Malacca (24th Oct 09)

Used to travel to Malacca when I was working in company ‘P’. Had not been to Malacca ever since I left the company “P” 3 years ago………

Last year, TCS drama - “The Little Nyonya” had made a storm for people to go Malacca or Penang in search of Pernankan Culture and most important…. Nyonya FOOD………

Just do not wanted to join the crowd at that period of time. Finally found a time slot to go to Malacca again………

Took a morning express bus from JB Larkin Bus Station. The bus is a non-stop trip (just a toilet break in between) to Malacca Bus terminal (Malacca Sentral). Arrived in Malacca near to noon… a smart move as if I took the bus from Sg, I believed I’ll arrive Malacca in much later time.

After checked into the hotel, we headed to a famous Pernankan restaurant for lunch…..

Ordered few of their signature dishes……. We like the best are Nana Assam Udang (Pineapple Prawn) and Otak-Otak…… yum yum…..

After lunch, we strolled round the old town and likewise, do a tourist do, visited few tourist spots round the old town of Malacca……

St Paul’s Church
Malacca Christ Church

A’ Famosa

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (青云亭 - 百年观音庙)

Dutch Square

Some street scenes in Malacca

The former Padang area had been replaced by a Shopping Mall…. Dataran Pahlawan

Went to this restaurant that served the one of the local delicacies – Satay Celup (a satay sauce fondue) for early dinner..……..

WOW….. long queue at such early hour (before 6 pm)!!! Wait at least more than 30 minutes for the table…..

Here’s how the Satay Celup looks like……. and taste yum yum….... While you eating half way, the waiter will come and “disturb” you……..to stir the sauce in the pot as to ensure the sauce do not get burnt at the bottom… same time, they will add in more satay paste to make the sauce thicker……

After dinner, went to Pasar Malam (Night Market) in Jonker Walk (since the start of this pasar malam years back, I had been wanted to come…. Finally!!) ….. like most Pasar Malam…. They sell all sort of staff and most important…. Food……. As I just had the Satay Celup for dinner… just took a cendol……

Next day, immediate after breakfast, visited the Pernankan Heritage Museum… No photo taking is allowed in the house…. I’ll show you some of the photo that resembled part of the museum; it is the hotel where I stayed for the nite…. The hotel is transformed from the old straits building…. Of course, the layouts in the museum is more better and grand since it is a museum that run privately……..

We had the chicken rice ball for lunch …. it tastes so so... found the rice ball a bit too dry.... The only thing we like is the BBQ Pork 叉烧烧肉.......…

Should have went to the other shop that have a long queue outside the stall (according to friends’ comments, this stall is the best one in town)..…… Maybe will try them during next visit.

During this trip, tried cendol from different stalls…….. and the red bean is big and soft (绵绵的！好吃！) which hardly be found in Singapore.
A unique cendol – Cendol Pulut. (cendol with glutinous rice)……

Observed several shops along Jonker Walk area are selling pineapple tarts…. I preferred the tart using butter, it tasted better than the one using the margarine….. the tart using margarine is a bit dry and hard …..

This uncle is selling very nice pumpkin cake.. and the chili go long with the kueh is yum yum…
This trip did not manage to eat any of the nyonya kueh………aaaiiiii

Will go to Malacca again to have more food tasting.

Kuala Lumpur (10 Oct 09)

To continue from insufficient shopping and eating during last trip, went to Kuala Lumpur again.

This round went shopping in Pavilion:- a new shopping mall that I spotted during last visit. The place is huge. Lots of brand shops in this mall, Tangs etc, etc, ......... some really can see, cannot buy...... there also restaurants and basement there is a food court..... "Food Republic".......

At the side of the mall, there is this stretch of branded shops....... 真是名牌一条街。

As the Deepavali is drawing close, Indian Art (Sorry, don't what it's name) was used to decorate the mall. It was colorful......

This trip, I also found time to have 冠记云吞面 in KL Chinatown..... Yummy

I also had this fish ball rat noodle ........ 西刀鱼圆老鼠粉 near the bus terminal.

