The very last night in Malacca

We decided to go shopping on our very last night in Malacca as Sya was hunting for some nice shoes! So, we took a cab and headed to Dataran Pahlawan again that night. It was a really different experience as we walked all the way from Dataran Pahlawan to the Jonkers Streets. The night view of Jonkers Streets were really awesome!

Vesak day is on Friday so there's some celebration for Vesak Day going on in the Jonkers Streets. It was really crowded that night and we could hardly cross the road. We could see alot of chinese gathering around to help out and celebrate this special occasion.Do you guys have any idea what is Vesak Day?  Vesak Day is also  known as Buddha Purnima is a holy day observed traditionally by Buddhists.Vesak is the thrice blessed day to commemorate the birth,enlightenment and the death of Buddha. Float parade is always held to celebrate Vesak Day for the Buddhists. There's a really grand possession of the Vesak Day Celebration held in Malacca Jonker Streets last year. Even though it wasn't a really grand one this year, I'm really glad that I get to witness this meaningful celebration for all Buddhists! Their decorations are really impressive and it was a really big crowd surrounding the Jonker streets that night.

Cars decorated with flowers and the Buddha statue.

Sorry for the bad quality as there's such  big crowd surrounding them and I can hardly take photos!

It was really crowded as everyone was gathering around and singing the buddhist songs.

The buddha statue.

It was really an opportunity to get to see this celebration and see different culture in Malacca. I am also a Buddhist but I've never been to any of this of celebration. So this is my very first time and it was indeed a precious experience!

After that, we headed to the Far East Cafe for our really late dinner.It is located in the same alley as the Geographer Cafe. Their Butter Chicken Chop is the best! Their sambal fried rice tastes quite good as well. The address for the Far East Cafe is 19 Jalan Hang Lekir, Melaka , Malaysia.

 Everyone was so hungry and tired that night and not to forget we still need to pack our luggage as we're leaving on Friday! Anyway, We get to see a really different view of the Christ church and the night view of Malacca. 

Laughters and love band singing could be heard from the HARD ROCK CAFE which is located just opposite the Stadhuys. We're sitting there waiting for Claudia to pick us up and head back to the hotel.When the clock strikes 12, DONG DONG DONG. We heard the BIG CLOCK ringing for 12 times. It feels like we're in some kind of fairy tales haha.

A gorgeous clock tower!

Look at our messy hotel room! hahaha

so, nadya+me= BIG MESS! 

SO that's it for my malacca trip! It was really memorable and I get to know more about my friends. Their do's and don'ts and their characteristics which I wouldn't get to know from normal classes. Besides that, I get to experience living in a different environment and culture for four days. Malacca is really a beautiful place and Its a MUST to visit Malacca! Malacca you rock! :D

DAY 4! :)

The very last day in Malacca- THURSDAY.
So on Thursday We do not have any activities as the Diploma and degree students have to do their presentation but we don't. Hence, today is our free day! Everyone was really tired so we actually woke up at 12pm! Hahaha. What's our plan today? To CLAUDIA"S HOUSE! Claudia is our Portuguese friend, a local citizen of Malacca. We were all craving for the yummy traditional Portuguese food- DEVILS CURRY.( CURRY DEBAL)

I'm really in love with this 'DEVILS CURRY'.It is actually  a blend of Portuguese, Indian, and Chinese influences, hits all the right notes: spicy, tangy-sour, with a little kick from mustard seeds. It's a curry that tastes neither quite Malay, nor quite Indian. It's the addition of vinegar that makes the difference.

Claudia's aunt cooked this for all of us! OMG The curry taste so good!

All the delicious dishes cooked by her aunt. We were so blessed!

To satisfy my curiousity for this dish, I've search for the recipe for the DEVILS CURRY!

Ingredients:

• 1 kg. (2 lb) chicken
• 1 tsp thick soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. vinegar
• 3 cloves of garlic (peeled)
• 3 stalks of lemon grass
• 1/4 tsp tumeric powder
• 20 dried chillies (presoaked in hot water) or 2 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 30 g young ginger julienned
• 2 large onions peeled & quartered
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 6 potatoes (peeled and quartered)
• 6 whole cabbage leaves
• 20 French beans
• salt & sugar to taste

Curry paste:

• 1 tsp. oil,
• mustard seeds;
• 300 g shallots;
• 30 g candlenuts, 
• peeled galangal

Method:

1. Cut chicken into large pieces and marinade with thick soy sauce, vinegar, and 2 tsp of curry paste for 20 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pot, fry strips of ginger until golden brown and remove, then add onions for 30 seconds and remove, then saute red chillies and remove.
3. Add mustard seeds into same pot, and cover until seeds stop popping.
4. Then add curry paste and fry until oil floats to the top.
5. Drain marinade from chicken into bowl and add marinade to pot gradually, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
6. Add the chicken pieces and potatoes and toss in pot until well coated with paste.
7. Add tamarind juice and water to cover.
8. Boil rapidly for 10 mins then lower heat.
9. At this point add vegetables. Simmer until vegetables are done & chicken is tender.
10. Add 2 tbsp. vinegar, sugar and salt to taste. Add more water to make gravy and simmer for 5 mins.

It is actually very complicating for me as I'm not really good in cooking but I'm showing this to you just in case you want to try cooking your own DEVILS CURRY. But trust me, You definitely have to go to MALACCA for the most original taste of this dish and it will definitely not fail your expectations!  Visit some of the local restaurants in the Portuguese Settlement to look for this dish such as Papa Joe's, 88 Restaurant .   The best thing would definitely be THE LOCAL PORTUGUESE FRIENDS COOKING IT FOR YOU! OM NOM NOM! 

Claudia's family member welcomed us with open arms. They are really nice people. Claudia's mum is a mix of Dutch and Portuguese. She invited us to come back to Malacca again for the fisherman festival. They also have the water festival which was happening in February. According to Claudia's mum, Visitors and foreign tourists come to Malacca to join-in the 3,000-odd residents in songs, dances, fun fairs, game stalls, the decorated boat festival and the solemn procession of the statue of St. Peter. The annual fiesta, from June 24 to 29, held since the settlement’s founding in the l930s, is the only carnival celebrated by the local Portuguese-Eurasian community. 

I'm kind of interested after knowing the happenings in Malacca and I decided to find out more about the festivals. Here's some information about this fiesta.

The fiesta observes the feast of St. Peter the patron saint of fishermen. Its special position in the community dates back to the days when fishing was the main livelihood of the settlement’s residents and those living at Praya Lane and Kampong Bandar Hilir.

Back in the l930s and l940s, practically three-quarter of the settlement’s adult population were involved in the fishing industry either directly or indirectly. With the catch becoming less plentiful, there are now only about l5 - 20 diehards who continue to fish. SO actually what is the highlight of this fiesta? 

The highlight of the fiesta is actually the religious facets!  Following the Eucharistic celebration on the actual feast day, the blessing of the decorated boats, where candles were lighted, is the main focus. For the fishermen, the lit candles signify the Light of Christ who guides them through the storms of life whether at sea or land in their journey home. This is really important for all the fishermen! FAMILY & HOME. 

The blessing of the boats and procession where the statue of St. Peter is carried around the settlement demonstrates the request for God’s grace for a bigger and better catch for fishermen who depend on the sea for their livelihood.

The Settlement itself is tightly knit and holding out against outside influences but retaining age-old traditions, rituals, customs, practices and lifestyle dating back some 500 years ago.Even until today it still remains the same!

Besides the fiesta, other celebrations kept alive include Intrudo (water festival), Holy Week traditions and Bong Natal (Christmas). 

What is the water festival?  
According to Mr Richard, it is a festival where people splash water at each other. The teenagers use water guns, water balloons and pails to splash water at each other. Why are they doing so? It is because they're trying to seek forgiveness from the people where they actually made them mad of but did not have the guts to say sorry. After splashing water they will have a drink and cheers with each other and forget all the unhappy things happened in the past. I would love to join them for the water festival one day! Hehe

*These are the information that I've found from the website and I find it pretty informative to know more about the festival! 

Not to forget to mention Claudia's cute little cousin, Issac! He is such an adorable kid! We had so much of fun playing with him! He has huge eyes and long eyelashes. Oh my god! I really hope that we would have a chance to visit Malacca again during Christmas to see their Christmas Lights.

YOLO!

After visiting the crocodile park, here we go to the Taman Mini Malaysia ! It is definitely worth visiting it as you will be able to learn about Malay traditional house in Malaysia, this is the place where you can view all 13 state house in one visit.

Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN Park

The Mini Malaysia and Mini ASEAN Cultural Village is separated into two different parks which are Taman Mini Malaysia and Taman Mini ASEAN. Mini Malaysia and Mini ASEAN Cultural Village is also equipped with several facilities and activities such as hotel,chalet, meeting and seminar packages, dormitory, swimming pool, basic dance workshop, team building activities, lake activities, traditional games, cultural dance, arts & crafts and horse riding. Sounds interesting isn't it? I thought there's only exhibition of houses in the park. I'm certain that I'm wrong now! 

Mini Malaysia Park (Taman Mini Malaysia) was officially opened to the public on 17 July 1986.What's the purpose of developing  this Mini Malaysia Mini Malaysia Park? It was developed to cultivate interest and knowledge among the visitors about the history, cultural heritage of each state and it’s traditional architectural characteristics. The houses were replicas built in accordance to the exact size and design to the original traditional houses. If you're a big fan or architectural designs? DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY! 

WE, LUCKY VISITORS,  also got the opportunity to watch the Cultural Performance by the Performers in Taman Mini Malysia. It was indeed an amazing performance!Cultural performances at Pentas Teja are available at the following time:

Monday – Thursday – 11.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m.
Friday – 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday, School Holidays and Public Holidays –  11.00 a.m., 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m.

The stage for the perfomance. (Pentas Teja)

Visit Malaysia! 

Grabbed a 100plus and drank it while watching the performance! Simply one of the best thing to do during the hot days.

Chinese Traditional dance! They're really talented dancers!

I really like Baju Kebaya. If I'm not mistaken, this is some sort of nyonya dance? I'm just in love with their costume!

The best part of visiting the Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN PARK is with a small amount of money,you get to see all 13 traditional houses in total, each representing a state in Malaysia. According to the person in charge,  Artisans from each state were hired to ensure complete authenticity of the craftsmanship. Within each house are mannequins dressed according to the traditional Malay attire of the state.  The housing style displayed here includes:

1. PERLIS Long Roofed House
2. Penang Long Roofed House
3. Perak Long Roofed House
4. Kedah Long Roofed House
5. Selangor Long Roofed House
6. Negeri Sembilan Long Roofed House
7. Melaka Long Roofed House
8. Johore Five Roofed House
9. Kelantan Long Roofed House
10. Terengganu Five Roofed House
11. Pahang Long Roofed House
12. Rumah Dusun Lutud (SABAH traditional house)
13. Rumah panjang SARAWAK (SARAWAK traditional house)

Interesting isn't it? I'm not done telling yet! Inside each house, you can find a range of genuine handicrafts originating from each state or county. The life-like figures 'inhabiting' each charming home on stilts are garbed in their respective traditional costumes. 

Sarawak Traditional  Long  house!

The interior look of the Sarawak Long House.

Camwhoring with Nadya in the Long house! Haha

Sabah traditional House!

(Rumah Dusun Lutud )

Snapshot with Lily !

The traditional clothes of different races in the houses.

I love the baju kebaya so much! 

Due to lacking of time, I only get to explore a few of the houses in the Taman Mini Malaysia.

I've found some photos from the Taman Mini Malaysia official page to show you how does it looks like. Credits to the Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN Park page.

Rumah Perlis. Guess what? This type of house slowly becoming extinct. The house dates back more than 70 years. The Perlis Long Roofed House is made from ‘Cengal’ and ‘Damar laut’ wood. Its walls are made from flattened bamboo strips interwoven in a pattern. Its roofing is made of sago or ‘Nipah’ palm and at times, Senggora tiles.

Rumah Pulau Pinang. According to their description,there are different types of traditional Malay house can be found in Penang such as the Long Roofed House, ‘Rumah Serambi’ and ‘Rumah Serambi Gajah Menyusu’. ‘Serambi means verandah and ‘Gajah Menyusu’ means an elephant suckling her young. I've gained so much of knowledge today! Hoho.

It will be a to be continued journey next time to visit the Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN Park! I will continue my adventure in exploring all the remaining houses which I didn't get to see this trip! 

They also provide family package. It is a really reasonable price for families to go on a one day trip exploring the Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN Park! 

Normal ticket prices are :

Adult  - RM12.00

Child – RM6.00
Student – RM10.00

Their operation hour is : open from 900AM to 600PM daily.

A small map for as your guide! 

Do not hesitate to contact them for further enquiries :

Taman Mini Malaysia / ASEAN,

Lebuh Ayer Keroh, 75450 Melaka.

