Along Jalan Bunga Raya

Last weekends trip to Malacca was an eye opener for me. We stayed at Renaissance Malacca, located at Jalan Bendahara and we spent some time walking around, discovering new places of interest makan interest around the hotel.
Adjacent to Jalan Bendahara is Jalan Bunga Raya. We walked via the side lane of Renaissance Hotel and crossed over to Jalan Bunga Raya.

There's lots to see at Jalan Bunga Raya, on one side is the riverfront and Majestic Hotel. This brings back memories of my first trip to Malacca back in the 80's. I kepoh-ed along with my sister and her colleagues to Malacca for a nights stay. We were looking for accomodation and walked in to the old Majestic Hotel. Back then, before YTL bought over the properties and the giant transformation, Majestic was very run down and managed by a couple of elderly Chinese staff. We had to swing through the cowboy doors to get into the hotel. They quoted us RM60 for a nights stay but it looks so ghostly, we left as quick as we can blink.

Today, Majestic Hotel stands grand and spells luxury. Too deep for my pockets ! Back to Jalan Bunga Raya, we came across many old sundry and household shops. I bought lots,  dulang- made of pleated bamboo for drying ikan bilis, mushroom and what nots.. foldable bamboo mats and classic can openers used by mamaks (the one where you puncture a hole in the middle of a condensed milk tin and swiftly and firmly turn the can around to produce and opening.).. Hubs bought a big kite and giganto pulley (with ball bearings, hubs claims it's really really canggih.. impossible to find in KL - now, let's just see when he takes us to 'main wau', LOL )... It was like a balik kampung shopping trip for me.

Walking down Jalan Bunga Raya, we came across a small but busy looking desert parlour and after a long walk, all we want is iced cendol. We found - Min Chong Hygienic Ice Cafe
at :

43, Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka
Opens from 10am - 7pm.

Funny name ! The place is authentically run down and small. Only 3 or 4 tables available but there was a big family there digging in to their cendol and so I'd think it shouldn't be that bad.

We ordered a cendol for Amber.. currently her favourite desert. She loves the gula melaka , ice and santan and hates the slimy green cendols and kacang merah (just like me !)

Amber walloped with no complains.. She shared it with hubs with her taking the ice+gula melaka+santan and hubs finishing up the cendols, nuts and beans.

I personally think the cendol is just average. Nothing to shout about and with so many cendol stalls around Malacca, we're spoilt for choice. I wouldn't purposely make a trip here for the cendol but my rojak, was different.

It's less sweet compared to the KL rojaks and heavier on the 'hae koh' - prawn paste. Really yummy. I almost wanted to order a second plate until the hubs reminded me we have a long food trail ahead.

Would I come here again ? Definitely but just for the rojak and only if I'm around Jalan Bunga Raya. :)

Malacca - 1 Oct 2011

My colleague, the moderator for  Persatuan Peranakan Cina Malaysia's facebook page, invited us to the associations anniversary celebration, held at the association's premise at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock.

We took the opportunity to go for a short break at Malacca as it's been some times since we last went for a short getaway.

Getting ready, all set for fun and sun (and makan) at Malacca

 We stayed at Renaissance Malacca, a break from the bustling Jonker Street. The hotel's clean and fuss free and allowed us early check in. Very nice frontliners, unlike some hotel who'll turn you down flat.. no rooms till 2pm ! We had the pool to ourselves (LOVELY!!), dipped and dunked with Amber whilst the hubs was busy playing PvZ  (aitelyu, he's addicted, !!)

I anticipated a lot of walking and sightseeing at Malacca and obviously Amber will complain with too much walking. I made out short getaway sound interesting by promising her a swim in the pool. Throughout the car ride to Malacca, she kept asking .. when can I go swimming ? can I go swimming now ? please ? can I go swimming now ?...  aiyer.. I wished I had earplugs :(

My ex colleague and her family drove up from Singapore to join us and Amber was looking forward to meet her friends too.

No trip to Malacca is complete without stepping foot at Jonker Street. Did our mandatory shopping of iced coffee from San Shu Gong for our friends, some timber stools for home. Very good deal and I shall blog about it later and some souvenirs and snacks.

The hubs gotta be kerbau for the day. Amber the lazy fart is a lazy walker and will complain till no end of leg pain, body pain and tired, hoping the big kerbau will piggy back her and doting big kerbau will never refuse.

The little fart is almost 19kg now and I'll never risk breaking my bones or back to carry her and not to mention piggy back. Well, a kerbau dad's gotta do what a kerbau dad's gotta do

We walked to the night market (with fart on the kerbau) at Pasar Kota Laksama to get a taste of local Malaccan pasar malam. Apart from the usual Angry Bird stuff which is all over Malaysia pasar malams, we found Baba Charlie and feasted on their angku kueh and packed some kaya home. Unlike our KL pasar malams, this pasar malam wraps up by 7pm and timing was just nice for us to walk over the the association. I know my way better around Malacca after this trip and there's actually a lot of parking space around Kota Laksamana, a walking distance to Jonker's Walk ;)

We're (me and my friends) were the only non-Pernanakans at the association. I felt a bit out of place until some of friendly association members started talking to us. I have always been intrigued by Peranakan culture apart from their food and witnessing the anniversary celebration is certainly eye opening. The members prepared a feast and we're truly blessed to be able to taste Peranakan food prepared by Peranakans.

