It was a weekend getaway to Malacca with my dear friends !
We chartered a 11-seater private bus to ferry us from Singapore and around Malacca and back to Singapore.
The bus does not look very impressive but the seats are quite comfortable and spacious. Throughout the journey, the driver called Ah Heng played past series of "百万大
歌星". Luckily most of us like to sing or appreciate mandarin songs, so it wasn't such a nuisance to our ears.
The cosy interior of the bus. Ah Heng picked my friends in the east around 6:00am in the morning and by the time we reached Causeway point, it was around 7:00am. It was pretty early to start the day but the crossings from the Singapore customs to JB was smooth and fast.
Our first stop-over in JB for breakfast ! It was a dim sum teahouse called "Restoran Chaw Yuan". It was quite a big teahouse with two storeys. We were one of the early birds, so it was quite empty when we arrived. We were ushered to a table and the waitress started to serve us some dim sums. We have to stop and asked them if we could choose and order the dim sum items ourselves ?
The 2 items that they have served was pretty delicious especially the pan-fried carrot cakes. Overall, the dim sum were nice and delicious. We spent about SGD5.00 per person, it was indeed value-for-money!
Our washroom break at Yoyo Snack shop. This was definitely a "commercial" washroom break with an agenda in mind. The moment our bus parked, we were offered a 5% discount coupon each to shop in the local food store ! Our group Shopping Queen shopped more than 100 ringget just at this stop-over !
After spending some time at Yoyo, we proceeded our way to Malacca. Ah Kiat (Ah Heng's boss) has booked Restoran Aunty Lee in advance for us. Aunty Lee is a rather famous Nonya restaurant in Malacca and it was recommended to book and placed the menu at least a day before. We were the first customers to reach the place which was pretty awesome! This gave us sometime to walk around the restaurant and able to buy some Aunty Lee curry powder home !
The humble and homely restaurant ...
Taking some group photos while the restaurant was still empty ! I was glad we managed to take a shoot or few. In about half an hour later, the restaurant was quite packed already !
The assam fish with ladyfingers, tomatoes etc. The fish was fresh and the curry wasn't as spicy as it looked which as good for some of us for some reasons could not consume too spicy food !
This was our least favourite dish. (we did not ordered this dish but it was served wrongly) Can't figured why but the taste was just not suited for some of us.
Very delicious and tender curry chicken ... must try !
Sambal prawns with petai and onions ! Rather spicy but the sambal was awesome !
A rather average sotong dish ...
Some of my friends' favorite dish, eggs with Chai Po ! Pretty good but a pity that it was rather oily ...
The yummy chendol ! Add that sinful irresistible gula melaka into the dessert, you will enjoy a bowl of fragrant local dessert !
Our driver, Ah Heng ... he showed and helped us the correct way to serve the chendol !
The exterior facade of Aunty Lee Restaurant ... thanks to Fang for introducing us to Aunty Lee for lunch.
Ah Heng suggested us to visit Baba Charlie which is a Nonya Kueh shop.
All sorts of colourful Kuehs !!! And the four walls in this room was hung with photo frames !
We kinda broke the first rule in this nonya kueh house ! If you noticed the little sign placed on the center of the right shelf, it said "no photography" ! Amidst, all the fully packed shelves and frames, it was quite hard to notice the sign !
Second rule not being observed .... shoes and sandals were not removed before entering the interior ! No wonder, I was finding it strange why the staff was bare-footed ! It was only when we left the room did JL spotted another sign just outside the door that we need to remove our shoes ! Well ...
By the time, we visited the Nonya Kueh house, it was about time to check in Hatten Hotel !This is the lobby walkway to the hotel lifts ...
We were all put on 17th storey ! Initially, one of the twin-sharing room was allocated on the 14th storey, however, the reception was good enough to accommodate us all on the same floor !
The bed ... tastefully decorated bedroom.
The second TV in the room ...
The little couch area with another TV mounted on the wall ... I like the way that the couch area was segregated from the bed with a glass panel !
The spacious and clean shower area ! Love it ... great for a slow bath especially when the weather is hot !
The view from our room ...
One of the most famous landmarks in Malacca .... the Dutch Square
Small but it has it's charm ... the place was well-maintained and worth to take a photo or two. It was a hot day and we had to take this photo under the shade of a tree.
There was no shade here and we braved the scorching sun for another group photo !
Probably our ONE and ONLY group photo of everyone who went on this trip !