Tel: 06 – 2321334

Fax: 06 – 2321335

As for the Mini Malaysia &Mini Asean Park, It is definitely an informative advertising for me.They are building a brand and company image by promoting the unique architecture designs for all traditional house from the 13states of Malaysia. The visitors get to know more about their hometown's traditional houses and traditional costumes after visiting the Park. Besides that, the foreign visitors will be exposed to something really unique as this is only can be found in Malaysia and this particular Park. By accessing to their official page http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/Master/Web-Page/Places/Cultural-Attractions/Taman-Mini-Malaysia--Mini-ASEAN-Melaka, they will get a lot of information. They cam know their available services support. Hence, with this informative advertising, the visitors will definitely pay a visit to this place! 

After visiting Taman Mini Malaysia, everyone was really exhausted. We headed back to the hotel right after this. We were planning to have seafood tonight! I'm craving for seafood for like so long!

The view from the hotel window. It is such a beautiful view out there! I just love staying by the seaside.

 DINNER TIME!!!!

COCONUT ISLAND- A place which is located just next to our hotel in the Portuguese settlement. Mmm Hmm. Yummy seafood here we go! We were supposed to go to Claudia's uncle's restaurant for our seafood feast but it is under renovation so we had our dinner here! As long as there's seafood will do to satisfy my craving! There's like stalls all in one rows to let you choose. And so we chose stall 2! 

Butter prawns, Fried squid and kangkung!

Portuguese baked sting ray! OH MY GOD THIS IS REALLY NICE! 

Black pepper crab. I'm a mad crab lover! Wheheeee. I'm Loving it! It tasted so good!

They're not just of great food quality (fresh & delicious), they're also of reasonable price. We ate for like a total of RM150.00 which costs only RM25.00 for each perosn!  It's a MUST TRY IN MALACCA! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! 

Summing up today- It was really tiring but I was really happy! 

DAY 3 IN MALACCA

After staying for 2 days in Malacca, honestly I do miss home. I'm not sure if its also that hot in KL or what but I couldn't stand the hot weather in Malacca! Though I'm having a great time in Malacca, I somehow miss my mum and home :(

Anyway, here we go on day 3! What's our next adventure? *drums rollingggggggggg! 

PRESENTING TO YOU : THE CROCODILE PARK & TAMAN MINI MALAYSIA!

This is some information that I've got from the information site in the crocodile park. Let me make a short introduction about the crocodile park in Malacca. Taman Buaya & Rekreasi Melaka Sdn Bhd (Malacca Crocodile Park), a sprawling 3.5 hectare park, housed on reserved forest land has been in operation since July 1987. Taman Buaya & Rekreasi Melaka Sdn Bhd (Melaka Crocodile Park) has about 100 species of crocodiles from around the world such as African Dwarf, Siamese, Indian Mugger, Hunchback and many more and they are kept in an atmosphere that is almost equal to their habitat.The Malacca Crocodile Park is located in Ayer Keroh of Melaka; about 20 minutes drive from the town of Malacca.

Here we are in the crocodile park! 

A crocodile statue in the entrance!

Other attractions of the Melaka Crocodile Park include horse rides, fairground rides and a ghost house.

 The china students went in but as a timid little girl I decided to not give it a try! haha. It was just about a 2-3 minutes adventure in the Haunted house. Though it was really short, I can hear people screaming and yelling in the haunted house. I bet it's really scary! 

The park created an ideal captive environment for the crocodiles and displayed to the public.They look so fake to me until they started to open their mouth and yawn! When we looked at their eyes, they were like staring at us fiercely as if they were ready to strike. 

FAT CROCODILES!

The keeper actually poked the crocodile with a stick! There are interesting activities provided for visitors such as photography session with the baby crocodile “Diana” which acted in the film “Anna & The King”.

One of my coursemate-Sya tried that but I did not haha.

In my opinion, crocodiles have creepy looking face.

The size of the water park is about 6000 sq. feet. The Malacca Crocodile Park is open daily from 9.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. If you wish to enter only the crocodile park, then the admission fee for adults is RM5 while children is RM3. But if you want to enter the water playground and visit the crocodile park at the same time, the admission fee will be RM10 for adults and RM6 for children. Some little information to help you out in your visit to Malacca - you can make a booking earlier at http://www.tamanbuayamelaka.com/booking.php 

How I wish I could actually jump into the water park as I couldn't bear the heat in Malacca! 