My second day breakfast....... 油条，牛利酥 and Roti Prata... or in Malaysia, it is called Roti Canai......

Short Trip to Bangkok (Day 4 - 14 Sep 09)

After had a heavy breakfast, head to MBK and Siam Centre to do some last minutes shopping..... bought few more shirts again...... before heading back to hotel to get our lagague in early afternoon.... went for a hour massage for last time as to end this trip........

Have a dinner before we boarded the plan.... anyway, prices of the simple food are being mark up so high like most other airports ....... at least 3 times as compared to the town.... next time eat fast food......

Bye bye Bangkok...... anyway sure to come back again lah....

One last thing, the BTS had extended two more stations after Saphan Taksin. Next visit shall try to take the BTS till last station and see what is there.

Short Trip to Bangkok (Day 3 - 13 Sep 09)

Like most tourists, a visit to Chatuchak weekend market is a must........ unless the weather is really bad - heavy rain......

Straight head to weekend market after the breakfast....... the place always packed with people as the crowd always started to coming in in late morning and early afternoon..........

Saw few group of students performing as to raise funds ..... or maybe pocket money (?)

After we had enough of shopping in the old Chatuchak Market, for the first time, we went to the JJ Mall that just next the the Chatuchak Weekend Market. The place is fully air-conditioned.... so if you afraid of the hot heat outside... this will be a good place to shop without getting a hear stroke....... most items sell here are almost same as in Chatuchak market....

Saw this uncle using sugar dough to make into form of animals....

Food and fruits hawkers/stalls can be easily spotted in Chatuchak Market..... few of my favourites... for fruits :- pineapple, green mango, papaya.... for snacks :- Fried Chicken Wings, Thai Fish Cake.....

Found this super mini pineapple in JJ Mall..... not sure of the taste as we did not buy......

In the Chatuchak Market, we also found the coconut ice cream that we had in Koh Kret yesterday.... but instead of using plant leave as container, coconut shell was used..... really environmental friendly..... the ice cream taste better than the one in Koh Kret....

In the evening, we went to Chinatown for seafood dinner......... mmm.. still prefer the seafood stall in Sala Daeng........

After our dinner, we strolled down the street.........

This pick-up was selling durian and it was featured in the Taiwanese variety show 食尚玩家... really like the show mentioned..... if the durian NG, she immediately throw away...... Bought a small one to try..... Unlike Thai Durian.... it is more moist.... durian smell not as strong as Malaysia durian..... According to the show, the name of this durian..... 《干腰》..... "干" means stem and "腰" means long..... i.e. this durian has a long stem......

Short Trip to Bangkok (Day 2 - 12 Sep 09)

After breakfast, we adjourned to this place called Koh Kret.

Got to know this place Koh Kret is through a Taiwanese Programme 食尚玩家, they introduced this place and then I surfed the net to get more information about this place.

• Here the some introduction extract of Ko Kret……
  
  Koh Kret also known as Ko Kred, is an island in the Chao Phraya River, 20 km north of Bangkok in Nonthaburi Province.
  The island dates back to 1722, when a canal was constructed as a shortcut to bypass a bend in the Om Kret branch of the Chao Phraya river. The island continues to serve as a refuge to the Mon tribes who dominated central Thailand between the 6th and 10th centuries and have retained a distinct identity in their flavor of Buddhism and their distinctive pottery.
  
  The island is roughly square in shape, each side measuring about 2 km, and a path runs around the entire island. The walk at a pleasant pace takes an hour and a half or two hours. Koh Kret is another world compared to Bangkok and much of it retains the air of a rustic village, with wooden shacks propped against palm trees and the occasional dilapidated temple slowly crumbling. Hence the main attraction is just walking around, browsing the merchandise in the many pottery shops.
  
  Wat Poramai Yikawat is the main temple on the island. There are several white marble pagodas carved in the Mon style and a small museum showcasing the temple's treasury. Ko Kret is renowned above all as a center for kwan arman style of Mon pottery, which is just baked unglazed red clay carved with intricate patterns. This is regarded as the most beautiful of all unglazed pottery available in Thailand.
  
