Day 2: Exploring the Peranakan Heritage 。。。

Woke up to the chirpy sounds of swallows outside my hotel & we prepared to check out of the hotel... I arranged wif the concierge for transport to ferry us to the bus terminal for our 4.30pm coach. The aunties wanted to explore the area, of course wif more last min shopping.... I mooted the idea to visit the oldest temple in m'sia near our hotel since shops were still closed. Prior to that, I also informed them I would be walking at turtle speed wif my heavy backpack... hence they could juz follow gu-gu, who claimed that she knew the location.

I was determined to make the best out of my limited time as I only left wif the morning to do some proper photography... My orginal plan to bring them on a Duck Tour was thwarted as they were closed for maintenance! ARRGG! Wat a pity, as i tot it would be nice to ride on the duck tour, covering both land & waters in the straits of malacca... Guess, i could only leave it for my future trip! As such, I decided to juz focus on the Jonker Street area as I rather have some quality vs quantity pics!

Swallows (tiny black specks) flying in the blue blue skies!

I caught up wif mom & group after awhile & shouted for them to U-turn as they were heading for the wrong direction! Wif the limited time bef this trip, i managed to glance at google map of the Cheng Hoon Teng temple. But i forgot to check it's chinese name! I asked for some directions along the way & was pointed to the same street as I saw on google. So, I happily walked & thot that this corner street temple was The One... (i also din saw this wiki link bef my trip) Anyway, the aunties didn't seems keen as majority were distracted by the small provision shop along the way. They were all stuck there for more than half an hour! Gosh!

After a long wait, my gu-gu told me to venture on my own & mit them for lunch at noon... Yippie! i finally could do something i enjoy :)  I past by a peranakan embroidery shoes shop & asked the lady in canto if the shop had opened? She said yes & told me in a hostile tone that no photography/food/drinks were allowed inside. Inside the shop, she asked if i'm from HK? I said no & her next guess was taiwan? keke! I replied I'm fr Sg! My nationality actually formed our ice-breaker... she began to open up & told me that ppl in malacca usually speaks english, chinese, malay or hokkien...few speak canto here! I was surprised to hear that as canto is widely spoken in KL! She also clarified my doubts about the Baba & Nyonya culture, as long as 1 Malay + 1 Chinese inter-marriage would be considered a Baba (guys) or Nyonya (gals).  Cos yday's museum's guide gave me the perception that usually the marriage is bet a Chinese man & a Malay woman.  During our conversation, I learnt that most chinese in this area are Hokkien...I explained that I'm taking some shoots in this area & she pointed me to the streets upfront & told me to look-out for the intricate roofs & tiled floors of the houses...

Interior of Jonker 88

After leaving the shop, I past by Jonker 88 ~ a popular chendol shop in this area which attracts snaking Q during the weekends. Seeing that it juz open, I asked the lady which type of chendol is their stall's fav! It turned out to be Baba Chendol, cost RM 2. This chendol looks way better than yday's, wif a thick gula melaka topping & coconut milk... the chendol contains red beans & green jelly. I'm not a fan of chendol actually as i dislike desserts wif coconut but i decided to give it a try since i'm here.  I felt it doesn't taste as good as I tot (my gu-gu said her prev tries were better!).  Nevertheless, I was more enchanted by the interior decor of Jonker 88! The thoughtful display of olden-days type-writer, fan, telephone etc jogged my childhood memories... I remembered clearly the black telephone in grandma's house, where i love to turn the dial when i was a 3 yrs old! I also spotted the type-writer which i used to play at home. So cool! The retro stuff made me stayed inside for quite some time, till i bumped into my mom & aunts when they came in for the chendol!

At 10.30am, I continued wif my stroll around the area, taking shots of the interesting architecture of the peranakan houses & shops... it's getting hot by now and I had to search for nice angles for photoshoot, as well as avoiding the direct rays...Perhaps, being here on a quiet weekday morning proves to be a good timing for photography, as there were relatively few people on the streets. When i was taking a break & moved into the shelter of the houses, i took some pics of the colourful tiles lining the walls & floors. Juz as i lifted my head, i saw another good vantage point of the buildings across the street... I even whipped out my pocket mirror for a creative shot of my best companion ~ my canon dslr!  

Nearing noon, i stumbled upon a Calanthe Art Cafe, which displayed a cartoon giraffe & maid wif a closing signage. As I was engrossed in taking the pics, I did not realise there was a truck in the middle of the road! Only when i turned around then i saw the driver waiting patiently for me to move aside... If this scene happens in Sg, i would sure be kana honked by the driver! Malacca is certainly a great contrast to the hustle & bustle in the city.

Gee not only makes nice clogs but draws cartoons too!

