Malacca for a weekend

We had planned to go to Malacca on the Merdeka weekend, but since that was an extended weekend holiday, there were no rooms available. So we opted for the following weekend, which was also an extended weekend holiday but only for selected states.

We?? Who's we?? Essentially it was Elaine C and her family together with my family. After having made the arrangements, my wife tells me that she can't go as she had another dinner that she had committed to that same Saturday. Oh well, as room arrangements were hard to manage, we went ahead. there was Shirley, her 2 daughters and their respective boyfriends in tow. And there was Alex and I.

Elaine told me they will start their journey from PJ at 7am, so I got Alex up by 6.30 so that we could meet up either half way or in Malacca around the same time. Turns out I was a little earlier than them. So we drove around a bit to get our bearings and stopped by at the Santiago gate. This part of Malacca is famous as the area where the Father of Malaysia made the historic announcement on the British granting independence to Malaya. The car which was used to transport Tunku when he made the announcement is on display here.

When the Cheongs arrived, they parked at the Stadhuys, so I re-parked there and from then onwards, we walked all over between Stadhuys and Jonker Walk. Within a short while, we were hungry. First stop was at the Hoe Kee Chicken Rice shop. They serve the famous A'Famosa balled rice chicken. Chee Meng who is a pseudo Malaccan on account that he had spent significant time in Malacca before, says that this stall was good. Hmmmm. I swear the Hainanese chicken rice in Kl and PJ tasted better. In any case, all the Chicken rice stalls in Jonker Walk had long queues after 12 noon on account of the huge influx of tourists!!.

Then it was Chendol time - again on Chee Meng's recommendation. Man!! The Gula Malacca used was so thick and syrupy!. But as we were walking into the chendol shop, some of us could smell something deliciously odorful from the next stall - assam laksa. So after chendol, it was assam laksa. I was having a bacterial infection in my stomach and had to forgo this, but it sure looked delicious.

And we then went off to Batu Berendam to eat coconut jelly. This was a pandanus type of coconut which was processed in such a way that the coconut juice became jelly. Very interesting and the jelly tasted pretty good too.

After more walking and shopping, it was time to check in to the hotel, take a short rest and recharge for the night.

Dinner was at the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir. We did talk abut going to the Malay stalls much further out, but since this was the fasting month, we could run the risk of not getting any food at all. The food wasn't too bad. I liked the Portuguese BBQed fish best of the lot. Just right. And this was even as I am recovering from a really bad stomach upset. The crab?? I think I do a better black pepper crab. This one was too salty for my taste.

Then we go back to Jonker Walk again for the night market. After driving around for a bit, we managed to park the car. As luck would have it, it was near the place that Elaine C was looking for - the pineapple tarts place. This shop has freshly baked pineapple tarts - hourly!! They had also won an award in 2004 from the Malaysian Book of Records.

Of all the wares hawked all over the night market that night, Shirley wanted the CD repair kit the most. Even scratched CDs?DVDs could be repaired by this magical kit. I think what the vendor did not say clearly was that the repair MAY be temporary only and a backup should be made.

It was a long day!!

Day 2 started with a quick stop at McD to get Alex his fix before all of us proceeded to a Dim Sum place recommended by Chee Meng, our honorary, pseudo Malaccan. Sad to say, he lost points big time on this one. Never mind, CM. there will be other times to make up for this!!

The Cheongs went back to Jonker street to walk about while I went back to the hotel to do the checkout. Then I rejoined them a little later.

Spent some time in the Cheng Ho Tea House (which I will write about separately later) and finally ended up in Nyonya Suan for lunch before heading home. Had my camera all ready, but when the food arrived, forgot to snap any pictures. WTF!!

Tiring but enjoyable weekend!!

I will be back end of the month as I host 4 visitors from Agilent UK.