Revisiting Melaka

We walked around the corner to a local coffee shop for breakfast around 0900.  I had toast with kaya and butter while Thomas added soft-boiled eggs.

Melaka’s old city wasn’t far away by foot.  But due to a mis-navigation, we took a longer route which was fine as we checked out our proposed brunch venue and found that it was closed.  We took a quick look around the old town.  We’ve been here several times before but it is far less touristy without overseas visitors.

I couldn’t recall the old fort by the river.  It had the old Portuguese layer and the newer Dutch layer marked.

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I took a quick walk up to St Paul Hill while Thomas waited for me by the clocktower.  St Paul’s church was built in 1521, making it the oldest church in SE Asia. Built by the Portuguese as a Catholic church, it became a Dutch Reformed church until the Christ Church became the main church.  Thomas hadn’t come along because he was disgusted by the Democracy Museum that had been built there.

I had forgotten that Porta de Santiago was on the other side of the hill, so I went down there briefly too.  A fortress, A Famosa, was built in 1512 by the Portuguese after then conqueste of Melaka in 1511. Much of it was destroyed by the Dutch and British. Today Porta de Santiago is the main surviving portion.  The re-created wooden palace was also nearby but I do recall a previous visit, so gave it a miss.

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With Thomas waiting for me, I made my way back to the clock tower pronto to commence our walk on Jonker Street.  I had fallen in love with the street many years ago on my earlier visits.  The old shophouses, some of which were richly decorated, and some of which were lovely mansions.  And there used to be many antique shops.  On this walk today, the pineapple tart shops and coffee shops jumped out at me.  I had only noticed only one antique shop.

We only did one pass of the street and didn’t go to the next street where the Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum was located.

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As we did a large circle of the area, we stumbled upon the local fire station with the siren going off.  An announcement was made and within a few seconds the firemen were at their vehicles and set off within about a minute in their fire engine, accompanied by motorcycles to clear the way in advance.  Malaysians have a low perception of the public service but this really changed our impression.

A popiah place had come highly recommended to us.  We found it on Jalan Bunga Raya but they weren’t opening for another hour.  Thomas went for a massage while I rested back in the room.  I was trying to minimise contact with people so as not to jeopardise my upcoming return to New Zealand with a Covid-19 infection.

I grabbed some popiah as a late lunch and found it super greasy.  It’s just so different from what I’m used to.

About 1500, we bravely took the car out, with the fear that we wouldn’t be able to secure a park afterwards.  We drove to visit friends Peter and Shukri (Kie) at their home.  Kie is super-artistic and the craft he makes is stunning and classy.  I knew this already but it was it was such a delightful surprise to for Thomas.  They even have a faux fireplace modelled after the one in their last home in New Zealand.

We went out for a coconut shake and sat out the rain at their home before returning to the hotel where we managed to re-park the car.

For dinner, we checked out the food court across the road.  It didn’t appeal, so we walked in the light rain to Asam Pedas Bawah Pokok which led on to an alley off Jalan Bunga Raya.  It was super busy despite the wet weather but we scored a small table and had oh-chien (oyster omelette) and a Chinese-style tofu and fishball rojak with token pineapple.

We capped off the evening with beer before walking back without getting too wet.