the ornate trishaws of melaka

i do not remember the trishaws being so elaborately and colourfully decorated in my previous trips to melaka. it is certainly eye-catching; you cannot miss them as you walk into the dutch square.

egrets returning to their roosting place

(this picture was taken near the warren country club)

our last visit to melaka was made memorable not because of the accommodation, food or attractions; it was the sight of the cattle egrets returning to roost on the trees that made the trip and stay at mahkota hotel worth the while.

the hotel apartment is typical of the state of affair. the state of maintenance is still not compatible with the four-star status. when we finally checked in, after a long delay, the toilet light was out of order and in nah's case, the room's water closet was not functioning properly.

the food in melaka was so so. as i mentioned in my earlier blog, i prefer the singapore's version of chicken rice although the rice-balls may be a kind of novelty. the peranakan fare that we get in singapore is as authentic as you can get anywhere.

the attractions like the old churches, the stadthuys, st paul's hill, the dutch cemetery, a famosa and others are all in the history books and i had seen them all though this was the first time i explored them quite closely.

but the returning of the egrets to their roosting place was the most fascinating. i have read about egrets in singapore spreading out to all corners of the island in the day and then returning to the jurong bird park vicinity in the evening to roost. but, it was in melaka that i witnessed for the first time flock after flock coming back to spend the night on the trees.

just before twilight time, they started coming back in batches. some flocks were as large as twenty birds but some were as few as eight birds. they seemed to come from one direction. while a distance from the roost, they would have decided which tree/s to descend upon. because once they settled on a tree, there was very little movement.

in the morning, it was like watching the whole thing in reverse. the birds would take off in batches, circled around and headed as a group for their own 'hunting ground'. in the day, egrets fan out in groups to open fields, canals and wetlands to look for insects and small animals.

'must eat' food in melaka

most of the time, we may plan what to do and when it comes to doing, we end up not doing according to the plan. before we set off for the trip to melaka, i had actually drawn up a 'must try' food list. the list includes chicken rice-ball, satay celuk, peranakan food, pork satay and ikan bakar. when we were in melaka, we managed to have two of the five items on that list - the chicken rice-balls and the pernanakan food. we did, however, tried some other food not listed, like cendol, yong tau foo, teochew bak kut teh and hotplate noodles.

when we arrived at melaka, it was almost noon. i suggested eating hainanese chicken rice and the others were agreeable. we headed for the chung wah coffee shop, the home of the original hainanese chicken rice-ball in melaka. although it was not yet lunch time, nearly all the tables were occupied. i told nah that we should order the so popular fish-balls as every table seemed to have that dish.

it soon dawned on me that the five balls on each plate were the chicken rice-balls. the last time i ate chicken rice balls at hoe kee and a famosa, the balls appeared larger. the meal, which included chicken, rice-balls and drinks came up to a reasonable rm$19. however, we still prefer our own boon tong kee's chicken rice.

for the second night's dinner, we decided it had to be peranakan food. we went for the tried and tested ole sayang restaurant at jalan melaka raya. we had the daily special which was ayam kunyit, chap chye, sambal prawns, sambal sotong and assam fish.

we always look forward to eating peranakan food in melaka, usually at one of these three restaurants - ole sayang, makko or bibik neo. it is also a 'tradition' for us to visit tan kim hock and the yong tau foo stall next to the defunct federal cinema.

locking up motorcycles - the melaka way

in melaka, where the motorcycle is a popular mode of transport for the working class people, they have a unique way of securing the motorcycles at the motorcycle-park. at this place, next to the mahkota parade, motorcyclists can park their bikes and have them locked up by the attendants.

the motorcycles are parked neatly in rows and each of the parked bikes is secured by a lock and a rod which is passed between the spokes of the front wheel. the attendant, who has a master key, will lock up the bike and issue you a ticket. i think the charge is rm$1.00 per entry. when you need to retrieve your bike, you just show him the ticket and he will unlock the padlock for you.

it is a neat, safe and secure way of leaving your motorcycle in a parking area.

there is another service available to motorcyclists in melaka which is not found here in singapore. those who do not wish to lug their motorcycle helmets around with them when they go shopping or when going for a stroll in the park can actually leave the helmet in the care of some people for a small fee of 50 sen.

