Piggy bday trip to Melaka-Part 6 Last Min shopping/Lunch/Returning home

Upon check out, we decided to make our way to Mahkota Parade which is directly opposite Dataran Pahlawan for more shopping though was looking for anything in particular.

Once upon a time when I was in Pri 5, my school brought me on a field trip to Melaka and Mahkota was the most atas shopping centre in Melaka during that time. Fast forward to nearly 20yrs later, I am here again. Really feels old. Hehe

Crossing the road to Mahkota parade

 Once inside, mummy start to say she want have lunch. But those restaurants inside are not to her liking. We walked around the whole mall and couldn't find anything to her liking.

We then decided to go outside to check out the shop houses whether there are any suitable restaurants there.

There is a Nonya restaurant named Nonya Suan along the shop houses and so we all went in since every one is famished.

Nonya Suan Restaurant, Melaka

Interior

Restaurant was half filled and we got a table in no time. I was in charge of ordering which is no easy task since need to take in everyone's likes and dislikes.

Grass jelly drink

Otah was 1st served and it has a sour taste to it. Not to mistake it for being spoiled but because I think they added assam to it. We all liked otah but couldn't really get pass the assam taste.

Assam Otah

Big pot of rice

Next up is omelette which is piggy bro's favourite.There was nothing special of this dish but still we finished it in no time.

Omelette

Then came Ayam Buah Keluak. Piggy bro and mummy couldn't eat spicy food and so this is specially ordered for them. We liked this dish a lot. The chicken was cooked till tender and the black bean sauce is superb.

Ayam Buah Keluak

We saw the next table eating some tofu dish and decided to order the same. Was told it was their signature tofu. The tofu was deep fried and some thick gravy was poured over it. It's a bit salty but still good with rice.

Signature tofu

Lastly is black bean deep dried fish. I was a bit disappointed being not able to order Assam fish but then again no one else can appreciate that so I gave up the idea.

The fish was pretty fresh but the black bean sauce was too diluted.

Black bean sauce fish

The sweet tooth mummy insisted in order dessert though we were all full. Mr Love and I ended up sharing 1 and both mummy and piggy bro ordered 1 each.

Our chendol

Piggy bro's durian ice kachang

The bill came up to SGD80. Not too expensive but wasn't too impressed with the food. Should have done more research to find a better restaurant. But never mind, there is always the next time.

We went back to Mahkota Shopping center for some shopping and went walking around. Given the our strong currency at the moment, everything here seems to be cheap. But must control too since we did not have much cash left after days of spending.

Pretty display

Mummy shopping in Daiso

Started walking back to our hotel at 3pm since the bus departure time is at 4pm. Pick up is at our hotel which is super convenient. There was a representative from the bus company taking attendance and coordinating with bus boarding which makes the return leg fuss free.

Traffic for bus at the 2nd Causeway was smooth and we cleared the customs in just under an hour. Should we drove, I think it waiting time will be much longer. Am happy that we chose Coach option.

It's nice going to Malacca after so many years later but we didn't really get to see much with the lack of research. Since it's convenient to go there, I reckon we will be making the trip in near future:)

Piggy bday trip to Melaka-Part 5 Dim Sum breakfast

Since we did not buy buffet breakfast with the hotel, the task of looking for breakie falls onto my shoulder.

Read somewhere about a famous dim sum joint in Jonker street and decided to come here for breakfast. Rise and shine @7am to prepare to walk there but we dilly dally till 8am before making it out of the hotel.

Morning view of Melaka city

Name of the joint we are going today is called Low Yong Moh Restaurant ( 32, Jalan Tukang Emas, 75100, Melaka, Melaka, 75200, Malaysia).

I am not sure the best way to get there but here's ours:

1). Turn right once you enter Jonker street (where 三叔公 is located).
2). Walk staright and you will past the Cheng Ho Maritime museum 
3). Turn left onto the 1st street (Jalan Tukang Besi)
4). Walk straight till you see a mosque on your left.
5). The restaurant (or coffeeshop) is right opposite the mosque.

It was full house when we reached and there was a small crowd infront. Luckily, there were a few tables of guest leaving at the same time and we got a seat soon.

It was pretty chaotic, so no point being shy. Make your presence known to the workers there so that they can direct you to a seat when available. Standing there waiting for them to acknowledge your presence will maybe push you back by 3 or 4 tables.

We sat down and then waited for the helpers to bring the food to us to choose. Just like any other dim sum joints. The famous da pau was sold out though and so Mummy ordered Char Siew pau.

