Dear one,
I just got back from the shortest vacation trip that I've ever had - a short and sweet weekender in Malacca with Circe and Amor. This was our third group trip; anticlimactic in a way because we had already travelled across the globe together during our Europe trip last year. Nonetheless, in this trip, we had loads of fun and food. And I mean, LOADS OF FOOD. More on that later.
Heritage Site
I came to this trip with hardly any expectations except that I would just have a chance to get away from Singapore even for a brief time. I've been itching to go out of town for a while now. (Why, my last trip was almost three months ago already!) So I grabbed the opportunity when Circe and Amor extended the invitation to me. I was planning to go along with whatever they had in mind.
And so I didn't even read a thing about Malacca, let alone its history. I read a bit of its history only after the trip.
Malacca, otherwise known by its Malay name Melaka, was founded by the ex-pirate Prince Parameswara who according to legend built a house on a spot under the Indian gooseberry tree that was also known as a melaka. This town was highly influenced by a combination of cultures - first by the Chinese beneficial trade partnership and eventually, client kingdomship, and then by Middle East trading after it became a sultanate. Europeans soon came into the picture: the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and then the British. In World War II, the Japanese had a brief occupation of the town. Malaysia declared its independence in 1957 right there in Melaka. Finally, 2008 saw the declaration of Melaka as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
In many ways, Malacca's history is reminiscent of the Philippines' own history, a history that was also shaped by colonial invasion. Malacca's hodge podge culture is very similar to ours - our hodge podge, on the other hand, is influenced by Chinese traditions and Spanish and American cultures.
And that is barely scratching the surface of the colorful story that is Malacca.
Comparisons
The tourist center of Malacca is quite small. The places are within walking distance of each other. Or if one fancies a ride, you can hail one of these and go around town feeling like a Sagala of the Flores de Mayo festival in the Philippines. LOL.
Our walking tour of Malacca also reminded me of my walking tour of Macau. It should, because both places ring of Chinese and Portuguese influences.
Both even have a church/cathedral atop a hill named after Saint Paul. Both churches were managed by Jesuits.
These remains of a fortress (top picture) looks a lot like what I saw in Fort San Pedro of Cebu City (and what can be seen in another UNESCO World Heritage site, Intramuros).
It's always great to be visiting other places apart from the towns and cities in the Philippines because I get to see for myself just how closely related we all are. Somehow, we share bits and pieces of a common history with the rest of the world.
Food, food, FOOD
The best part of this trip? The food feast! We literally let our diets go unchecked for two straight days. Our first meal was lunch at A Famosa Chicken Rice Balls where we had their specialty of roasted chicken and rice balls and otah. It was my first time to eat otah; I think it tastes a lot like sardines but I'd prefer sardines over otah at any given day. Hehe.
Dinner was at Old Town Coffee Shop. Old Town Coffee Shops are relatively commonplace in Singapore; ironically, I've never eaten at one.
I had rendang chicken rice. I'm not much of an Indonesian cuisine fan so I only have a few favorites and I'll definitely add this to my list.
But the real value-for-money meals that we had were the breakfast buffet and the lunch buffet at the Holiday Inn where we had spent the night. For MYR 20, we were treated to an assortment of breakfasts - Malaysian, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, American, French, English and continental.
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| Prata craving - satisfied! |
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| Breads galore! |
Lunch, meanwhile, was a feast of grilled meats, pasta, salad, cheese, fruits and desserts; all these for less than SGD 15.
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| Salads |
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| Cheese and appetizers |
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| Fruits |
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| Desserts for the sweet tooth |
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| Satay |
Holiday Inn Melaka is the sixth hotel in the InterContinental Hotels Group that I have stayed in and to date, this is my favorite. It is located some distance away from the city center but that isn't much of a hassle because the hotel provides free shuttle service to the guests.
Oh, and have I mentioned? They give out mini cupcakes and green tea at the lobby.
I must say it's always a pleasant experience to stay at Holiday Inn. =)
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On another note, I have a new travel buddy, courtesy of Circe. Meet little Bellinda. If baby Pooh represents the adventurous, "anything goes" side of me, Bellinda is that other side of me who secretly thinks she's a beautiful princess with a romantic love story waiting to unfold.
So now we're a trio out to travel the world, one country at a time.
Up-next: Ilocandia!
