Malacca Adventure - 27-29 Nov 09

It was an impromptu trip after a casual remark that Friday was a Public Holiday and we would be having a long weekend. After making reservation at a guesthouse, we were ready to head up to Malacca on Friday!

Here's our travel route to Malacca:
Head down to Kranji MRT > Bus 170 to Woodlands check point > continue on Bus 170 to Larkin Terminal > Purchase coach ticket from booth counters to Malacca City Centre << FUN!! Malacca, the historical state of Malaysia, has strong influence of the Peranakan culture, and European touches from the Portuguese & Dutch colonisation eras. A good place for cultural finds and food!


We stayed at Discovery Guesthouse, a conspicuous yellow building at the City Center. Despite being a budget bunking place, the room was relatively clean and the beds were comfortable. I would recommend this place for the less fussy and adventurous travellers.

Flavours of History
Story has it that the founder of Malacca, Parameswara- Prince of Palembang, was hunting when a mousedeer appeared and kicked his hunting dog who fell on its back into the river. Impressed by the courage of the mousedeer, he named the place 'Malacca' from the Tamil word 'mallakka' which means upside down and build a city on this land.


Remnants of a fort

Christ Church Melaka
Built in 1753 by the Dutch, the oldest functioning Protestant Church in Malaysia.

Malacca houses many clans/associations, you will be able to find gold plated signboards like these along the streets.
BABA HOUSE ---------------------------------------------------HAINANESE CLAN

TEOCHEW CLAN ----------------------------- HOKKIEN CLAN

The heavily decorated rickshaws roamed the streets of Malacca with loud music
It was really noisy when one comes along, but sometimes, you do hear nice songs. =)


The buzzling Jonker Street (Chinatown look-alike)
By Day








By Night



Portuguese Egg Tart
Not as good as the ones in Macau, this tart has a sweeter filling and I thought it wasn't baked enough for the crusty outer crunch.

Jonker Dessert 88
This is a must-visit stall as they serve very good Nyonya Laksa and Chendol!!
Beautiful interior architecture too.

Nyonya Laksa - Thick round noodles with a sour spicy base, goes well with Cinchalok*
*fermented shrimp/krill

I love the Chendol* here the most!
Couldn't help but packet it on my last day for a second bowl! =p
*As a dessert, basic ingredients consist of coconut milk, noodles with green food colouring, and the local famous gula melaka (palm sugar)

Chung Wah Chicken Rice Ball
There are many stalls claiming to be selling the popular local dish - Hainanese Chicken Rice balls. My friend who frequents the place recommended this stall as one of the best around. Just check out the queue in the morning and you wont be in doubt. We were there around 10plus and were lucky to be queuing for only a short while. Queue runs when it reaches noon.



Besides the Mahkota Parade Shopping Mall, Malacca has another megamall built close to it - the Dataran Pahlawan. We were there for two movies (Ninja Assassin & Twilight - not even out in SG yet!) at the two malls as tickets were cheap, RM10! In comparison, Mahkota has a smaller theatre. Dataran's has a GV feel to it.

I love watching sunsets and Malacca has few high rise, giving you a wide sky view of the horizon and we managed to capture many beautiful moments...

Swallows are everywhere in Malacca, nestings are common in sight... heee...
First thought: Bird's Nest! *Slurp!*


Peranakan Souvenirs
Long ago, this packet of poppers were played by kids during Chinese New Year. Just throw it on the ground and one tiny bag lets out a POP! Sad to say, I've seen people playing this but haven't tried one before!! Now that we can only play in Malaysia, we went around throwing on the ground as we walk along the Malacca streets! Who cares if we looked childish!
And yes, I believe you wont be able to find this in Singapore.

Very pretty hand fan, I like the details on it. Comes in handy when weather becomes really hot!

Being a half- Nyonya, I thought I should get a Peranakan souvenir.
Couldn't afford a real Peranakan kebaya and beaded slippers... so, fridge magnets!

It was a short 3 day trip that felt like a week!
Another great getaway!

Death Management

When your time is up, everything goes against your favour.
When your time is not, every little help comes your way.

Dying is no longer considered a waiting process at your ripe old age, it hits on us at any age, in any way, any where. My curiosity about death started at a very young age. What is it like, where do we go, will I be alone? I used to cry at the thought of gasping for air and staring blank in space like in sleep. That's my definition of dying. Silly me.