Loh Mai Kai

Pricing on the wall

Char Siew Pau

We ordered mostly one of all the available things, only skipping some that we usually don't eat.
Actually despite all the good reviews of this dim sum joint, I don't particularly find their food very va va vroom.

Perhaps it's due to different perference, but I seriously prefer our dim sum back in Singapore.  Also, those served to us are not even lukewarm, some are cold already. This is a big no no for dim sum.

The steam selects

One dish stands out though, their Lotus leave gultinous rice. The fragrance of the leaves seeped into the rice, giving it a very fragrant taste and the saltiness was just nice. I loved it.

Lotus leave glutinous rice

Fishballs & Otah

Service here was mediocre, perhaps due to the large crowd they have to handle. We had a hard time getting attention from the servers. We ended up getting the fried food selection ourselves since those serving them keep missing our table.

Fried food selection

Old school sign board

See the large crowd standing outside

Bill came up to RM89 for the 4 of us including tea. I must admit that we are all very full from the meal. Luckily we did not have to wait long for a table. If you asked me, I wouldn't think it is worthwhile to wait a table with the food standard.

Then again it is just my taste buds. If you are here on weekdays, you can consider dropping by to try their dim sum.

Were so full after breakfast that we decided to walk around the city before going back to the hotel. Walked down a street of old shop houses opposite St Paul's church but no shops were open. We then went to the street in the church compound to check out the gift shops.

Then it's back to the hotel to prepare to check out before we proceed to some last minute shopping. 

Old shophouses

Gift shops in church compound

Piggy bday trip to Melaka-Part 4 Jonker street

Jonker street in Melaka is probably the most famous street of all. For I keep hearing people to tell me go there when they learnt I am visiting Melaka.

Even Mummy also wanna visit as she stayed here during her school trip more than 40yrs ago. Our mission today is to locate the clan association she stayed and take a photo for her to show to her classmate. *FAINTS*

Jonker street is located right across St Paul's church where there is a bridge over a small stream. Cross it and you will be in Jonker street. There is a Hard rock cafe to the right as you enter Jonker street.

1st look of Jonker street

 三叔公 (San Shu Gong), the shop that sells local specialities is the 1st shop at the junction entering Jonker street.

We took the left lane to the shop and started exploring. The roads were still open to traffic at 4pm. Took a short break at 1 of the shop selling chendol ice. But it is not the 1 that Jin Hang told me to find.

Cars are still allowed at 4pm

Couple tees

 There are alot of shops selling interesting wares here and we went in one by one to check things out.
Funny thing is we brought nothing. Like I mentioned before, I am now at the phase of being afraid to pile things up in my house, therefore I would usually consider very carefully before buying stuff though it is cheap when converted into SG dollars.

 Had wanted to buy the cute couple tees we saw (Disney characters!!) but Mr Love need to remind me that we are in our 30s. So it doesn't seems very apt to wear such cute tees at this age. Gotta stick to the jerseys it seems.

Famous body builder that I dunno. Hehe

 We then managed to locate the statue that Jin Hang was telling me about and the famous chendol shop besides it. Mummy found it too crowded and we gave up and continue walking till she suddenly exclaimed excitedly that she found the clan association that she stayed 40yrs ago.

Man, she was literally jumping with joy since piggy and I keep teasing her that the association might be closed down for all we know. Took a few pictures here for her and we moved on. We did encourage her to go in and take a look but she declined.

So happy that she found the association

 We reached the end of the street and realised many vendors are setting up their stalls for the night market. Time check is 5pm and mummy is screaming that she is hungry.

The thing is, piggy and her couldn't agree what to have for dinner. Piggy wanted to try the local delights while mummy wanted an air-conditioned restaurant.

Muhaha. Suddenly we dunno who is the pampered Singaporean here. Her or us.

Food street

 I guessed mummy is really a true blue Singaporean now, more kiasu and kiasee then the 3 of us. Muhaha. She refused to have dinner at the food street citing hygiene reasons and keep insisting on find an air con restaurant for she is overheated.

Thank god she didn't see how we go around Taiwan. We just randomly buy from the street vendors whenever we are hungry.

See mummy keep fanning herself?

 We decided to walk back to Hard Rock cafe since there is any other air conditioned restaurant in sight. This time we turned into another street that is parallel to Jonker street and began walking.

The street is rather quiet but have quite a few motel/homestay here. I was banking to find the dim sum shop I wanted for tomorrow's breakfast here but was lost in the house numbers.

