Anyway, I will aim to rectify that as soon as I can. I am not sure how but my looking and sounding like a Malay will definitely help.
So since I can't rectify it this year, the family decided to take a holiday to Kuantan for a couple of days by the beach. That was cut short because the Kuantan folks wanted to go elsewhere for their holiday. Can you believe these people? Abandoning their hometown the first chance they get??
It was decided that we go to Melaka to chill out, refresh our history knowledge and enjoy the "Peranakan" food that goes with it. In case I haven't mentioned it, I have a great interest in history. I read extensively (for a layperson) on any history articles, books, etc I can lay my hands on. It can be from any time or place but my favourites are always Middle East, Egypt (Ramses II), Genghis Khan, China, India and some parts of Europe.
I am always interested in Malaysian history and what better places that Melaka and Penang. We stayed in a 2-star hotel that was clean and sufficient (meaning no cable, swimming pool or room service but they had clean beds, towels and was ghost-free). Here are some of the places of interest we visited and food that we sampled.
1) St Paul's Hill and Dutch Square
This is the "nerve center" of the history of Melaka and Malaysia. It houses 5 museums! 5!! It is my absolute most favourite place!! I can spend days here and the Melaka Museum and the Cheng Ho gallery are a must. It tells the whole story of Melaka as well as the travels of one of the most traveled people in the ancient world, Admiral Cheng Ho. St Paul's Hill is where the first Portuguese fort "A Formosa" was built as well as St Paul's Church where the famous missionary St Francis Xavier was buried for 9 months. I particularly enjoyed the 16th and 17th century cemetaries.
At the bottom of the hill, you will see the remnants of the Dutch administrative buidlings as well as the Christ Church. Malaysia's Hall of Independance where Tungku first announced our independance is also in the vicinity, right next to the replica of a Melaka Sultanate Palace. If you are not sure how to get there, just follow the road sign to "Banda Hilir". You can't miss the red coloured buildings.
I am a history buff so this area is something that will send orgasmic shock waves through me. If you have a partner that does not share the same passion, it can be grounds for divorce.
2) The Maritime and Royal Navy museums
The Maritime museum is housed in a replica of the Portuguese ship Flora Del Mar which allegedly sank off Melaka. It tells a bit about the importance of Melaka as a port of major importance in the 15th century and how the administration of the port trade was built and maintained.
The Royal Navy Museum has an actual frigate in its court yard as well as many guns and ammo used by our Navy. Malaysia is a rather peaceful country, so don't expect to see the USS Nimitz type of carriers or destroyers. We have frigates to scare errant fishermen.
3) Tanjung Kling Mosque/Hang Kasturi's grave
It is one of the oldest mosque in Malaysia and has very unique and intricate designs. Good if you like architecture. Hang Kasturi is one of the 5 Malaya folklore heroes. You seen one grave, you seen them all.
4) Hang Li Po or King's Well/Bukit Cina
When the princess Hang Li Po was sent to Melaka to wed Sultan Mansur Shah, she came with about 500-600 attendants. They were given a settlement which is known as Bukit Cina today. The well that caters to their needs is still around and has never known to go dry. Anyway, her attendants inter-married the locals and we today know them as Baba's and Nyonyas.
5) Jonker Street
It is a long street that can be mistaken for Chinatown since its populace are Chinese and so are the traders. They sell all kinds of stuff from trinkets to magic cards to snackes and clothes. There are 3 famous chicken ball rice restaurants along this street and best to park your car elsewhere and walk. Saturdays are better but it will be packed but I strongly recommend this street and if you can stay in one of the heritage houses, better still.
One of the things to remember about the restaurants are that they were build or housed in really old buildings. The layout is the same, it is narrow (sometimes less than 8 feet but fantastically long. The middle of the house will have an open courtyard and an open roof. The restaurants we went to:-
1) Some chendol place along Jonkers, can't really remember the name.
When we were there, the crowd has not descended on this place yet, so there was no crowd and we could enjoy our food with some peace. It serves Melaka Cendol is various flavours (maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it very much) and has a lot of peranakan noodles. Food is ok, not great but with the crowd lining up waiting for a seat, you'd think it was from the gods!
2) Satay Chelop - Capitol
It combines satay sauce with lok-lok or steamboat. The food is boiled in satay sauce instead of clear soup, hence the name. Since the sauce is expensive, the restaurant owner has assured us that whatever sauce we don't finish will be put back into the pot for tomorrow's patrons.
So unless, you really like satay peanut sauce, have no hygiene issues and will DIE for lok-lok, I suggest you give it a miss. Oh of course there is a crowd! We waited for 30mins in the drizzle for a table!
3) Donald and Lily's
It is a very warm and cozy restaurant that serves nyonya dishes and dessert. Almost everything on the menu was worth trying and priced reasonably. The Nyonya Laksa and Chendol were their specialities but I will give 2 thumbs up for the Chicken Pongteh and the Assam Fish. You can give the Rojak a miss since the gravy is not as rich as the rojak we are used to in KL and Penang. A short walk from the restaurant is the Melaka River which has been beautified and spots a Water Wheel from ancient times.
4) Chicken Rice Ball
There are many restaurants serving chicken rice ball which is chicken rice in a ball (Duh!!). I actually don't really like it but its something different. We went to one of them called Formosa which was very richly decorated (it wasn't nice; in fact it was kinda tacky) with all kinds of Chinese paraphernalia including an Empress' chair (like I would know the difference).
Again with the waiting, then service was slow and stupid. The waitress took our order, brought the order after more than 20mins but didn't bring the rice. When we asked, she said we didn't order rice. I guess it is our staple diet to eat the dishers without rice in a CHICKEN RICE BALL restaurant!!! That's like ordering pasta but not serving the noodle like spaghetti or fettucine saying the person didn't order it.
5) 1511 cafe
This place serves both western and peranakan food. I really like the ambience and it is not crowded for once!! We didn't have to wait but not a place for a large contingent. Very cozy and the food was not too bad.
We did have fish ball noodle but I am not going to comment since we have that everywhere in Malaysia but I really wanted to try the Newton Food Court which looks huge and complete with food around Melaka and Malaysia. It is situated in front of Dataran Pahlawan.
Well, I always enjoyed Melaka for its historical values but now with Dataran Pahlawan and Melaka Megamall, you can have thrown yourselves to the decadence of capitalism and western civilization. So history can mix with holidays....with the right dosages.
No comments:
Post a Comment