Cathay Restaurant, 新国泰冷气酒家

Chicken Yam Ring

Cathay Restaurant in Johor Bahru was where we ended our 2 days trip; dinner has to be early as we were rushing to beat the Causeway jam to Singapore. We even joked that dinner would be only 30 mins!

With this mentality and early timing, our plates were barely cleared although food has been decent. The strong air-conditioning in the old restaurant also had most of us scuffing about... but i made sure i pecked extra portion of the delicious braised chicken, before scrambling back to the warm outside air. (Yes, we did beat the Causeway jam.)

Shark's fin Soup

Beancurd Fish Cake

Braised Herbal Chicken

Mayo Prawns

Nyonya Sayang Restoran - Homely & Unpretentious

Beneath the secluded doorway of Nyonya Sayang hides a bustling kitchen, all geared up for the lunch crowd that swarm in steadily. The restaurant looked a little too new for good food, but we settled in comfortably in their airy dining hall.

Singaporeans do love Nyonya food, for its many spices used. Fresh from our hotel buffet breakfast, just some 3hrs ago, the group is all ready to wallop up these plain looking dishes?

Sometimes, you really don't judge a book by its cover. Nyonya Sayang definitely isn't the best Nonya restaurant in Malacca; we had had better, but we appreciate home-styled cooking, especially after all that restaurants' feasting on this trip. We like the taste of food - genuinely fresh ingredients, apt seasoning and their obvious culinary efforts. The most popular dish being the braised Cabbage! And the Otah just reminded me how mum used to prepare it at home!

Just when we thought we had too much Chendol-ing? Sorry, we finished their bowl of watery and not-too-sweet Chendol! It seems to satisfy everybody's taste buds. We liked it! 

Ikan Goreng Cili (Deep fried fish with a sprinkling of deep fried fresh Chilies)

Homemade Otah and Udang Masak Lemak Nanas (Prawns with Pineapple in spicy Coconut milk gravy)

Nyonya Chap Choy (Signature Nyonya braised Cabbage)

Ayam Pong Teh (Chicken braised with preserved soya bean paste, Mushroom and Yam)

Sambal Petai with fried Ikan Bilis

Sambal Bendih (Ladies finger with Chilies, dried prawn and a squeeze of lime juice)

Gula Melaka Chendol

Chendol-ing in Malacca!

So which is the Durian Cendol? The plain white snowy looking one, behind.

Durian Cendol (RM$6.80), Gula Melaka Cendol (RM$5.80) at San Shu Gong, Jonker.

Why do we die-die have to eat Chendol in Malacca? Because the most essential ingredient in the dessert, the Gula-Melaka is found here. It is a type of dark brown coconut palm sugar which gives the recipe its deep rich flavor of sweetness. The alluring smoky aroma of the sugar is unique; guaranteed to binds you for life...

Although you are able to buy the Gula Melaka, quite easily in Asia; everyone simply acknowledge the supremacy of the palm sugar from Malacca alone. And yes, i was made to carry some 3kg of the sugar nuggets, back to Singapore. Mum loves cooking desserts with it.

Durian Cendol (RM$5.50), Gula Melaka Cendol (RM$4.50) at Tan Kim Hock Dessert House

Just when we were complaining of over cloying Cendol from San Shu Gong last night; the ones at Tan Kim Hock Product Centre proves to be even more so! But at TKH, at least you get these really large sized red beans and durian puree on top of the dessert; at SSG, they serve large sweeten attap seeds instead, accompanied with strong whiff of the durian essence.

At both places though, we had preferred their Gula Melaka Cendol to the Durian, which is less cloying. A pure enjoyment of their remarkable Gula-Melaka. TKH does serves up a mightier Cendol of the brown sugar.

Well, there's no fight between the 2 names actually. Father and son related - Dr Tan Kim Hock is the father of San Shu Gong's maker.

Biscuits, Pastries, Tau Sar Piah and Heong Peah!

Sales at Gu Pong Enterprise, in Jonker Walk

"Alright, Mummy. We are buying too much! How are we going to hand carry these across the custom office!? No hands!" I was complaining. But compared to our group, we were considered the modest lot. You know, some families snapped up 20 packs of Heong Peah in a shop!