  Prices for the simplest and smallest pots start from as low as 5 baht a piece, but can go up to hundreds or even thousands of baht for large ornate pieces. Particularly popular among visitors are candle and incense holders with ornate patterns of holes to let the smoke or light out, averaging around 200 baht.
  
  There are about twenty pottery workshops on the island and you will see many kilns as you walk around, where you can watch the potter at work, carving the intricate designs with remarkable speed and accuracy.
  
  Thai and Mon snacks and desserts are plentiful, making your stroll that much more enjoyable. Favourites include Khao Cher, Tod mun pla nor gala and Mon tempura.
  
  A number of stalls also serve chaa yen or iced tea and other drinks in red clay cups with carrying handles, which you can keep as a souvenir for a few baht extra.
  

We followed the direction as addressed in the website. We took the public bus (505) in front of World Central (in the direction to Pratunam). The bus fare is 19 THB to the province Parkkrab... the journey took about 1.5 hours (depending on the traffic condition)......it is like taking the MRT from Joo Koon to Pasir Ris........

Upon we arrived at the last bus stop, we searched for the jetty to Koh Kret....... Somehow, we found a jetty and took a long tail boat to Koh Kret and cost each of us 10THB...... (Later, we realised this is not the actual jetty to Koh Kret).......

The long tail boat ride just took us about 5 minutes to reach the island.... Boarded the island and started our 1 day tour in Koh Kret..........

We were got into the island at a "private" jetty place near to Wat Phai Lom.... Walked out from the small lane to the main "road". Souvenirs and foods stalls were found side of the road leading to Wat Phai Lom or the other side of the island......

We walked towards Wat Phai Lom to have a look at the place. After then, we decided to venture the island on foot starting from Wat Phai Lom toward to the other end of the island and end at Wat Paramiyikawat.....

The place is very Kampung.... mmmmm... like Pulau Ubin.......

Instead of walking, you can rent a bicycle to ride around the island.... if you too lazy to do so...... hire a motor taxi (as seen in one of the photos)........

Along the way, we came across lots of beautiful plants and flowers.....The most familiar flower is this...... it is commonly used as coloring in Nyonya kueh.....we saw a different spices... which is in light green......It took us along one and a half hour to walk round the island.... we walking trail ended at Wat Paramaiyikawat... which is the most crowded place.... where you can see lots of foods and souvenir stalls.... from here to Wat Phai Lom (where is our starting point) is very near.....

In a jetty nearby the Wat Paramaiyikawat, you can buy bread to feed the fishes in the river.... saw few children doing it and having fun out of it ........

Along the way, we come across this two stalls that sell very interesting items..... ti-kan and toys which made of metal sheet (the type that very popular during my childhood time).... If I'm a toy collector, I sure buy them.......

While we crossing a small bridge and head toward Wat Paramaitikawat, we saw this restaurant at the side of the small canal/river...... the customers can sit at the seats next the river and soak their leg in the river......

Pottery is one of the popular local products in Koh Kret.... can see pottery selling at several locations... you can even pop into someone home to see how they make the pottery....... U can buy a drink or ice-cream with a little price to bring back a pottery container.......

Of course, how could missed out the foods in the island.......

The island well known delicacy is ... Flower Tempura..... Fried Flower in batter......

Found one hawker selling home made coconut ice cream.... the ice cream was scooped into a container made of leave...... How environmental friendly....... with a few more THB.... you can get a pottery container......

My favourite Thai snack.......... Tod Mon Pla.... i.e. Thai Fried Cake...... yum yum...... also used leave to make as a container......
Finally, we located the "right" jetty to travel back to the other side of the water..... it just merely 2 THB per person. Walked a short distance to the main road to take public bus (505) back to Bangkok City.


In the evening, we went to our usual hawker stall near SalaDaeng BTS station to have seafood dinner.