Malacca (17-19 Dec 2011) - Day 1

Been wanting to go Malacca long time back. The mixture of heritage, shopping and food fascinated me to go there. So I was there over the weekend with my family, inclusive of my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a big group, a total of 12. Wasn't easy to organise and I truly understand how hard it was for my small aunt to organise for 30+ of our full strength family members to Desaru. That was like 14 years back and we, cousins were so young then!

Anyway, we engaged Five Stars Tours and took up a free and easy 3D2N package but with a two and a half hour heritage tour on Day 2.

4th aunt and uncle sitting comfy-ly, playing games on iPhone while waiting for coach to set off :)

Stopping point at Yong Peng which reminds me of  Michelle Chong in 'Already Famous', haha.. 

First time I saw purple color keropok. Keropok there is so good that mum bought more when we get to stop over there again before heading back to Singapore on our last day. 

Love Japanese wasabi? This is the best ever wasabi snack  k! YamaDa's wasabi peas! By the way, it should be spelled as 'da' not 'ta'. Trust me. Haha..The feel of the rush of 'smoke' coming out from your nostril is so dam shiok.  

Traffic light in Malacca.

Counting down by seconds, even for green light. Dam long... 

Had lunch at Wong Kok, Dataran Pahlawan Megamall which is opened by Guo Jinan. Lunch here was bad due to their service. Waited very long for their food while some has finished.

Kiwi drink. Just a tinge of sourness.

Dad's Wu Xiang Fried Rice.

Fried Seafood Pasta in tomato sauce. Simple yet savory. Fried pasta just taste better. Try frying macaroni too!

We checked in to Hotel Equatorial. Pleased that it looks very much like as what is shown on their website.

Left view from balcony.

Centre view

Right view

Pose pose with the view as background,

pose pose on bed...

and mirror reflection

The new hotel, Casa Del Rio. Check out the website! seems quite worthwhile to give it a try. If you don't mind the smell of the Melaka River. Lol.

Took the trishaw ride from Melaka River back to Hotel Equatorial for 20RM. My first time and I love it! We got to listen to 70s songs while riding. So funky. Haha..

Hello Aunt! :)

Our free set of Nyonya dinner at Seri Nyonya  Peranakan Restaurant , located in the hotel.

Black, white and red gua zi  served while waiting. Something  different...

Sop Itik Tim. Simply love Peranakan's kinda Itek Tim.  To some, it can be extremely salty that they just can't finish it.

Ikan Goreng Chilli Gram - Deep Fried Fillet Seabass with Spicy Chilli Paste. It's the chilli paste that is good and brings out the dish. Not very spicy and with a sweet taste.

Ayam Pongteh.  Like the paste of Ayam Buluak, its sweet bean paste  goes so well with rice which makes me wanna scoop more. The best paste from this dish I ever tasted so far!

Nyonya Chendol. Malacca's has its own taste! But I still prefer Singapore's, especially the one with durian paste! 

Mum, Dad, Gladys' dad and mum.

Jonathan's aunt, Charmaine, his mum and  him, himself.

Jerlynn and mum

Lastly, group photo!

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng

Address: Jalan Merdeka 75000 Bandar Hilir BD-081,082,087&088, Melaka, Malaysia 

Seri Nyonya Peranakan Restaurant

Address: Bandar Hilir, 75000 ( Located on Level 3), Melaka Malaysia 

Daily: Lunch 12.00 pm - 2.30 pm & Dinner 6.30 pm - 10.30 pm

Menu: http://www.equatorial.com/live/mel/pdf/2008_hem_seri_nyonya_menu.pdf

Balestier Bak Kut Teh at Ion Orchard

I agree I'm a Bak Kut Teh freak for a recent period of time. Oh..and not to forget, a Beer Market freak too almost everytime after having Bak Kut Teh, I would be trying out beers that I have yet tried. The number of check-ins on fb are the prove! I'm hooked on the Bak Kut Teh at Song Fa's and that's when I keep having it.

Finally I'm kinda sian with Song Fa and I tried out Balestier Bak Kut Teh at Ion Orchard with bf, Kevin.

The main. Unlike Song Fa's, it has a peppery soup base. Free flow of soup avaliable. Meat texture, not the toughest I have tasted so far.  Overall is just acceptable.

Salted vegetable. Neither too salty nor too bland. 