But mum simply couldn't resist the palm-sized salted Tau Sar Piah (10 pcs for RM$10) at Gu Pong Enterprise when we were at Jonker Walk. We also bought their individually packed, charcoal-grilled Heong Peah (10pcs for RM$13.50) when a fellow traveler highly recommends it - Yes, it's those flaky biscuits with infill of sweet molten maltose!

京园, Jing Yuan Biscuit and Bakery

More at Jing Yuan Biscuit and Bakery where warm baking aroma of their Tau Sar Piah (Salted Beans Biscuits) entices us! It smells wonderful! And as packing size could be variant as per order, we were encouraged to make some small selections for neighbors at home.

Then it was at 新源珍 where our group snapped up their SGT Heong Peah (1 bag for RM$10.50, buying 10 bags get 1 free) in ten and twenty packets! We even have to wait for the new bake as our group has emptied their stocks! Back home, friends and colleagues love the freshness of the pastry, and we just managed to locate their nearest subsidiary, the 明安, Ming An Confectionery in Johor Bahru.

Bird's Eye View of Malacca Coastal Town

Dataran Pahlawan MegaMall

Day in, day out, Jalan Merdeka is a busy road.

At 10pm, the car parks begin clearing, packing the street once more as the shopping malls close their doors; and we had just returned from our Jonker Walking. Missed the shopping hour, yet we were too roused for sleep. Let's just lingered on for a while, to watch the lights... from the hotel floor.

Night

Morning

Evening

Packed Car Parking at dusk

Alto Sky Lounge - Hatten Hotel

Running of Jalan Syed Abdul Aziz; overlooking Pulau Melaka

Good morning at the hotel's 22th level - the Alto Sky Lounge where their executive breakfast was served. And we caught the view of Melaka’s coastal township from another angle.

After a robust weekend, the town was quiet, and seemed to have slipped into stillness on this weekday morning. We too were making our leave for Singapore, but not before a fattening breakfast.

Jonker Walk Night Market (雞場街文化坊)

Night activity was a leisure stroll along Jonker Walk flea market - a long stretch of narrow road with numerous small shopping lanes cutting across it. Visitors would choose to enter Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat) via its two ends - besides the Hard Rock Cafe, or in our case, from the Tamil Methodist Church.

Performance Stage in Jonker Street - lovely Hokkien Karaoke Singing!

Since introduction of the Jonker Walk night market in year 2000, the street was closed to vehicular traffic on every Fri, Sat and Sun night from 6pm till midnight. It is extremely crowed! And as much as we had wanted to remain casual about our visit, we were sweating and squeezing to move along with the crowd. 

Think of having your dinner here? We were just glad to have eaten before coming; unless you don't mind to eat-standing.

Still, i thought we enjoyed the nostalgic walk immensely. It reminds us of Singapore's very own Chinatown of the 1800s!

Just make sure you grab tightly to your belongings; beware of pick-pocketing, the tour guide warned. And take in the sights, smell and lights of the night! We sure did.

Fried Oyster Omelet, Satay, Fresh Fruits Ice-Blended, Hot-plate Seafood, Fresh Oysters or Grilled!

BBQ Seafood!

Brightly decorated Trishaw for hire. Anyone?

Hard Rock Cafe with the Malacca River Cruise

Restoran Pei Zing (Melaka), 北京楼

Dinner was at Pei Zing, another long-standing Chinese restaurant in Malacca. And despite of our early dinner, i was surprised that everyone seemed hungry; even the kids were asking for seconds! Alright, we really enjoyed this dinner more than our lunch at Restoran L.T.P.

On the overall, we were impressed with the spicy dishes of pork in satay sauce and sambal squids, while the children finished the plate of sweet sour pork - i had earnestly helped too. 

Shark's Fin Soup

Cantonese Steamed Tilapia

Cereal Butter Prawns

Sweet & Sour Pork

Pork in Satay Sauce

Sambal Sotong with Ladyfingers

Choy Sum Vegetable