At noon, as i was making my way back to mit mom, I noticed a quaint little shop selling hand-made clogs. The fanciful designs of the clogs attracted me to step into Gee's Original.  Inside, i saw a guy wif tied-back ponytail working on his craft... I asked him if I could take some pics & he surprised me wif his warm welcome... I even took the opportunity to ask him questions about the clog-making process. I could see the passion in this guy & he even related to me his story! I listened intently about him & his wife who were both arts college grads & moved fr another town to Malacca to open this shop. He's really creative as I spotted his creativity in the clogs he is selling. I noticed a Bruce Lee design clog & upon asking, realised that Bruce Lee was someone whom he admired!

I left the shop wif a good feeling, as I felt that my morning was well-spent indulging in my hobby, while at the same time, I could 'interview' the locals... I felt my 'takeaway' was more enriching than a guided tour.  I met up wif mom & aunties for lunch at Hoe Kee Chicken Rice (和记鸡饭). Today's chix rice tasted much better than yday's & the kidney beans wif chix claws soup was tasty! I was famished since i did not ate much for breakfast & gobbled down at least 6 chix rice balls! After lunch, the group went to next door's San Shu Gong (三叔公) to purchase local goodies. I proceeded to across the road for a 10 mins shoot.

Kawaii!

Everyone were tired & wanted to return to hotel wif all their shopping bags! The skies were greyish again... When back at the hotel, after a short break, the aunties couldn't resist stepping out for tea-time! I decided to stay inside for air-con & did detailed shoots of the hotel's interior. There was a small 'history room' which related the history of malacca & our hotel... Our hotel's courtyard also formed a nice backdrop... This morn, there was a TV crew shooting a cooking programme here!

Courtyard

Betel Box & Tray (foreground), Well retained from old days (background)

Breakfast Area

Swallow Hall

Retro phone which i tried to dial my room's extension! Fun!

Kam Cheng ~ Porcelain container to hold spices & water

Nearing 4pm, a mini-van came to send us to the bus terminal & I was so exhausted that i napped in the van... As I was not in my best form for this trip + the lack of time & luck elements.... I felt really drained. The best returns were the street shots & encounter wif the locals....In future, i will definately return wif my buddy to cover the areas I missed out.

Day 1: Leading 師奶兵團 to Malacca 。。。

I decided to join my mom, Gu-Gu (姑姑), 2nd aunt and their 6 other friends for a 2D1N getaway to Malacca... My objective was to horn my photography skills as I had read about their rich Peranakan heritage & Portuguese styled architecture. My gu-gu had visited Malacca numerous times & she supp knew where to shop & eat. Barely 10 hours bef our departure, she informed me to print the malacca maps to discuss wif her on board the bus journey! OMG! I had never prepared for a trip at the 11th hour....i was feeling unease & spent the next 5 hours for some last min research about Malacca. It's my 1st trip there, minus the time when i was a toddler in daddy's arm to Malacca, haha!

Our coach would depart at 8.30am from Lavender's bus terminal... Mom & I were the first to arrive.  When all the other 8 aunties arrived, I told gu-gu I need to share my itinerary wif the group to get a consensus. Despite my restless sleep, I did a lively commentary wif a full-colour Melaka Duck Tours map, which is veri useful as I got a clearer picture of their town area.  Most of the maps available online were sketchy. I intended to pick up the full scale maps upon arrival. I planned to get our hotel to reserve 10 tix for us, so we could proceed wif the duck tour tomorrow morning.

Lovely clouds sighted on my way to Malacca

After briefing, I was appointed the impromptu tour leader cum photographer ... I dun mind, since gu-gu was down wif a major flu. Our tour bus set off for the Woodlands 2nd Link check-point & Malaysia Immigrations. We were stuck at the m'sia customs for a long time, thanks to the nonchalent attitude of the immigrations officers! Gu-gu estimated we would arrive at Malacca around 1pm, based on her previous experience. However, we arrived much later...At the bus interchange, I approached a young lad selling hp to check which bus number to take to town. He was a bit unsure but he went out of his way & went wif me to the bus inter-change to ask the drivers! My first impression of the ppl here were their friendliness :)

I followed the lad's info & waited at the bus bay for service number 17... On board the bus, each of us paid RM1 for our 15 mins journey into town. This spells the start of my childhood memories...wif bus conductor dishing out the tiny paper bus ticket! We spotted the 'red house' landmark & alighted... Trucking our luggages into the Jonker Street area, we decided to eat at the 1st chicken rice coffee-shop (中华茶室） at the street's entrance since it's already 2pm+! We were lucky enuf to get 2 tables as we snapped up the last of the chicken rice! Not sure was it due to the 'last bits', the chix & rice balls were extremely oily.

