Revisiting Melaka - 26 Dec 2010

My last visit to Melaka must have been at least six years ago. So, I thought it would be really cool to revisit it. I followed a friend to Melaka, her hometown on Boxing Day and wow, Melaka is no longer as I knew it.

Things have certainly changed – for better or for worse; depending on the person. For one thing, Jonker Walk (JW) is no longer as I remembered it. I was trying to grasp the concept of JW when my friend told me that the right time to visit it is from Friday to Sunday. Otherwise, it is “closed”. When I got there, I understood what she meant – for all rights and purposes, JW now refers to the bustling “pasar malam” aka “night market”. When people talk about JW, they are talking about the mobile stalls set up from 6pm onwards. You can find stalls hawking all sorts of stuff – from slippers, handbags, clothes, antiques, faux antiques to uniquely novelty items.

On my last visit to Melaka, JW is just the name of a street where one find some antique shops, art galleries, souvenirs etc for the tourists sans the mobile stalls.

Flowing with the horde of human, I noticed some people holding pagoda-like food. Intrigued, I looked around for the stall selling this thingy. It’s called “Tornado Potato”. You push a whole potato through a special cutter and pull it to make it tornado like. Then you fry it and presto; one hot “Tornado Potato” is ready.

Our first stop at JW was Geographer Café. My friend had earlier told me that we’ll have a drink there. And I was like, ok… maybe we can learn some geography there eh? To those who don't watch Hong Kong movies like me, Geographer Cafe became famous after it became part of the location settings for a movie starring Sammi Cheng (I think). No, I didn't watch the movie. It was a nice enough place.

We mossy along after our evening tea and I came across fruit candy sticks. When I was young, an old man used to sell candy sticks around my neighbourhood. It was one of my childhood favourites. After he passed on, you can’t find it anymore in my hometown. The last time I saw it was when I went to China and found one man selling it in the town of Ming Qing. I paid RMB5.00 for what’s remained (3 sticks) so I can take a photo with him and the candy sticks.

Moving on, I spotted an arch that said “Taman Warisan Dunia Jonker Walk” (Jonker Walk World Heritage Garden). I suggested to my friend that we can rest for a while in the garden and she looked a bit disgusted and said; “That’s the public toilet area.” HUH?

There are more surprises in store for me. We left JW for a spin round the town and ended up at a Yong Tau Foo stall. I took quite a lot of the stuff and was looking forward to the Yong Tau Foo as I know it from KL.

“You want noodles or kuih teow to go with your yong tau foo?” my friend asked.

Err…. Come again?

Yong Tau Foo ala Melaka style comes with noodles or kuih teow without the sweet sauce commonly used in KL/Selangor area. I quickly halved whatever I took. It cost the same if you have it sans the noodles. My bowl of kuih teow came with something orangy – fish cake.

Ahhhh… unique Melaka. Can’t wait for the next surprises.