasar Malam” or neighborhood night market.

Eat, eat, eat, and eat again!!! @Jonker Street - Malacca

Everyone started to buy snacks. My hubby and nephew tried the Taiwan snacks made of layer of dough at the bottom, filled with choice of ham, octopus, Taiwan sausage in the middle, and covered with fried egg on top. I didn’t know how it was called though as I never saw it before and forgot to take a note hehe… In a short while, I saw my son and my niece holding the chocolate ice cream in an egg shape with short handle below. They called it ‘yummy egg’ ice cream, so cute!

Night market at Jonker Street - Malacca

Once he finished his ice cream, he passed by the Taiwan sausage seller and asked me to buy one for him. Lolx! I think it’s a paradise for him as he was able to keep eating this and that along the way.

It was 6pm when we stood up in front of Jonker 88, a food stall selling local traditional food such as: Laksa, Rendang noodle, nasi lemak, and various traditional dessert such as: Cendol, Ice Kacang, Sagu Gula Melaka, etc. My bestie also said that the food here was delicious. So, despite being still quite full, we still headed into the shop and looked for seats.

Delicious Laksa from Jonker 88 :)

We ordered two bowls of Baba Laksa, one plate of nasi lemak with Baba rendang chicken, and one plate of nasi lemak with tao pok (to fu), plus a bowl of fish ball soup for my niece. We shared all that among 8 of us. The Baba Laksa was very delicious, so did the rendang curry. All of us loved their food very much. The price was very reasonable too. All was at RM6 each. Wow!

After makan, we continued our walk to the end of the street, again, passing by many different shops, food and drink stalls, etc. The different was, there was a stage with many viewers were waiting and sitting in front on the plastic chairs. There were lady singing Chinese songs, which my Mom adored it so much. Too bad my mom had a massage appointment soon. Otherwise, I would ask her to find a seat there and listen to the live music together with others.

Finally we went back to our hotel. All of us couldn’t wait to take a bath and refresh ourselves from the whole day journey. While four of them went for their massage appointment, the rest of us were waiting inside one room. One was watching TV, children were using iPad (watching YouTube and playing games), while I was busy arranging the photos and preparing my blog post.

Once coming back from massage, my Mom complained of hungry hahaha… She didn’t eat much like us previously :P So, once all came back, five of us went out to Jonker Street again and hunted for the food. My mom was actually looking for the laksa at Jonker 88 again. However, the shop had closed by the time we reached. After walking from one point to another and found no food that she wanted, we walked another round to find the Wanton Mee. But to her disappointment, the shop again, had been closed. It was 11 pm when we reached there.

Supper at roadside of Jonker Street

We ended up having the Oyster Omelette, Char Kway Teow and a set of pork and chicken Satay for supper, the initial food that my hubby was looking for, plus fresh soursop and other fruit juices accompanying our meals. It’s fate ba! Hahaha… We all ate happily.

If you notice, the person who cooked our Char Kway Teow (see photo above), was actually a 11-year old boy who was there helping up his parents. Wow!!! At only 11 he could think of helping his parents by cooking the food! I wish my son would think alike, not to sell food, but to think maturely and independently. One day, I wish, he will get on that!!!

After makan, we all went back to our hotel room. We were sweating again from the hot night. Before sleeping, we watched the World Cup – Argentina VS Belgium, the first match that I watched this year. Lolx! And only first half, because after that my eyes were so heavy and forced me to sleep. Hahaha…. Well, so that was how we ended our day in Melaka and will write again on the next day in another post. Hope you enjoy reading it and had a great weekend too with your loved ones!!! Cheers!!!

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