Malacca Here I come!

Was talking with AC about the famous chicken rice ball in Malacca and he generously offered to drive me from KL to Malacca for lunch and back! So it was a short one day trip for me.

Malacca looks pretty much the same with its outstanding red historical buildings in the heart of the city. It’s been a long time since I last visited Malacca.  If I don’t recall wrongly, that was during my class trip when I was in JC.

Malacca is extremely popular for their food. With a wide range of Malay, Chinese and Nyonya cuisine, I was spoilt for choice! Too bad it was only a day trip so I decided to save the large bulk of my tummy space for the famous chicken rice balls.

There are many stalls of chicken rice balls in Malacca but I was told that the most famous and authentic one is located at the circle of Jonker Stree (the residential heart of Old Malacca just west of the Malacca River, with its narrow winding streets, beautifully decorated houses, tiny shops, temples and mosques). The queue outside the famous stall was also a tell tale sign to its location.

Despite the drizzle, the queue for a seat in this Chop Chung Wah Chicken Ball Rice coffeeshop was still pretty long. Luckily the turnover rate was pretty high so we got ourselves a seat in no time.

The chicken rice balls were delicious! I had all 5 balls and would have easily gobbled down another plate if not for the fact that I wanted to grab dessert as well. The origins of chicken rice balls was that rice shaped into balls helped kept them warm from the time it was cooked until mealtime. The rice balls when stored in wooden containers also made them portable and were easier for laborers working on plantations to transport from home.

AC then took me to a little store on Jonker Street for the famous Malacca Chendol as dessert!

I had both the the normal Nyonya Chendol as well as the durain version and they are equally yummy! The secret lies in the home made famous gula melaka (palm sugar) used. The gula melaka found in Malacca seems sweeter and richer than the ones we find in the stores in Singapore. Gula melaka is made by making several slits into the bud of a coconut tree and collecting the sap. Then, the sap is boiled until it thickens after which, in the traditional way, it is poured into bamboo tubes between 3-5 inches in length, and left to solidify to form cylindrical cake blocks.

I bought both the gula melaka in the original form as well as the modern syrup form and hope that my home made desserts would taste as good too!

The streets are filled with many traditional antique stores and old toy stores… it makes for such an interesting walk!

The historic centre of Malacca was inscribed on the World Heritage List on 7 July 2008. The Malays who are the original settlers of Malacca since 1400, form the largest community. The Malaccan Malays are rich in culture from their daily life to the building arts. The famous Malacca Steps or Tangga Melaka are common in front of many Malay houses in Malacca.

The trishaws available for hire at 40RM/ hour comes with fake flowers and pop music. But the drivers are really friendly and knowledgeable about Malacca’s history though.

Malacca is a center of Peranakan culture. When Chinese settlers originally came to Malacca as miners, traders and coolies, they took local brides (of Javanese, Batak, Achenese, etc descent) and adopted many local customs. The result of this is an interesting mix of local and Chinese cultures.

The Stadthuys with it’s clock tower is one of the oldest Dutch buildings in the east.

It’s one of the rare places in the world where canons and old fortifications are still visible in the center of town alongside newer modern buildings. In fact, archeological excavations are still going on!

Of course other than the historical area, there are many other things to explore in Malacca. I shall end this post with a short video combining most of my KL and Malacca trip.

PS- for those who are interested, I’m selling the grey belted dress I wore in this post for $15 inclusive of normal mail. Do leave me a comment or email me at renzze@gmail.com if you’re interested.

PSS – If you’re viewing my fb, video is only available at www.renzze.com