Picked mum, brother and sister-in-law at 0620 hrs and made our way straight to Tuas checkpoint for our weekend Malacca vacation. Clearing custom and immigration for Singapore and Malaysia by 0710 hrs, we proceeded to Machap Rest & Relaxation to have a Malaysian breakfast.
This is the first time brother is at Machap Rest & Relaxation, he was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the toilets. Breakfast foods were basically of Malay variety and here are some of the dishes that we had – dry mee siam (thin rice noodles), mee hoon soto (combination of rice vermicelli and rice cake), nasi lemak (coconut rice) and kaya toasted bread. The mee hoon soto was not too bad and the nasi lemak, from stall number 8, was enjoyed by both brother and mum.
Dry mee siam
Mee hoon soto
Nasi lemak
Kaya toasted bread
Heading towards Malacca at 0845 hrs, we reached Ayer Keroh toll at 1030 hrs, we went to King Hin in Jalan Temenggung to buy some baking supplies. Next stop was Hallmark Hotel, a small hotel along Jalan Portugis. This being our first time staying at Hallmark Hotel, we fortunately found our way there with the help of the Garmin global positioning system.
Whilst on the North South Highway, watch for exit 231
As check in time was only at 1500 hrs, we pre-registered and then walked to Jonker Street. We later realized that we had taken a longer walking route to Jonker Street instead of what could have been just a 5-minutes walk.
Hallmark Hotel
Heading for
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice ball, a popular Malacca food, we ordered the chicken, vegetable and soup. At RM1.80 (USD0.59) per bowl of lotus root soup, it was filled with peanuts and was good value for money.
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball
Brother and mum found the chicken rice balls a bit too heavy and preferred the normal rice. The chicken was small and tasty. We had half a chicken as a whole chicken is normally for 6 persons. Not being big eaters, this portion was just right for the five of us.
Eagerly waiting for food!
Lotus root soup, vegetables, normal chicken rice and chicken rice balls together with half a chicken
Walking a few doors away to San Shu Gong, we bought some Malaysian products here including the coffee, which is a hot favourite of some relatives of ours.
San Shu Gong - famous for Malaysian food products
Brother was on the lookout to try more Malacca food and bought some onde onde (glutinous rice balls with palm sugar filling and coated with grated coconut) and rempah udang (glutinous rice with shredded coconut and prawn paste filling) along the way. The onde onde would have tasted better if the filling had more gula Melaka (palm sugar).
Brother checking out the nyonya kuih
Hubby bought some tau sar piah (flaky pastry with bean paste filling) from Tean Hup Biscuits as he likes these and is on the ‘must buy’ list whenever we are in Jonker Street.
Shopping for more Malaysian food products
The heat was killing and we were all perspiring and feeling tired out under the hot sun. Going back to Hallmark Hotel, we managed to get our room keys and checked in. After resting awhile, we made our way to Melaka Raya where we wanted to go for massage at
Scents and Senses. However they were fully booked for the day and after checking their schedule, we finally booked a one-hour massage for the 5 of us for tomorrow.
Located at Jalan Melaka Raya, we like coming to this Thai massage outlet. The mostly Thai employees here are friendly and can speak simple English. Moreover this massage outlet is hygienic and has a great ambience, looking more like a spa.
Wanting to let brother try the chendol (dessert of shaved ice with coconut milk) at
Jeta Groves, a few doors away from Scents and Senses, we were disappointed to see the shutters half closed at 1530 hrs. Upon enquiring if they were open tomorrow, they invited us in upon hearing that we wanted to try their chendol since they had something on tomorrow and would not be open.
We ordered 3 plain chendol and 2 durian chendol. Mom, brother and sister-in-law had the plain chendol and found it lacking the gula Melaka and too much coconut milk. We loved the durian chendol for the generous lump of durian meat that came with the chendol.
Rich & yummy...
More Nyonya food items on sale at Jeta Groves
Fancy some pickles? Also from Jeta Groves
Shopping was next on the itinerary. Since Daataran Pahlawan megamall is the largest shopping centre in Malacca, we decided to bring them there. As brother also wanted to find something else, we also crossed the road over to Mahkota Parade where we did more shopping.
Kora Kora in Dataran Pahlawan
Get your caricature drawing done for just RM10 (USD3.26)
Mum trying on some t-shirts at Mahkota Parade shopping centre
Having made reservations for some authentic Peranakan food at our favourite place,
Amy’s Heritage Restaurant, for 1900 hrs, we made our way to Melaka Raya. We ordered the pisang jantung (edible banana flower), ayam pongteh (nyonya chicken stew), fried fish with chilli, sambal udang petai (chilli stink beans) and hee peow (fish maw) soup.
As usual, the dishes were well prepared and all of them tasted great! We also ordered one bowl of tai bak, a nonya dessert which everyone found too sweet. Fortunately we had only ordered one bowl to try.
Hee peow soup
From left clockwise:- ayam pongteh, sambal udang petai, fried fish with chilli and pisang jantung
Sambal kangkung
Tai bak dessert
After dinner, we made our way back to Hallmark Hotel where mom, brother and sister-in-law were all too tired out and wished to retire for the night. Thus hubby and I made our way back to Jonker Street and 5 minutes later, we were so tempted by the smells of the various foods that were being sold along Jonker Street night market.
Food galore at Jonker Street
We wanted to try the foot reflexology at RM38 (USD12.40) for 60 minutes, but decided against it as we had to wait another 20 minutes before our turn. Thus we returned to the hotel and retired for the night as well. It was a fully packed day and marked the end of the first day of our Malacca vacation.
Nyonya laksa - noodles in rich coconut gravy. We found the nyonya laksa different from the other types of laksa that we were used to, but a nice change. The noodles used are more like rice vermicelli instead of the thick white noodles commonly used for laksa.
Non air-conditioned coffee shop environment
30 years in business already!
