A family outing in Melaka.

19.6.2009.

I was reluctant last Thursday to go to Melaka, but Dekna had been with Usop for 2 days and asked me to fetch her. So I gathered the wife and Bang Sudin & Klemot and drove down at about 12.45 p.m. 

We stopped for lunch at the Jejantas at Air Keroh and met up with Dekna & Usop at the Dataran Pahlawan at about 3. We hung around Awe's stall selling those semi-precious stones & crystal trinkets. Apparently he keeps some pretty expensive stones in his stock. When asked about safety he casually said the whole cubicle is padlocked at night.

Then Klemot asked to be taken to Jonker Street to look for some Nyonya braided footwear. Awe said we'd have to drive there, through the "kueh" side. I said "what side ?" When he explained I explained in turn that "quay" is pronounced "key". He didn't believe me at first and looked up his cell-phone dictionary before aquiesceing. Later I pointed out to Usop a shop with the name "Keyside Cafe". 

While Klemot deliberated before buying her 250-dollar clogs (confusing the salesgirls when she asked "mana geng dia ?" after trying out one of the clogs - Idah explained she's asking for the other one in the pair !) we went to the quaint restaurant around the corner for some otak-otak. 

In fact the whole neighbourhood of tiny & ancient streets have been turned into a tourist area of spas and restaurants and antique shops, cleverly retaining the old facades but outfitting the interior in the modern and air-conditioned style. These and the whole quayside where the old port godowns once stood have been quite cleverly remodelled to catch the tourists' eyes. Except for the tropical climate, it could stand up to some similiar settings in Spain or Portugal. Plus the Sungai Melaka boat ride that we took later, but again for the tropical climate would have been thoroughly enjoyable.

I can see where Negeri Sembilan is behind Melaka here. In fact I was told that the trishaw operators in a good holiday month can make RM 9,000 ! At 50 dollars a ride and maybe only 3 rides per day this figure is in fact not at all exaggerated.

We rounded up our day visit to Melaka with a Nyonya dinner in one of the new shophouses built on the reclaimed area in this Bandar Hilir grounds. Again the inside decor was tasteful, though the food not extraordinary. The extraordinary thing was Awe pretended not to see the bill when I asked for it, so I ended up footing it, because Bang Sudin paid for the afternoon boat ride. 

We reached Seremban at about 11 p.m. and I missed the whole Thursday night Yassin recitation etc. and through droopy eyelids painfully did my own solo evening prayers. 

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