A Favourite Eatery: Commando Kiosk

For the best Asam pedas in Selangor, we go to our favourite place in Taman Dagang, Ampang. To the Commando Kiosk to be exact. The proprietor is a former army commando hence the name of his eatery. Although he is from Pulau Pinang, his wife hails from Melaka, so the Asam pedas you eat here is of Melaka origin. When we eat here sekali sekala (sometimes) and reminisce about our Melaka trips, the meal just tastes so delicious.

The meal we have here is Asam pedas and rice accompanied with telur masin, ulam, sambal belacan, telur dadar and vegetables.There is no doubt about it. The Commando Kiosk serves the best Asam pedas Melaka in Selangor. Now where can we get the best Asam pedas Johor?

9 August 2014

Iconic Trishaws of Melaka

Melaka's iconic trishaws serves the city's tourist spots well. Both local and foreign visitors gladly board these three-wheeled vehicles for a slow ride around this Unesco Heritage site. Most of these trishaws are gaudily decorated with plastic flowers, dolls (Hello Kitty and superheroes seem to be favourites), other toys,  and even building replicas (e.g. A Famosa).  

'You have not been to Melaka if you did not ride in one of these trishaws' - Anonymous (probably an orang Melaka).

At night the trishaws become mobile 'discos' - with loud booming music and psychedelic  lights. You hear them coming even at a distance.

Note:
Melaka 'icons' are: 1. Bullock cart 2. Trishaw 3. Nyonya kebaya 4. Mousedeer 5. Wooden clogs 6. Beaded shoes 7. Belacan 8. Bakul sia 9. Traditional house 10. Cincaluk 11. Kesidang 12. Gula melaka 13. Melaka tree

Checklist of Historical Landmarks & Sites of Melaka

There is no doubt about it. We all love Melaka. It is not too near yet not too far for a weekend getaway. So much history, so much culture to be found there. We all love lists (to tick off), at least I do. So I have this list on which there are thirty historical sites in Melaka. Some we have visited recently, some a while ago, and still some not yet. So this blog post will be in progress as I try to 'complete the list' with pictures, descriptions, and ... visits to Melaka.

*7 Landmarks/sites in blue yet to be visited. Good excuses to revisit Melaka again and again.

1. Porta de Santiago of the A'Famosa fortress.
No doubt the most famous historical landmark of Melaka.








2. Ruins of St Paul's Church & Lighthouse
3. The Stadthuys was the residence of the Dutch Governor and his deputy which now houses the Museum of History & Ethnography.

4. St John's Fort
5. Proclamation of Independence Memorial
6. Bastion House
7. Christ Church
8. Kampung Hulu Mosque is the oldest mosque in Melaka.

9. Hang Li Poh's Well. Hang Li Po arrived in Melaka from China to marry Sultan Mansur Shah (1456-1477). She came with 500 retainers and they were said to have married locals and settled in what is now Bukit China.


10. Cheng Hoon Teng Temple the oldest Chinese Buddhist temple.








11. St Francis Xavier's Church

12. Sri Poyyatha Temple
13. St Peter's Church
14. Tranquerah Mosque
15. Bukit Cina

16. Melaka River 'Venice of the East'








17. Kampung Kling Mosque

18. Sam Po Kong Temple
19. Hang Jebat's Mausoleum

20. Hang Tuah's Well

21. Jonker Street (Chinatown); now Jalan Hang Jebat.








22. Hang Kasturi's Mausoleum

23. Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse
24. Hang Tuah's Mausoleum
25. Fort Supai
26. Dol Said's Mausoleum.  
27. Portuguese Well
28. Tun Teja's Mausoleum. 
29. Middleburgh Bastion

30. Dutch Graveyard
30 historical sites of Melaka

Raya at Kampung Morten, Melaka

Our Raya in Melaka would not be complete without visiting the traditional Malay village in the city - Kampung Morten. It seemed a pretty quiet third Hari Raya day when we were there, but we were lucky to be invited into the home of Hajjah Bibi and Haji Ibrahim for sembang-sembang (chats), kueh (cakes) and tea.

The house of Hajjah Bibi & Haji Ibrahim (CNB 2014)

The hospitable couple (CNB 2014)

A third generation resident of the village, Hajjah Bibi had many interesting stories to tell about life in this kampung. She divulged that even the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chief Minister of Melaka have dropped by to say hello/salam. Her traditional kampung house is a veritable museum of Malay domestic artifacts and she does get tourists peeking in. In fact the whole village is a living museum of 'rural' life in a bend of the Melaka River.

B & Hjh Bibi in HB's daughter's bridal bedroom (CNB 2014)

Hjh Bibi's dining hall/kitchen (CNB 2014)

There are many other pretty houses in the unique Melaka style in this riverine kampung and their surroundings are very neat and tidy indeed. The container gardens around the abodes here give added charm to the 200 odd houses. The Melaka River cruise boats come up to Kampung Morten before turning back, so the houses here are lighted up at night (with spot lights on the roofs as well). Some of the houses in this heritage village offer homestay/guesthouse options for visitors to Melaka.

Pretty pink curtains and salmon red staircase of the famed
private house/museum Villa Sentosa (CNB 2014)

Blue window panes and orange staircase (CNB 2014)

Next door to Hajjah Bibi is her sister's rather famous house. The 'Merdeka' house with the Malaysian flag painted on its roof gains fame come 31st August every year. It has been featured in the news time and again.