So you think that there's only crocodiles in the crocodile park? No YOU"RE WRONG!  Besides crocodiles, there are also three other houses which place other reptiles such as Long Neck Turtle, Alligator Fish, Chinese Water Dragon, King Cobra and Alligator Snapping Turtle. The second house is the house of mammals which consist of Raccoon, South American Coati and Brazilian Green Iguana. Last but not least, there is a walk through aviary which place many species of birds such as San Conure and Love Birds. There's also a few species of snakes in the reptile house. Look at this big fat snake!

Besides that, there's also a Malaysia Miniature. It is a place where 13 replica of historical monuments being place as a symbolic of 13 places of attractions in Malaysia. It is the same concept with Mini Malaysia to introduce our country to international visitors. Sorry for not snapping any photos at the Malaysia Miniature place! A reminder to all, Playing with the crocodiles is certainly not recommended for tourists, although they are able to touch or stroke some of the smaller ones under very close supervision. And don't worry if you're hungry after visiting the crocodile park as there's a Mcdonald's nearby the Crocodile park. There's also some small stalls set up outside of the crocodile park selling traditional snacks in Malacca and also some handcrafts as well! If you're interested in exploring more about animals, proceed to the Malacca Zoo opposite of the Crocodile Park! 

For more information about the visit to the Malacca Crocodile Park, kindly email to info@tamanbuayamelaka.com / tbrmelaka@gmail.com or you can just call at 06-2322349/06-2322350.

Taman Buaya Ayer Keroh‎
Lebuh Ayer Keroh
75450 Ayer Keroh
Website: http://www.tamanbuayamelaka.com

Hopefully that this small little tips help to guide you exploring Malacca! 

 As for the crocodile park, It would be informative advertising for me! Why do I think so? The crocodile park is actually building a brand and company image as tourists visit the crocodile park. They have highly-trained keepers helping out to let the public witness the displays of the crocodiles. They also corrected public's thought that there's only crocodiles in the crocodile park  but in fact there's water park, Malaysia miniature, reptiles house and mammals in the park. Their official website always keep the public up to date about the price change or any information about the events going on in the Crocodile Park. They describe the available services support such as the water park which allowed the kids and parents to have fun playing in the water after exploring the crocodile park.

FOLLOW ME TO THE NEXT DESTINATION- TAMAN MINI MALAYSIA! 

Dinner time!

So, in the same night. I headed back to Jonker Streets for dinner. The Jonker Streets is really beautiful at night. The view of the streets is really attractive. I can see tourists walking around the Christ Church, taking pictures with the building and the trishaws. It makes me feel like I'm a tourist in Malacca.

A MUST GO IN MALACCA-THE CALANTHE  ART CAFE

 

The outer view of the Cafe. Sorry for the bad quality!

The decorations in this cafe is so nice! Look at the plates and cups on the shelf!

I like that decoration on the wall! I can see a lot of foreign tourists in Malacca. They like to chill in the cafe in the Jonker Streets.

They even painted the Malaysia map on the wall! 

According to the tripadvisor.com, this cafe is ranked 4 over 198 restaurants! It's a must try in malacca. Featuring more than 13 different smooth coffee flavours and a menu that includes local favourites and Western snacks, this unique little cafe is located along Jalan Hang Kasturi. NOM NOM!! They also have delicious house specialty laksa.  I've tried the laksa and it tasted sooooooo good! ohmygod. Due to the fact that I'm starving at that moment, I didn't take any photos for my food and drinks :(

What do I like most about this cafe? It is small but cosy. They have really nice decorations and friendly waiters and waitress working there. They were so polite and welcome all the customers with a warm and big smile and their face. I bet this is why they could manage to attract so many customers to enjoy their meal in the cafe. CALANTHE ART CAFE in Jalan Hang Kasturi is a must go in the Jonker streets!

Address: 33 Lorong Hang Jebat (Jonker Street) 75200. 
Tel: (606) 286 8262 or (606) 282 8381 

DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THEM TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL  ART CAFE! 

As for applying my marketing knowledge in it, This calanthe art cafe is using the persuasive advertising.There's a waiter standing at the entrance of the cafe, showing the customers passing by their menu. They persuaded the customers to have a look at their choices of dishes and especially the part that they served coffee from 13 states of Malaysia in the cafe. They are trying to build a brand preference as they're better as they have wider choices of coffee compared to other cafes. They're also changing the customer perception of a product value where customers get to know each state in Malaysia actually has their own unique coffee with different taste. They persuade customers to enjoy their meal in the cafe and they convinced the customers to come back again or tell their friends about the cafe after feeling satisfied with their good services and good quality food!