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.

places you can park for free

if you travel around in a car in singapore, it is good to know where you can park for free, without having to display coupon and worrying if you will be booked for exceeding the time.

to spare you from having to find out for yourself whether there is a compassionate 'fine' system, i am sharing information on some of the places where you can park for free. make sure, however, that you do not infringe any of the parking rules at these places; e.g. do not park where there is a continuous white line or where there is a fire hydrant close by.

this is definitely not an exhaustive list.

botanic gardens - free parking is available at the space opposite the royal tanglin golf course, corner of minden road and sherwood road. it is next to st george's church and nearer to the ministry of foreign affairs.


changi creek - if you are going to leave your car for more than a few hours, you can park at the road across from squadron 302 along the corner of halton road and sealand road. from there, it is about 800m to changi creek.


bukit batok nature park - park at lorong sesuai. to enter lorong sesuai, you have to approach by old jurong road.


macritchie reservoir park - when i go for my walk at macritchie i do not park at the car-park although it is free. this is because exiting macritchie is a big hassle, long wait for a break in the traffic flow. i normally park along the road leading to st theresa's home (formerly known as 'the little sister of the poor'.


west coast park - if you visit west coast park, take note that car-park1 is not free; you have to display coupon/s whereas car-parks 2 & 3 are free.


thomson plaza - soo chow estate


bukit timah plaza - the road leading to econ nursing home, just before bukit timah avenue


changi beach park - car-park outside the changi ferry terminal

boulder beach, punggol end

punggol end or ponggol end where bus service 82 terminates is also the place where you board the boat to take you to singapore outward bound school on pulau ubin. in the past, this was the place to go to for seafood, especially chilli crabs.

punggol beach can be glamourised as boulder beach because there are many large black boulders on the beach as well as on the shore. there is also a big tract of wasteland where casuarinas are in abundance and where there are sandy tracks that appear to go in circles. this place is popular with anglers.

from the jetty you can see pulau ubin and the two smaller islets, pulau sekudu (frog island) and pulau ketam (crab island). in the background is pasir gudang in johor, malaysia. pulau serangoon, also called coney island, is also within sight. in fact, coney island is closer to the mainland than all the other islands.

i have swum from coney island to punggol in my more adventurous days. those days we would also canoe from pasir ris, where our boats were kept, to frog and crab islands to collect mussels and pick sea shells.

punggol end is also near to camping grounds and camp sites. the ministry of education used to have 2 campsites in the punggol area. the one at 17th avenue was closed down a few years ago. while i was at monk's hill we once held our camp at the pa campsite. one of the camp activities was making a visit to the defunct punggol fishery in the early hours of the morning to watch the goings on at the fishery.

there are plans to develop punggol point into a sea sports and recreational destination, with rustic seaside dining opportunities.