But now, death brings chill down my spine from a whole new perspective.
Ask me about my fears, I can name you a few, cats, heights, slaughtering animals...
But which fear will bring tears to my eyes and makes me shudder, there's only one fear:
It is the fear of living to witness death of loved ones.
I break down. I'll lose it, I'm afraid.
That's probably what I'll be when it really happens.
How do people overcome this? How do you watch sufferings, and sleep soundly at night, when you know that the able and fit you can do so much but just not sure what you can do to ease their pain?

To Condition
I'm trying to condition myself now, to train and prepare my mind for the worst.
Easier said than done. Perhaps I can start by thinking of the stages.
The helpless period >> To mourn >> To pick up.
Well, it looks like it's going to linger on for quite awhile. A long while.

Pessimism helps... Me.
(I'm not encouraging this to everyone, just me.)
I don't have 100 friends on facebook, not even 10 friends on facebook. I dont keep a facebook.
I like friends, I love company, but I dont seek for friends or try to re-connect with friends.
I keep a circle of close contacts and I like it that way.
I don't need many friends, but just enough good friends would be good enough.
I treasure good friends whom I can click with. My thoughts can get strange and fuzzy and following my trail is not easy. Hence, these few good friends are important in my life.
Family is without a doubt just as, if not MOST important in my life.
I can't imagine losing any one of them. So might as well not try to expand the circle.
It is my form of consolation or delusion, you may say. I think this works well for me.

Constant Reminders
On the brighter side, I like this fear.
The clock is ticking. It helps to keep me in check.
It reminds me that there is nothing more I need to fear when you have fear for something already that great;
it reminds me to be more tolerant to difficult people or situations;
it reminds me to treasure people I love;
it reminds me to treat people with respect and compassion.

Will I be able to manage this?
At least I'm writing about this, I think I can. I will & I must.

TCC, The Coffee Connoisseur

A State of the Art Coffee Experience

I love this place for the very pretty coffee selections and the artistic servings and environment.

TCC - The Coffee Connoisseur
182 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Complex
Sun - Thu & Public Holidays 9am - 12.30am
Fri, Sat & Eve of Public Holidays 9am - 2.30am
http://www.thecoffeeconnoisseur.com/

Just got out from Kinokuniya at Taka, I was hoping to find a place to read my book and sip a cup of good coffee, but it proved impossible with sales going on everywhere and coffee places were noisy and had queues that I certainly didn't see any point in joining. I decided to try my luck by walking down the busy streets of Orchard towards Dhoby Ghaut, and thankfully, I found my spot. Perhaps people were eyeing at the Centrepoint shopping sale or crossing the busy junction to Orchard Central, this coffee place was rather empty and just the way I liked it to be. Soft music, bright lightings, comfortable & cushy seats, and a bonus - great tea time treats.

Azuki Coffee
I like Azuki beans and was wondering what it would taste like with coffee.
This drink was refreshing and enjoyable. The coffee did not succumb to the azuki mixture, which sat nicely at the bottom of the glass. It was like having a dessert at the bottom after finishing the coffee. Sweet!

Shrooms Bite
Mushroom and corn fillings in this light pastry puff. I can easily finish all 6 at one go!
Very very nice & healthy!

ChocoNana Parfait
It stated on their menu that this dessert is good for de-stressing and hence I ordered, even though it looked a bit too heavy!
Here's what's in there (top to bottom layers):
Pastry stick, 2 chocolate biscuits, plenty of sliced bananas, a single scoop of chocolate ice cream, a layer of chocolate parfait (cream like mixture), biscuits crumbs, chocolate fudge with a tinch of ginger flavour.

Overall a very delightful experience in this TCC where I get to enjoy good food and I can bury myself in my book for hours without much disturbance from the outside bustling crowd.

Add ons from 25 Aug 2011:

TCC @ 51 Circular Road

Wen & I visited TCC at Circular Road and ordered this Chocolate Lava cake while lazing on the bean bags. I really liked the fact that TCC cakes are not too sweet. This was another recommended item, that crispy thing on the top added sweetness to the warm dark chocolate liquid and vanilla ice cream.

Very satisfying!

Very happy to hear that there are new items added to the TCC awesome menu!

Can't wait to try more!