The Malacca trip had been a last minute trip thus I did not do any research before heading to Malaysia... and everything I shot was impromptu. Hmm let's see what I have taken and researched upon…
Malacca or Melaka in Malay is dubbed The Historical State or Negeri Bersejarah amongst locals. It is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang.
In the 18th century, Malacca was a flourishing and expanding port. But between 1804 and 1805, its growing prosperity was seen as a threat to Penang by Lieutenant-Governor of the Prince of Wales Island (Penang), Robert Farquhar. Due to his advice, EIC ordered William Farquhar to destroy Malacca which Farquhar had to obey even after several arguments and memorandum. Luckily Sir Stamford Raffles was visiting Malacca then and happened to share the same sentiments as William Farquhar, penning another memorandum that managed to halt the demolition works. In addition, due to Farquhar’s slow and deliberate destruction of the fort, Christ Church, the Stadhuys (Town Hall) and other public buildings were saved.
Woke up early to catch the first train to Lavendar station to board the bus into Malaysia. It alighted at Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall where we split to have lunch. I ended up buying my souvenir and some tidbits right in the mall.
As we walked to our designated lunch area, we passed by the historic landmark of Dutch Square also called Red Square as this area is surrounded by all the red or more precisely light maroon painted buildings. It was formerly the center of Dutch administration. The buildings in Dutch Square were made of brick but during British administration, they were painted with salmon red to ease maintainability. The state government somehow has darken it a bit to be light maroon as what we see today.
Among these eye-catching buildings, Stadthuys is the largest building of them all. In old Dutch spelling, it is literally translated as 'town hall' and pronounced as 'stat-highs'. It was built between 1641 and 1660 as the residence for Dutch Governor and his deputy and thus the structure reflects Dutch architecture. Today it is the "Museum of History and Ethnography". The museum exhibits traditional wedding clothes and artifacts of Melaka, dating back to its days of glory.
Next to Stadthuys is Christ Church, built in 1753 by Dutch. It is the oldest protestant church in Malaysia. The building houses hand-crafted church benches, jointless ceiling skylights, a copper replica of the Bible, a headstone written in the Armenian language, and a replica of "The Last Supper". In fact once you enter, Last Supper painting made of glazed tiles is visibly over the altar. The ceiling in the church, which is the most notable feature, where the beams are over 15 m long each was made from a single tree.
Sandwiched between Christ Church and Laksamana Road is Malaysia Youth Museum and Art Gallery which was built in 1784 as Dutch Administrative Complex. In 1826, it was turned into a school (Malacca Free School). In 1920s, the building was renovated to be double-storey building and later used as a post office before converting into museum as what we see today.
If you are standing right at the entrance of Christ Church, there is an antique looking water fountain which is still functioning well. This is Queen Victoria's Fountain. It was completely built in 1901 by British to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee.
Another significant icon visible in Dutch Square is Red Clock Tower. It was erected in 1886 in honour of a generous Chinese tycoon named Tan Beng Swee. Some called it 'Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower'.
Crossing the road (which fyi is a very high adrelaine activity as traffic is constantly on the move and the only way to cross the road is by raising your hand and showing strong intent that you want to cross the road so that the drivers will slow down) leads one to Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat). This street is famous for its antique goods. It is also famous for its carnival-like atmosphere during weekend nights. Sadly I could not stay to watch it as I only had a few hours to tour Melaka and had to head to KL in the evening. But the afternoon walk was fun with a lot of interesting souvenirs.
Malacca is well-known for its food and desert e.g. satay celup and chendol.
It is also known for its Peranakan (Nyonya-Baba) cuisine which is a mixture of Chinese (mostly southern Hokkien or Fujian influence), Portuguese, Dutch, Indian, British and Malay cooking with most dishes being spicy in nature. Interesting dishes of the Peranakan include Itik Tim (a soup containing duck and salted vegetables), Ayam Pong Teh (chicken casserole with salted brown-bean sauce which is usually served with potatoes) as well as the famous Nyonya Laksa.
Taragon was where we had our sumptous nonya feast and I probably did try some but I forgot to take photos haha. The deco was exquisite with beautiful lighting and display set giving one a fuzzy warm feeling. However I did felt the owner wanted to cheat us when he offered a 'student price' western meal package as he complimented that we look like a students gathering.
Chicken Rice Ball is another dish popular with domestic Chinese tourists. I tried this in my next visit to Malacca and it was definitely YUMMY! Check it out here.
This Cheng Ho Cultural Museum (Muzium Budaya Cheng Ho) looks interesting hmm..
More sight-seeings...
Heavily decorated bicycle rickshaws are also commonly found in Malacca. Some even play blaring loud music. Kind of remind me of Thailand tuk tuks.
I like the butterfly lamp haha.. and the cute little souvenirs... and the ingenious bowl with chopsticks.. Totally awesome...
What I missed in Malacca:
* Fort A Famosa or "The Famous" in Portuguese: Constructed by the Portuguese in 1511, it suffered severe structural damage during the Dutch invasion. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only remaining part of the fortress still standing.
(It is sad to say that most sources credit Sir Stamford Raffles for the timely intervention but did not mention anything about Major General William Farquhar, probably because he did not manage to halt the destruction. Well even in those days, only success stories count.)
* Maritime Museum, replica of the Frol de la mar ship, Malacca
* St. John's Fort: Reconstructed by the Dutch in the third quarter of the 18th century, the cannons in this fort point inwards towards the mainland because at that time, the threat to Malacca was mainly from inland rather than the sea.
Eh not very keen to really go back just for it though.. Maybe the Fort A Famosa? Hmm shall see how, as even my second time down Malacca, I did not stay long at all and headed to the zoo after breakfast.
0 comments:
Post a Comment