Braised peanuts. Always go well with teochew porridge, isn't it? Anyway, recently, I patronised a restaurant and they served this too but they don't call it peanuts.  Don't remember what is it called. I only remember mum and the Chinese International waiter were bickering about it. Haha..

Comes in a set with all of the above and a drink for $10++.

After patronising, till now, I still wonder if it is authentic i.e. Is it the same as the Bak Kut Teh at Balestier Road? So, anyone know?

Lastly, I vowed myself not to touch Bak Kut Teh for the time being!


Address: 
Basement Level 2 (located inside the Foodcourt)
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn Singapore 238801

Simply Peranakan at Esplanade

Peranakan cuisine is one of my top favorite cuisines. The detailed preparation, strong flavoring and more than just food - the culture, attract me. Anyway, Mum, Sis and me went to try Simply Peranakan for dinner last Saturday.

We ordered Twin Pax Set Meal though there are three of us. 二人世界 sounds pretty romantic eh! haha...

Achar - common food served in a Peranakan restaurant while waiting for order. The sweetest one I ever tasted so far.

Ayam Buah Keluak - combining chicken pieces with nuts from the Pangium edule or kepayang tree to produce a rich sauce. It's a distinctive and MUST try dish in Peranakan cuisine! As I know, the preparation process is very tedious. Nuts have to be soaked in water and boiled for several times in order to get rid of the poison in them. You can simply taste the goodness of the sauce by just eating it with a bowl of rice! 

Nyonya Chap Chye which consists of cabbage, black fungus, sliced button mushrooms etc.

The soup, Bakwang Kepiting Soup that we thought they would serve in a big bowl. 
As it's a set for two, we had two small bowl with one meatball in each. Quite surprised, haas.

Labelled as a must try in this restaurant, the otak-otak. Indeed it is. It has a firmer texture as compared to the otaks that we usually eat. Think of the texture of a fish cake without the q-ness.

Last but not least..Dessert of the day - Pulot Hitam, also known as Black Glutinous Rice. 

Alright! photos of mum, sis and me. Oh well, my sis looks different now. Haha...

The cosy and warm feel with the combination of heritage concept and festive decoration. Like!

Address:

Esplanade

8 Raffles Avenue 

#02-12 Esplanade Mall

Tel: 6333 9382

Daily: 11:30am - 10:00pm

Royal China at Raffles Hotel

Came to know about Royal China via a friend's facebook check-in and decided to try it out for lunch with ex-colleague, Yuki who is also my good buddy from my previous workplace.

It is a top international Chinese restaurant operator based in London, well known for its signature dishes such as lobster noodles, crispy duck in pancake, roast suckling pig and traditional dim sum items such as custard bun.

Our intention was to have dim sum but we were too lazy to think what to have so those signature dishes above were not ordered, haha! And we had the set menu ($28.80++ per person, min 2 pax) which includes the following, missing out the names...*Oops*

First to come, the soup. The thickness and taste were just so right.

Some dim sum items, har gau and popiah which were the chef's pick of the day.

Then, "xue yu". My favourite fish of all. Fresh.

Vegetable comes soon after.

Last dish before dessert - fried rice. A pretty damp one. One might not be used to eating this...

As usual, a little bit of camwhoring while waiting for our dessert, heez...

Here it comes! mango sago + pomelo. Waitresses were indirectly rushing us to finish up everything cuz the afternoon session ends at 3pm and they have to get ready for the evening session. Thus, didn't really get to taste this properly...

The unexpected interior color, tiffany blue, gives a soft feel of the ambience. Something different from other Chinese restaurants yea..

Big round tables for group of family or friends at both sides of the restaurant...

Centre row - 2-4 pax seatings...

Taken at the hallway while q-ing up to take photo with the signboard.

and ta-da..finally our turn! heng..I don't look pregnant in this full length photo and it's been quite sometime since I last *twist* taking photo, kinda awkward! lol..

Well, overall food was average good and can't really get to enjoy the food with the waitresses rushing us.I would suggest for those who have yet patronize to try their dim sum first especially the custard bun.

Address:
Raffles Hotel
1 Beach Road 
#03-09 
Tel: 6338 3363
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat, 12pm - 3pm & 6pm - 10:30pm
Sun & PH, 11am - 3pm

Attire to note...
Gentlemen are requested to be in business shirts or collared t-shirts, paired with appropriate long pants. Jackets are not necessary. Dresses, skirts or trousers are recommended for ladies.