netting for prawns at sea off ujong pasir


was at the portuguese settlement at ujong pasir when we saw three men, two of them actively, pushing a large triangular net each, parallel to the shore and scraping along the sea bed. the push net or scissors net was being used to catch prawns.

the best time to go prawn netting is at low tide or at the beginning of the incoming tide. the man who was nearest to us was in chest-deep water. each time he lifted the net, he would first discard pebbles and other unwanted stuff and keep the prawns. he had a round container with a cover, into which he would drop the prawns.

the common prawn is a species found in the mud and sand of coastal areas in the tidal zone, in lagoons and brackish waters of estuaries. the activity of the prawn is linked to daylight and the tides. at low tide it burrows into the sand near the low tide mark.

the common prawn is omnivorous; it hunts mainly at night and feeds on algae, planktonic animalcules, marine worms and other small animals and even dead animals.

historic melaka

the portuguese settlement at ujong pasir, 5km from melaka town. a few restaurants there include papa joe, de lisbon and celine cafe. when we were there in the morning at 10 a.m. on a monday, all the shops and restaurants were not open for business yet.

we were attracted by the colourful trishaws that were parked near the stadthuys. built by the dutch in 1650s, after having taken over from the portuguese, this architectural structure is the oldest dutch building in the east. the building was originally white in colour but was later painted salmon red, in 1820’s, to match with the colour of the nearby christ church.

this church built in 1753 by the dutch to commemorate a century of their rule. it is reputed to be the oldest protestant church in malaysia. it is now an anglican church. the building shows the ingenuity of the dutch architectural world. the beams were constructed from cutting and carving from a single tree and have no joints.

the dutch graveyard was first used in the last quarter of the 17th century. 5 dutch and 33 british graves are sited within its compound. the grave that attracts the attention of most visitors is the one with a tall column. two army officers who were killed during the naning war lie buried in this grave.

melaka sultanate palace (relica) built based on the description and reference to the palace in sejarah melayu' - the malay annals. situated at thhe foot of st paul's hill.

st paul's church was formerly a chapel built by a portuguese captain by the name of duarte coelho. st francis xavier, who died off the coast of china in 1552, was briefly enshrined in an open grave here before being shipped to goa in india. his statue was erected in melaka with his right arm missing, apparently to show that his body in goa is still without the right arm.

an iconic image of melaka. built by the portuguese in 1511 as a fortress, it sustained severe structural damage during the dutch invasion. the british destroyed most of the fort but the intervention by sir stamford raffles in 1808 saved what remains of a' famosa.

during my 3-day stay in melaka, i went for my morning walk, at around 6.45 a.m., on two mornings around the st paul's hill area. came across a number of groups doing tai chi and other forms of exercises.

street hawkers of melaka

the original

manually

operated

'ice-ball'
machine.

the maltose candy hawker along jonkers st

barbecued baby cuttlefish

steamed groundnuts on a tricycle

cendol melaka

had cendol at three places in melaka. first had it by the bank of the melaka river because it was recommended by someone (from singapore) whom we met near the stadthuys. we had been there admiring the colourful trishaws. did not remember seeing the trishaws decked like that during my previous visits to melaka. the cendol by the river cost rm$1.20.

the other place where we had cendol was at newton culture food centre, located neat mahkota parade. we had our dinner of teochew bah ku teh, hotplate noodles, yong tau fu and ikan bakar at the non-halal section before proceeding to the hala section for dessert. the cendol at newton was priced at rm$2.00

the third place where we had cendol after the meal was at ole sayang restaurant at bandar hilir. each time we visit melaka and seek out peranakan food, we either end up at ole sayang, makko or bibik neo, all located in the same area. the peranakan cendol cost rm$1.60 but the bowl was much smaller than the other two. you could choose to have it with beans or without.

verdict: of the three, the most authentic was served at the ole sayang restaurant. the one by the river, although highly recommended, was nothing out of the ordinary. the one at newton was good enough as you could really get a taste of the gula melaka.

cendol is a traditional dessert popular in malaysia and singapore. the dessert's basic ingredients consist of shaved ice, coconut milk, starch noodles with green food colouring and palm sugar (gula melaka).

this place at 88 jonkers street is extolled by many for its wonderful cendol but we did not eat here. if you go by the number of people eating outside and the queue, there may be substantial truth in that claim.