It is later when I asked a local then we realised we missed the place. Turns out, the shop is right across the mosque that we stopped to check for directions and I totally missed it!

Stopped and checking for directions

 We came across another famous eatery recommended by netizens. A teochew tze char shop which only have 8tables and you need at least 1 week advance booking.

Since the place looked pretty empty, we decided to try our luck and enquired. But the uncle helming the stove was like super duper triple yaya. When we asked whether there are available seats for us to have an early dinner. All he did was to knock on the full house sign in front of his shop with a black face without an answer.

I mean you could have answered and say it's fully booked right? Or to be more polite a bit. But he chose this method to answer us as if he's mute and kept knocking at the sign. So what your eatery is famous and served what people claimed to be authentic Teochew cuisine? Your attitute sucks! I dun pay for poor service no matter how nice the food is. Besides how difficult it is to get good food in Malaysia?

Super Yaya eatery

I love this shot hehe

 We came to the end of the street which brings us back to 三叔公. Did a bit of shopping here and off we went for dinner @ Hard Rock Cafe Melaka.

The famous chicken rice ball shop

 I have never been to Hard Rock cafe despite coming across it in different countries. Since mummy was insistent to eat here, we obliged. More so when piggy offered to pay. Muhaha. You can literally see gleam in my eyes. I started with wanting to order wine which is much more expensive than the main course and of course the most expensive main course in the menu @RM88.

Still empty at 5.30pm

 Piggy gotta stop me half way and told me to order something reasonable. Hehe.

And so we 4 ordered 1 different main course each and shared them around when the food arrives.

Mummy and her grilled chicken

My cheesy pasta and chicken breast

Mr Love's fish and chips

Piggy's steak burger

 The food was pretty decent, at least to me la. Prices was  on the high side but not surprising for Hard Rock but ambience was good.

Half way thru dinner, a heavy downpour came and we were struck in the restaurant. Many others came in to hide from the rain and was throwing angry looks at us for hogging the table. But you all came in because of the rain, we came in way before you because we wanted dinner. I reckon I have every right to stay on even we are finishing dinner.

Plus we did not bring our brollies with us and how are we supposed to get back to hotel in the heavy rain? The waiters couldn't chase us out would they? Mummy was a bit worried. But she knew if they did, I think I would have tore the place up. It's ok if it is me and Mr Love, but mummy was there with us. I couldn't risk having her run in the rain and fall sick.

Anyways, the rain stopped after an hr and we decided to forgo the night market and made our way back to the hotel. Walked throught the shopping center and went for a much need foot massage which costs RM29 for 30min.

It's a much needed one after so much walking today.

Piggy bday trip to Melaka-Part 3 Around Melaka City Center

 And so we began our little tour around Melaka City Center with the ending point at Jonker street.
Walked through the open spaced car park besides Hotel Equatorial which takes us to Ruins of St Paul Church.

There's some activities going on here and was super crowded.

Ruins of St Paul's church

Cannon

We then climbed up a super long flight of stairs which left me half dead at the top of it. There are more ruins up the hill it seems and piggy bro wanted to take photos there. Damn.

Top view from the stairs

Check out the long flight of stairs

Mummy and Mr Love

 There is actually nothing much up here to see except for a few walls. So we did wat I liked best, selfie! We actually brought along a selfie stick this time and showed mummy how it is used. She was damn impressed and keep asking us to play with it. Muhaha.

Meanwhile, piggy bro got lost in his phototaking and refuse to participate in ours.

See mummy is so happy to use the selfie stick

We then walked down an equally long flight of stairs. This would have meant we crossed the hill and got down from the other side of the church and brings us to a park where 2 train heads are situated. Not sure why these KTM train heads are here since there KTM does not run through Melaka. 

KTM Train head

Taken using the selfie stick again

 We continued trekking along the streets to the next attraction Piggy bro wanted to see- Some ship display that we did not enter since an entrance fee is required and it's near closing time.

I also realised we are not at the other end of the shopping center. So, if you are too scared of the heat and sunny weather, you can actually cut through the shopping center to get you here to Jonker street. Piggy bro had brought us walked the super long way since he wanted to check out the various attractions.

Hello Kitty trishaw!!

We walked 20min to see this ship

Of course must take a photo. Taken in haste, pardon the poor skills

We hit Jonker street 45min after walking, had taken a big detour since the normal walking time should be 15-20min. Mummy was nagging to buy food stuff at a particular shop called 三叔公 and we assured her that we will give her time to shop later. Wanted to explore the area without lugging all the purchases along.