We visited Malacca three years ago, to attend a friend's wedding. This time, we head down our memory lane.
Back in January, I went to Malacca with ma gurl, Sotorng and my boyfriend, @krazyrex. This was a long desired trip for us since we last took a trip together in 2015. And that, is a long time, considering that we’ve been so close to each other all this time.
It wasn’t our first time to #Malacca, so we knew the place pretty well. We noticed several places that have evolved while some others have closed down. Despite feeling sad, we maintained our main purpose of the trip. We prayed that our familiar places are still intact.
To make it to Melaka, we rented a GoCar and drove for 2 hours from Cyberjaya, Selangor. When we arrived in Malacca, it was raining heavily. We waited in the car for about 15 minutes for the rain to tone down. We strolled past the iconic red houses, Christ Church and Clock Tower. We did not go to A’Famosa because we’ve been there a trillion times, and the climb up the hill is excruciating.
Instead, we headed straight to our favourite coffee shop – The Daily Fix. Why? They have the best Pandan Pancake in town, served with Vanilla Ice-Cream and Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar). Trust me, it is a match made in heaven. Crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, we could see the pastry masters have not lost touch. Each and every bite conjures massive amount of endomorphin. Seriously, it tastes that good.
The café is situated along the well-known Jonker Street, you can find it tucked behind a souvernir shop. The only signage they have is their café stand board. Interior wise, they have kept most of the original design and structure of the old building. The picture below shows a terracotta and the roundtable was where we sat. They rarely open the second floor for customers unless they have a full house. Visiting this cafe had me reminiscing the old house I used to live in Penang when I was much younger.
After satisfying our sweet tooth, we took a slow stroll alongside the Melaka River. It’s not the cleanest river in Malaysia but the waking of the river's bar scene in the evening is pretty interesting. The colourful walls of the buildings were perfect for #hipsters like us. After a couple of pictures, we went back to Jonker Street, in search of our beloved cockles.
We had a particular stall in mind. There was this uncle whom we visited for his fresh cockles and special chili sauce three years. We were hoping we could still find him at the same location. As we approached the location, we saw a familiar face. I took out my phone, look at the picture we took with the uncle two years ago. I went up to him and asked, “Uncle, this was you isn’t it?” He looked at the picture and looked back at me. He grinned and said “You came back to visit me?”, and we burst into laughter.
After sitting us down, he went and made us two huge plates of cockles, with three extra smooth clams for free. He gave us extra chili sauce, which was sprinkled with ground peanuts. That was it, that’s how you make three happy kids. As the sun set, the three of us chatted about how things have changed. how our lives have taken off to different paths. On a full stomach, we took another picture with the stall owner before we headed to our next destination.
It was this amazing place called Idler’s Corner, off Jonker Street. It’s one of the shops with its back alley facing the river. The front is a boutique selling 100% linen clothes from Taiwan as the owner originates from the country. And the back of the shop has wooden tables and chairs that sits up to 20 people at a time. They serve drinks, snacks, and alcohol. If you fancy a drink while enjoying the river breeze, this is one out of the dozens operating bars you can choose from.
The reason we chose this place is that three years ago, we stumbled upon this boutique/bar and got to know the owner and her young daughter who was so adorable it captured our hearts. We went back just to see how she has grown. She is six years old now but has grown shy around people. She hid behind her grandmother and just looked at us with her big eyes. After all, she was too young to recognise us.
We chatted with her grandma for a long time but we couldn’t stay any longer when the clock struck twelve. So we bid farewell to the grandma and the young girl. Exhausted but fulfilled, we made our way back to Cyberjaya. That night, we probably fell asleep with a wide smile, and perhaps a sweet sweet dream.
All photos were taken by myself and @krazyrex, using iPhone 6 Plus and GoPro Hero 4 Black.