The small Malacca fort just diagonally opposite the Christ Church...
The only canon that was under the shade ....
The five ladies ... LL's mother was waiting for us in the shade somewhere near the river ... a clever choice to avoid the "generous" sun-ray from the over-friendly sun !
The four guys ... always helpful to carry our shopping bags. CK has also been "labelled" the "$7 ringget" guy in this trip, I don't think the rest ill forget why he got that nickname for our next trip !
Fang and Gav recommended a stall selling Putu Piring ... a very humble and characteristic little stall that only opens during the evening only.
The lovely putu pirang steaming away happily...
Hardly can find putu pirang in Singapore nowsaday (the one that was famous was located too far from home)... it was indeed a good chance to eat this while there is a chance.Yes, I ate 2 of these ...
The family working hand in hand to prepare, steam and deliver piping hot delicious putu pirang at RMB90 cents. We bought one for the driver and he said that was very expensive ! Coming all the way from Singapore to taste these were worth-while ! Bought another packet of Gula Melaka from this stall too.
SO where can we find this yummy little stall ?
252, Jalan Tengkera,
75250 Melaka.
Tel : 06-282 1505
Opens : 6.30pm - 10.30pm daily except Sunday
Directions (as given by
Tekkaus)
From
Jonker Street, turn into Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. Go straight, pass a
traffic light junction, and keep going straight. After passing a police
station and Malim Clinic on your left, slow down. The putu piring stall
is somewhere on your right next to a Toto shop.
This little famous store in Malacca was also featured in a local Malaysian Food Programme in 2009 ----->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=XMATGj0Ywi0
Dinner as requested by BC at Teo Soon Loong Chan Teochew Seafood Restaurant.
Despite the rather unattractive appearance of the restaurant in some small lane tucked in Jonker Street, this hospitality of this local restaurant exudes warmth and homely feeling!
Look behind ! Yeah, Mr Goh Chok Tong has been here for his meal !
And our beloved ex-President Mr Ong Teng Chong ! Wow !
Wow ! Looks nice and served hot from the wok! Yummy !
Their famous Oyster mee ... must try ! Put some vinegar ... it'll taste even better. I'm not a great vinegar person but it goes really well with this black mee !
The friendly boss of this restaurant who went around every table to greet his customers !
We requested to have a group photo with him ! His presence really made this restaurant such a nice one !
Softshell crabs which were crispy and every bit of it's flavour just filled up your whole mouth !
The wonderfully done braised duck ! Just amazing to every ... the meat was surprisingly tender !
The food was of good quality here .. well, except for the rather under-cooked fried "Huang Di Miao" ...
The fish is fresh and what is better than to eat it by steaming it ?
Our last savoury dish ... the servings were pretty huge and by the time this dish came, we were too full to move !
Small restaurant with limited tables ... luckily we hav asked Ah Kiat to book in advance for us !
The friendly boss in the middle ! The two Chefs standing beside him are his sons who took over his restaurant ! His grandson is also helping out while we were there !
Jonker street at night ! The narrow street market was vibrant and were crowded by locals and tourists !
Lanterns on sale, anyone ? Look lovely especially at night !
Hard candies sweets ! (ding ding sweets)
I
Performance from the crew in Singapore ! The locals were enjoying watching the show by the number of turn-up ! There were many temporarily chairs stationed in front of the stage and non was empty ! The crowd was immersed entirely in the songs and dance numbers! They reminded of the Singaporeans in the 70s and 80s where people still enjoy the simplicity of life ....
"San Shu Gong" which is bustling with business ! A lucrative and established shop in Jonker street where you can find trusted products to bring home for your loved ones !
We were asked to wait somewhere near the Christ Church ! The Dutch Square looks so different at night ! Where are all the crowds ? It looks extremely peaceful and quiet ... awesome !
Another quick shoot before dashing to our olive-coloured little bus!
These gifts were for Min ! What a lucky girl she is from a loving mummy !
Cheers ... we hope to travel overseas every year if we can .... anywhere .... companion matters the most ...
The next morning, we went down for a filling buffet breakfast. There will be no activity on our second day. After breakfast, do what you want and meet at the lobby at 3pm to head back to Singapore ! There are a couple of shopping centers just 5 mins from Hatten, so it was a good chance to do last minute shopping if you missed out any stuff !
Overall, we have enjoyed this little get-away ! For a 2 day 1 night tour, I thought it was good enough to cover a charming little town like Malacca.