The 'Merdeka' house in Kg Morten (CNB 2014)

Some historical facts about Kampung Morten: It is a Malay village which had its beginnings in the 1920s in a swampy area by the Melaka River. It is named after Joseph Frederick Morten, then Commisioner of Land in Malacca.    (Melaka 28-30 July 2014)

Art (and Kitsch) in Melaka City

When in Melaka, you cannot help being aware of so much art, culture and kitsch in the city. It was reported in the newspapers recently that some street art in Melaka had been vandalised. These included the 'Eight running horses' mural and the Heeren House wall calligraphy. We found the former being 'cleaned' of this vandalism, but the latter still has the 'gangster graffiti' on it.

When you walk along the narrow streets of Jalan Hang Jebat, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Jalan Tokong, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, etc. there are many beautiful architectural details that you can observe on the buildings. Some facades sport beautiful hues of blues, greens, aquamarines, etc. Like the Straits Chinese Jewelry Museum below. Even Kim Eng, one of the museum guides, is a walking piece of art and culture in her pretty kebaya nyonya and sarong.

The Orang Utan House has quite a few branches selling their artsy-fartsy T-shirts. But naaah ... we have too, too many t-shirts at home to buy any. Instead I was more fascinated with the facades of their shop in Jalan Tukang Besi. The cute orang utan with a flower in its mouth and the green, green plants surrounding an entrance.

Kitsch in Melaka? You find it right smack on the most popular spot in Melaka city - the junk (pun intended) atop a platform of bric-a-bracs of pottery jars, etc. Quite an eyesore, if you ask me. Err... sorry Cheng Ho/Zheng He.

More kitsch? Outside the Mamee Museum you see this wrought iron sculpture, and inside you get to meet the huge blue Mamee monster.

I have always liked to watch visitors' reactions when they encounter this kitschy dinosaur in front of the Science Museum. Mostly the children put on acts of fighting and grappling with this 'monster' in their midst. Quite amusing, really.

But what could be more kitschy than this bronze statue of the upper torso of Mr Melaka/Malaysia/Asia /Universe aka the 'Father of bodybuilders in Malaysia' which adorns (??) the Taman Warisan Dunia; the small, beautiful park along Jalan Hang Jebat.

Then there are the ever popular but garishly and gaudily decorated beca/tricycles on the streets of Melaka. Art or kitsch? You decide. Peace to all!

Melaka 28-30 July 2014

Some Good Eats in Melaka

Whatever foods or meals we  have had in Melaka were mostly unplanned, quite serendipitous really. Wherever seems right, convenient and easy. We do not especially 'hunt' for good Melaka/Peranakan /Nyonya eats, but after five trips to Melaka, some good food* experiences are repeated.

For the best of the iconic kueh ondeh-ondeh or kueh buah melaka,  freshly made, queue up at the Aku & Dia shop. The generous gula melaka (palm sugar) centre of this kueh just deliciously bursts in your mouth. Inside the unpretentious shop you can also have the best Malay-style kway teow and other goreng-goreng.

Queue outside Aku & Dia (CNB 2014)

When walking along the river in the city centre, you will notice that there are some picturesque riverine cafes, one of them, 'Riverine'. The  Nyonya/Peranakan food here is pretty good, especially the seafood. The cincaluk omelette is quite delish to say the least. But the chicken pongteh is an acquired taste.

You can't miss the Hard Rock Cafe by the Melaka River, what with the huge guitar 'installation' outside. Apart from the usual steaks (B had) and other Western fare like fish and chips (M had), the nasi goreng I had was a-OK.  Very generous portion (as is usual with HRC fare) but surprisingly a bit on the pedas side for me!

Nasi  goreng HRC

The Casa del Rio's River Cafe serves 'sinful' pizzas and good mocktails, but the hot chocolate we had at their Bar Rio one evening was 'weak'. That's why one should never order hot chocolate at a bar, ha ha.

We had so-so hot chocolate at Bar Rio CDR (MB 2014)

When you walk along Jalan Hang Jebat/Jonker Street or Jonker Walk, especially during the weekend night markets, you can't ignore the sights, sounds and smells all round. There's the gula ting-ting, gula melaka, one-bite durian puffs, Portuguese egg tarts, oyster omelettes, etc., etc. Queues that form in front of the eateries here 'confirm' that the food should be better than average. Museum Cafe aka Jonker 88 (aka my 'Mao's Cafe') serve their famous Durian cendol dessert and Laksa kahwin.

Jonker 88 or Museum Cafe or 'Mao's Cafe'

The famous (Trip Advisor awarded/Lonely Planet mentioned) Geographer Cafe serves pretty good Nasi lemak and 'coconut soup'. But usually we drop by for cakes and drinks only.

Pretty Geographer Cafe (CNB 2012)

We had the best Asam pedas at a Malay Restaurant I can't remember the name of. We also had previously sampled some good Peranakan dishes at Nyonya Makko in Taman Melaka Raya before. We found the Zheng He Tea House most interesting on a previous visit. But we have yet to try what is touted as Melaka's signature foods - Devil curry and Chicken rice ball. Maybe this calls for yet another visit! Anyway what food 'souvenirs' did we bring home this time around? Not the iconic cincaluk or belacan because we still have them from our last visit. But the local Melaka coffee from Aik Cheong. And of course Gula Melaka, what else??

Get roasted Liberica coffee beans from here (CNB 2014)

Gula Melaka Comel (CNB 2014)

Note: From sayangmelaka.blogspot.com, the most popular deliciacies (sic) of Melaka are: Asam pedas, Satay, Ondeh-ondeh, Pai tee, Chicken rice ball, Chicken pongteh, Cincaluk, Devil curry, Renginang and Sambal belacan. Selamat makan-makan!