Cloudy yet Hot!

Mom (in purple) & aunties wif their brollies & bags!

After filling our tummies, gu-gu led us to our lodging ~ Hotel Puri , located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, also known as Herren street. The facade of Hotel Puri was painted in a cheery yellow & blue. Once i dumped my backpack in the lobby while waiting for them to check-in, I went out to snap pics of the facade. The alleys in between the houses were narrow, wif vehicles parked at the side. For safety precautions, one has to walk by the road-side & watch for oncoming traffic. I asked the doorman to help me watch out for traffic & he was nice enuf to 'pause' the traffic LoL.

Along my room's corridor

Inside Puri's 'Swallow Hall'

Hotel Puri is also a masterpiece by itself, being a restored Peranakan House, previously the house of Tan Kim Seng.  We got our rooms on level 2, but had to climb 3 flights of stairs! One distinctive feature of Peranakan houses ~ they looked small from the roadside view, but actually extend deep behind into the halls & courtyards. If you remember our popular local drama ~ The Little Nyonya (小娘惹) , this hotel's interior formed the backdrop of the first episode.

After checking in, I hurried the aunties to move to our next stop juz a stone-throw away ~ The Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum. From the info gathered online, someone had commented should u arrived late, the staff at the museum would hurried you. The opening hours are short, from 8.30am to 12pm & 2pm to 4.30pm. It's 3pm & we really had not much time. At the museum's gate, we had to press a doorbell & a lady came to ask if we were ok wif english speaking guide. The admission was RM8 each & she ensured that we paid up bef allowed us into the hall. By then, there were already a big grp inside & we missed the intro. The guide was pretty narrative & spoke in a proud tone of her heritage... I wouldn't really call this a museum (kinda misleading), but it's actually the brainchild of an entrepreneurial Baba who converted his family house to showcase their culture & peranakan furnishings. I got a glimpse into how the Baba & Nyonya lived in the olden days. Most of their inter-marriages were match-made by parents and usually married in their late teens. Their costumes and shoes were intricate embroidery wif some flowerly motifs.

At the 2nd level of the house, while the group shuffled from one room to the other, I succumbed to my temptation to snap a pic of the corridor. Thou i was aware of the 'No Photography' rule, I took a chance. When i re-joined the group, the tour guide noticed me & purposedly embarrased me by warning that there were CCTVs in the whole house & she would confiscate my camera! I apologised unwilingly as no matter wat, i'm a paying customer & i was appalled by her undiplomatic way to 'put down' her customer!!! I dun give in to such threats! There's certainly a more polite way to put across a similar message... I think they really lag behind in customer service if you wan to maintain your reputation as a tourism venue!

The musuem tour lasted about half an hour & we decided to proceed to locate the famous chendol shop... but alas! luck was not on our side, as we later discovered that the eateries in this area close for business on a rotational basis from monday to thursday! Sleepy Malacca only awakes over the weekend, from friday to sunday for their nite bazzar! We had indeed arrived on the wrong days....the over-cast skies soon drizzled & the rain got heavy as we moved along.... We stopped by Nancy's House for a not-so-nice chendol, but the air-con was a cooling respite! I chatted wif the waiter on his recommended eateries in the area.

I only managed to snap a few shots along the way to the shopping mall & when i spotted the tourism info centre, i picked up a detailed map. It was a leisure stroll wif mom sheltering me wif her small brolly! I was dismayed that i couldn't take out my camera to take pics during the downpour. One optimistic auntie quipped, ''take it as if this is snowing!'' Well, it would be a diff feeling if i'm strolling wif my best fren or bf? haha! After a long stroll, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the shopping mall, wif numerous shops & factory outlets. I managed to buy a tee for myself since there was a sales.

It was still raining at 7pm & after checking wif staff working in the mall, there were only fast-food and a couple of restaurants. Gu-Gu vaguely remembered that there's a hawker centre nearby, but judging from the situation, I proposed we dine at the 旺角茶餐厅 (HK Cafe).  It offered a better range of food to suit everyone's palette & esp for my gu-gu who was having a bad flu! Our tummies were all growling by then & I ordered a wanton soup + beef baked rice + chix baked rice shared among 4 of us.

wana some bird's nest? keke!

We boarded 2 taxis back to our hotel (RM15 for each taxi), since it's still raining... upon stepping into the 'swallow hall' of our hotel, i was greeted wif the fluttering sounds of swallows returning to their nests! It was such a pleasant feeling! I was told by the hotel manager, if we come during their nesting period in March or September, there will be alot more swallows building their nests here (right inside the hotel, can u believe it?)!!!  I wondered if i stay during the nesting period, will any bird nests fall off the walls? Then, i can bring home & brew some bird nests to nourish my skin! keke!