Eating And Shopping In Malacca

I reached Malacca close to midnight last Friday. Since the rest are staying at Hotel Equatorial, the bus dropped them off there and I had to alight together. It was a ten-minute walk to the hotel I booked, Courtyard @ Heeren (check my travel page for my experience), so I decided to take a cab instead of walking.

The cab brought me along Jonker Walk, the "Chinatown" of Malacca to the hotel. My first impression was that the stretch looked like some red light district with red lanterns and whatnot! But I like the style and feel of the place though. Since it was already so late there was nothing else to do but sleep.

The next day, we had to get up bright and early. The first itinerary is to wander around Jonker Walk. The place is not as big as I thought. We could go from the front to the back to the sides to the back alleys in just a couple of hours time.

I really like Jonker Walk because it is full of old quaint buildings with shops selling old and quaint stuff, reminscent of the retro era. Sometimes I really wonder why I like old and ancient things. Does it mean I am old and ancient myself? ;-P

One of the alleys of Jonker Walk

 A trishaw in Malacca

 This statue, and the next few, are found in a little garden in Jonker Walk, that houses the police post

 I love these clogs!

 Hainan Association, probably where my grandparents first started out

 One of the back alleys of Jonker Walk

 

Walking on, we came to Hotel Puri, which used to belong to Tan Kim Seng, one of the pioneering plantation owners from China. The hotel is still in the old-style authentic Peranakan architecture, and it is breathtaking on its own!

Hotel Puri, the other acclaimed hotel

 Staircase of Hotel Puri

 Courtyard of Hotel Puri

 The rooms on the second level of Hotel Puri

 The main hall of Hotel Puri

 There is even a grand piano!

 

After leaving Hotel Puri, we walked on and reached the oldest Chinese temple in Malacca. En route, I came across this little shop selling English Country style stuff, so I could not resist going in to take a look!



 Once you pass this buiding, veer left and walk down to the oldest temple

 I could not resist taking this old car that I really like!

 The oldest Chinese temple in Malacca

After that, it was time for lunch and we were brought to one of the places selling chicken rice balls.

 Hoe Kee Chicken Rice, situated at the beginning (or end?) of Jonker Walk

 The chicken rice balls are much smaller than I remembered. The ones my grandma used to make would be twice the size of one here!

After that, we went to the building next door to have the famous durian chendol for dessert, which really lived up to the hype.

 The entrance of the famous durian chendol

 The durian chendol comes in a package like this

After lunch, we were brought to The Stadthuys, before proceeding to the new shopping complexes Dataran Pahlawan, Mahkota Parade and Hatten Square for the rest of the afternoon. En route, we passed the Malacca River and the tall tower.

 Malacca River

 The Stadthys

Clock Tower at The Stadthuys

 An old fort next to the Malacca River

Compared to Jonker Walk, The Stadthuys and the rest of the historical part of Malacca, I am somehow disappointed with the new shopping complexes. I guess I prefer the older part of the city better than the newer part!

Besides, there is nothing much to see in the shopping complexes because I do not fancy many of the stuff, and those I do fancy, they can be found back home too. Still, we spent the rest of the time window shopping and snacking at A&W before needing to go to the Portuguese Settlement for dinner.

How I wish A&W can be brought back here!



 The signature A&W Rootbeer Float

 Entrance of Portuguese Settlement

 Hotel Lisbon at Portuguese Settlement

 Seafront at Portuguese Settlement

 

After dinner, we were brought back to Malacca River to spend the rest of the night in leisure. I went around The Stadthuys again to enjoy the night view, then went to eat Satay Celup for supper. The place I was recommended was super crowded with a very long queue, so I went to the place next door which was empty. But the food and variety was not that great too. Maybe that is why that place was empty and the one next door was filled to the brim!



 Windmill opposite Stadthuys

 Night view of The Stadthuys

 Old-fashioned mailbox

 Another old-fashioned mailbox

 Sauce for satay celup

 Satay Celup variety (that was about all the shop has)

 

After supper, I walked back to Jonker Walk via the riverfront to explore the Night Market.



It was very crowded at the Night Market, although there are quite a lot of stalls selling quite a lot of things. But since I was already so tired, I decided to just call it a night and did not explore the other end of the Night Market.

The following day, we were supposed to climb St Paul's Hill, but since it was raining, we were brought to another shopping mall near the Melaka Sentral bus station, called Aeon. Of course those shopaholics were happy to start shopping again, but I just explored a bit. Since there was still time before the bus picked us up to go back, I decided to catch a movie and went to watch "Cold War".

When I came out, it was just time for the bus to pick us up, so I boarded the bus and we went all the way back home, only stopping for dinner in a seafront floating restaurant in Johor before reaching the Causeway.

All in all, this Malacca trip had been pretty interesting, but it would have been more fruitful if I got to eat more of the great stuff like fried oyster omelette and carrot cake! Perhaps next time if I am ever in Malacca again, I would definitely try those food I did not try!