We took a short walk less than a minute away to the Perhentian Kuih Kampung (literally translated means Village Cakes Stop) where we had a late breakfast of dried mee siam (thin rice noodles in spicy, sweet and sour light gravy) and nonya cakes. Total cost of this light breakfast came up to RM11 (USD3.54) including drinks for all of us.
Perhentian Kuih Kampung
Malaysian food - kuih kuih
We then waited for another friend of ours, Belinda, to take us out for lunch. She brought us to Amboi, a nonya peranakan restaurant along Jalan Merdeka where her husband, Michael, was waiting for us. Here we were treated to typical nonya food such as sambal petai (stink beans in chilli), chap chye (mixed vegetable) and ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nut).
Malacca Peranakan Food - Amboi
The owner, Marcia, was friendly and our friends dine there regularly. We had a lovely time savouring our food and getting to know each other further.
Malacca Nyonya Food
For pictures of the wonderful peranakan food, visit Restaurant Amboi - Peranakan Food In Malacca.
After lunch, we drove to King Hin Plastic Industries in Jalan Bukit Cina where we did some shopping for baking and packaging supplies. On the way to Baba Charlie famous for its home made nonya kuih, we stopped by Bee Bee Lian Choo along Jalan Parameswara to buy some home made nonya pineapple tarts. Here you can see the production of the pineapple tarts, which Malacca is well known for, in the home.
Bee Bee Lian Choo's famous Nyonya Pineapple Tarts
Continuing on our way to Baba Charlie, we passed by Syarikat Berjaya Glassware; where the sight of crytalware in the window caught our eyes and we made an unplanned stop. You can find many beautiful items mainly for your kitchen at very reasonable prices. Our friends ended up purchasing a set of porcelain dish on a lazy susan, which is very practical when serving meals to guests. They almost could not get a new set as the sales assistant felt that it was the last set.However, upon us persuading them to check the store, they managed to find a new set, which our friends gladly grabbed at a bargain price.
Teacup & pot set with sweet prints
Lovely to admire...
The set that was purchased
We then made our way to our original destination, Baba Charlie, which is close to the Tengkera mosque. As we had received more detailed instructions from our friend, Edwin, we managed to find the place this time round. Alas, the place was closed already as they operate from 1000 hrs – 1500 hrs, after which they would proceed to the various night markets to hawk their popular nonya cakes. One good thing was that we actually managed to identify the exact house so that we would be able to find it the next time we get there.
Baba Charlie - famous for their home made nyonya cakes
Jonker Walk was our next destination. As usual, we had to stop at San Shu Gong, a home-grown Malaysian food product store, to buy their coffee before we brought our friends shopping along Jonker Walk.
Jonker Street - a tourist attraction
Big baby?
Cheery addition from San Shu Gong
We managed to find the old man who used to man the shop that specializes in handmade nonya beaded shoes along Jalan Tokong, a street that runs parallel to Jonker Walk. There are 2 shops specializing in handmade nonya beaded shoes along this stretch. WahAik shoemaker is the original shop that has already been in business for 3 generations. Since the next generation is not interested in running the shop, it looks like this is going to be a dying tradition.
WahAik is also a dealer in bound feet shoes and you can see pictures of women who had their feet bound. Foot binding was a custom practiced in China in the olden days where the arch of the foot was broken to leave a crevice approximately 5 cm (2 in) deep. This whole process took approximately two years in order to achieve a foot that measured anywhere between 7 – 9 cm (3 – 3 ½ in) from toe to heel.
We were very fortunate that the shop was still open at 1900 hrs as normal operating hours are from 0930 hrs – 1730 hrs. However as it was Malacca Historical Day and there was a VIP on his rounds in this heritage site, the shops were advised to stay open, thus allowing us to have the opportunity to discover it.
For more information, check out Peranakan Beaded Slippers and Bound Feet Shoes.
Bound Feet Shoes
Peranakan Beaded Slippers
Traditional Peranakan ladies wear
Testing the fit of the kebaya
New public restroom facilities along Jonker Walk
After we were done shopping along Jonker Street, we made our way back to Arenaa De Luxe Hotel to check out. Tesco shopping was next on our agenda. As we made our way to Tesco Malacca, we had the assistance of our Garmin global positioning system.
Tesco shopping
Here we had a quick bite at Tesco Medan Selera before starting our shopping in Tesco. It was 2220 hrs before we left Tesco and made a quick stop at Jusco Aeon next door.
Noodles
More noodles
Yet more noodles
Another version of Malaysian noodles
Indian flatbread
Colourful drinks
By the time we left Malacca to start our drive back to Singapore, it was close to 2300 hrs. We had a great time during this wonderful Malaysia vacation and we had achieved so much.
It was definitely an awesome experience starting with the cool Genting Highlands weather, our site inspection of D’Ark Resort in Janda Baik and Selesa Hill Homes and Resort in Bukit Tinggi, meeting up with quite a few of our friends, getting to taste the delicious Malaysian food and not forgetting the Malaysia shopping that we managed to include in our itinerary. Our one night experience in Arenaa De Luxe Hotel made our stay even more memorable.
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