 

Chap chye

 Rojak and acar timun

 Ayam pongteh

 Ikan Asam

 Sambal udang petai (moi's favourite)

 Sambal bendi (another all time favourite .. I love ladies finger)

 Lorbak

 Babi pongteh

The Association members working hard to ensure we had a welcoming feast.

Amber and her friend Renee, my colleagues 6 yr old daughter)

We had to make a quick dash after dinner, the kids were tired and restless and missed the later celebrations of singing and dancing. 

On the way back to the hotel, I saw a familiar place, I've seen in many blogs, the famous or-chien (oyster omelet) of Jalan Bunga Raya
We dropped our friends off and went back to pack some or-chien. The queue was long and we had to wait for 30 minutes

Mr Omelet doing his works and I enjoyed watching him kung-fu up a big wok of or-chien that serves up to 7 plates. RM6 per plate. One portion only and you can choose plain or spicy (chilly).

He'll fry a wok full with chilly and then another without. If you order both chilly and non-chilly packs, then  you have to wait for him to kung-fu up 2 woks to delivery your order. I also noticed he used lotsa fish sauce (secret ingredient??).

Somehow the or chien didn't taste as good as it looks when we had it in the hotel room. I think it taste better served on a plate, dining in house (there's a coffeeshop adjacent to the or chien stall where you can sit and eat). I forgot to take a photo, as always when I'm too engrossed with eating but I'll try again on my next trip to Malacca but it has to be dine in. I think takeaways tastes somewhat different. I still prefer my regular big fat juicy oysters from Thye-Hong's at Pavilion's Food Republic.

My friends left early for Singapore. Renee had to attend her concert rehearsal.We had little time left too but did squeeze some time to go Jonker's Walk for our cendol dose at Donald & Lily. I bumped into Linda, my dear Malaccan friend who helped me lots in dealing with Amber's allergy. That, was a sweet end to our trip :D

The Weekend Before Christmas

We didn't have any holiday plans for Amber and decided to go Malacca for a short visit. A very last moment decision and since it's also school holidays and Christmas being very near, it wasn't  a wise decision. Malacca was packed, the whole town was congested.

It was flooded.

Flooded with Singaporeans. 

No offense but I see more 'S' car plates than M'sian cars.

We're lucky to get a room through a contact as all other hotels were fully booked. We left for Malacca early Saturday morning, with this in mind :

 Yummylicious lip smacking chicken rice balls. 

This place is where locals go and recommended by my colleague, Anthony. After previous disappointed visits to the chicken rice balls at Jonker's Street, Anthony checked out this place for me and warned me to be there early. The tau-keh closes shop when her chicken rice balls sells out and that can be as early as noon, depending on the crowd. I can't read Chinese but this is easy to locate. Follow the sign to Pusat Bandaraya, past the Malacca Hospital, next to Wang Food Court, once you see a makan shack under a big tree and you're spot on !

We met up with Thomas, Joanne and Sharon at Malacca. Thomas was our tour guide of honour and other than the chicken rice place, which was on my priority list, I let him take the lead on where to eat and what to do. .

He took us for a hike up St John's Fort. Perfect to burn off the chicken rice.

 Hiking up to St. John's fort, we found these saga trees, a reminiscence of my childhood, where saga tree grows in abundance near the stone hall of my primary school :

I collected a handful home. Amber wants to do something artsy with it.. perhaps stick it on a cardboard to the shape of a butterfly. I have better ideas. I might just sew five stones with them. I miss my childhood days of playing five stones by the corridor of my classroom.

 

and everyone roped in to help pick up the tiny red saga seeds.

 the kids were too happy to playing catch ...

..

and laughing...

and screaming too.

 Amber plucked some flowers and asked me to clip to her hair.

 On our way down, we found someone selling fresh coconut. A refreshing treat for all of us.

 

And the daddies did something silly, they asked the girls to climb up the pinang tree :P

and the 2 little monkeys tried and called for help when they realised it wasn't easy being a monkey :)

 Our next stop was A Farmosa Fort and St Paul's Church..

Again, an interesting photography place with lotsa space for kids to run around

 

By late afternoon, the kids were flat out and so were we. Took a short nap, showered and hit the streets again.

Wanted to take the River Cruise but the queue was too long.

The kids were in tears, they could only see the barge go past and waved to each barge :(

We hopped on to the Portuguese Settlement at Ujong Pasir.

This one is a must during Christmas time. Most of the houses (at least 90%) was decorated with Christmas splendor. I've never seen such elaborate decorations, really amazing.

 

As usual, it was very crowded and many residence were expecting tourist, we chatted with some and they told us all lighting and decoratives are at their own expense. No sponsorship from the state government except for a few houses with Aik Cheong, Julie biscuits or Tiger logo. We only made a short stop, take some pics and head off for supper at Jonker's Street's Geographer's Cafe.

