Malacca - A food pilgrimage

I asked a USM colleague about what to do in Malacca. No surprise - he sent a long e-mail with eating recommendations. Decided to go on Friday (to miss the weekend crowds). Our first stop was  Chung Wah Chicken Rice Ball - a quick check of blogs will confirm that many foodies make this their first stop in Malacca. The round rice balls were small, but tasty, and the chicken was fine. Overall - the food was good, the ambiance lively, and implies that one will eat very well in this town.

As we wandered the narrow streets of the old town Doug kept an eye out for the fish market where we had an incredible dinner 10 years ago (we never found it). We ducked into a shop where we bought bookmarks made by the Mah Meri (an indigenous tribe), print bags, and place mats. The bags were described as "ladies' " bags and "men's bags" based solely on the print. Doug has used bag constantly - I didn't buy one, which I will next trip. Both Trace and Doug asked for a shop card, and both lost them! It is on Jalan Tokong. Here is the artist who does block printing in the shop. He is from Penang and told us that "northern" (Penang) food is better - subsequently we have polled people. So far we gave found a perfect association between hometown and food chauvinism.

As we wandered we saw a sign warning against the "bogus monk." Doug was approached by him twice - guess he didn't have a good memory for faces. He was selling "peace/love" charms, but I was tempted to ask for war/violence charms. Also, the heritage area of Melaka is smoke free- something that we appreciate since enduring smokers everywhere in Italy.

The fine print reads "eliminate the bogus monk"

Next to find cendol - better to eat than try to describe. We had several choices, and I have read comments about variations in cendols. But to date I have enjoyed them all and not tried to compare.

We took a break by visiting the Melaka Sultanate Palace. We paid RM2; entry posted at RM5 by the time we left. We assumed that the lower rate was for the hours on Friday when many Malaysians are praying and/or eating. It had an interesting exhibit on marriage customs of the various ethnic groups. Probably worth another visit so that we can remember the details and keep them straight.

Ymmy Friday special: Chicken redeng & nasi lemak

Next we debated between looking for satay or nyonya food. Nyonya food won out. We went to Donald and Lily's. If it hadn't been for the recommendations we would have passed it by. It closes at 4:00 so we got in under the wire and the most recommended dishes were sold out. We ordered what was left - mee siam, chicken redang and nasi lemak, and rojak. We found both the mee and the chicken terrific. So we will remember to arrive earlier next tine and try some of the things we missed.

The satay search was less successful. The men who had directed us to Donald and Lily's gave us directions to the "best satay." After a long hike the shop had a sign saying that due to unforeseen circumstances the shop would only open on Saturday. So back to a bus stop, took the 17 bus and rode around for an hour before we reached the bus station. Our conclusion - no matter the cost difference we will take a taxi next time.