Guess who had most fun at Geographer's Cafe ?

 

After a few jug of beer, the daddies took their princesses to the dance floor and disco-ed away. 

We moms, too old for the dance floor, just relaxed, had a few drinks and took pics.

When the daddies got tired of dancing (they are old too !!!), the girls took on the dance floor 

Look at Amber, it was already past midnight and she's still jiving away with Sharon..

The next morning, after breakfast, we went straight for the cruise. The girls has been nagging about it all night and chanting in their sleep and there's no way we can return to KL without boarding the river cruise.

We were early, we got our tickets and waited for around 15 minutes for our turn :

 The cruise is 45 minutes long and goes along the Malacca River... to and fro. Something exciting for the girls but I fell asleep during the journey *yawn*

 

Then hubs took some photos of the girls near the riverfront while I sneaked out for shopping at Jonker's Street. 

Then Thomas took us for the famous Malaccan pork satay ..... it's slightly off Jonker's Street, and it was good.. the gravy is different from our usual Satay. Sweet and spicey with lots of blended pineapples. 

Very nice satay and definitely worth a trip back here again.

We left Malacca in the afternoon and got caught in a massive jam getting out of Malacca, again with Singaporean cars at our front, back and sides.. sigh.. took us an hour to get to Ayer Keroh toll.

That was our weekend before Christmas ! 

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

A Stopby at Malacca

I've been reading so much about Barbara's and Annie's visit to Malacca, I was itching to go Malacca again

After being married almost 10 years to hubs and going to Malacca everytime we visit the inlaws, which is like almost 10 times in a year, we never get to go places like Jonker Street and absorb all things historical about Malacca. We'd just go to the malls where the kids can play and adults shop, have dinner and then back to Tampin.

We had plenty of time after Amber's visit to Dr Wong's and I pestered hubs to detour to Malacca. The mild weather was perfect to stroll the streets of old Malacca, stopping by for souvenir shopping and cendol, along the way.

We parked our car a walking distance away from Jonker Street for only RM2 per day, a guarded car park. Very reasonable and safe place to park. Parking is never a problem if you don't wait and turn into Jonker St where roads are narrow and traffic is horrific especially on weekends and public holidays.

We stopped by the museum and the little one was pestering Papa to bring her in to the museum when hubs said Yeh Yeh (her grandpa) used to bring him in when he was a kid. Hubs and I, was more interested in cendol and we talked her out of visiting the museum. Maybe next time, Amber.

Then we took a stroll along the back of the shophouses which was fronting a river. We were surprise to come across many cafes and pubs. A few tourist was having beer, watching the river cruise go by and reading a good book. I likeee the idea of chilling out here. I think it was here that hubs fells in love with Malacca again and vow to be back, for a nights stopover.

 

 

They kept the river clean I think it'll be nice to chill out here at night too.

 

 Amber kept pestering us to go for the river cruise and we had to walk quite a distance to get to the queue for the cruise. Again, we talked her out of it. .Cendol was more important!

  

 She was happy to take a pic with the river cruise passing by behind.. Kids.. if small stuff can make them happy, let's just leave it that way ya ?

 

Walking along the riversides, we saw a mixture of  old 'antique' houses, some built with bricks from the Dutch era, like above, cafes, al fresco dining, tailors and others. Basically, a quaint mixture of old and new.

I peeped into the backyards of the shophouses. Many has been converted to cafes and eateries but there's still a few that's maintained as homes.  You'll find many with beautiful homes with courtyards facing the riverside. Hubs didn't take any pictures, it'll seem very intrusive to pop in our camera and take pics of somebody's courtyard right ?

Our first stop at Jonker Street was to look for cendol, hubs favourite. I'm not a cendol fan and had cravings for the iced coffee Annie and Barb said was sooooo good. We were too lazy to walk to Donald and Lily's for their cendol.

 

Hubs settled for cendol at San Shu Gong's Lao Qian Cafe where we could sit comfortably at the air conditioned cafe.

 

 

Hubs had their cendol in an unique durian holder which eventually became Amber's mask and then hat.

I had the ice coffee. Really slurpsss... Served in a icy chilled carafe with frozen chipped ice inside, this is sooo refreshing.  I must come back here again for this icy cold coffee... much better than cendol, in my opinion, that is.

Refreshed and recharged, we were ready to tackle Jonker Street. We walked along the narrow streets, bought some souvenirs and I found my favourite souvenir shop that sells tops from Thailand - Mango of Furano, got Amber some knick knacks to play and I bumped to Chinnee. Of all places and of all co-incidences, I bumped to Chin Nee, a Malaccan living at KL, at Jonker Street. We looked at each other and passed each other without giving much thought until I saw her hubs and QQ and I called out to her.LOL !

Such a small world eh ?

We also came across this nostalgic printing house :

The Royal Press. FIL used to engage Royal Press to print matters for the family many years ago. Still standing tall today !

Coming up.. Peranakan Food !!