We have written about the famed Chung Wah Chicken Rice before, and recently we noticed a new place for Hainanese chicken rice balls, named Malacca Jonker Street Chicken Rice Ball, located just a stone-throw away from Chung Wah.

While most chicken rice shops in Melaka are only selling roasted and steamed chicken as well as chicken rice, the Malacca Jonker Street Chicken Rice Ball is also offering plenty of other signature dieshes to satisfy the makan kakis.

Chicken rice balls

Steamed chicken

Tauhu telur. This is quite special, I have not eaten something similar elsewhere. Basically, it’s a big piece of tofu wrapped by egg. As claimed by the shop owner, this dish is influenced by Indonesian cooking.

Fried roast pork

Thai style crispy toufu

Address: 17, Lorong Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka (visit the official website for location map)

Melaka and George Town are jointly inscribed as historic cities of the Straits of Malacca, enjoying the fame of being the first cultural World Heritage Site in Malaysia. Even though these 2 historic cities are about 500km apart by driving distance, but being the earliest most-developed trading ports during foreign colonization age, they jointly mark the most important historical timeline of Malaysia.

Out of the 10 selection criteria of World Heritage Site, Melaka and George Town meet the following:

• to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
• to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
• to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

Congratulation to all government and non-government organizations who have contributed to bring this wish into a reality. It has been a hard effort of 7 years, since 2001, before these sibling cities are successfully recognized by UNESCO for its heritage values.

In Melaka, the historical sites near the St Paul’s Hill, the 17th century Dutch Stadhuys buildings, Jonker Street with its Dutch-era buildings, Jalan Tukang Besi, Kampung Morten and Malacca River have been recognized as part of the world heritage sites.

I hope Melaka tourism promotion body will make full use of this recognition to uplift Melaka tourism sector to another glorious state, not by over commercializing the tourism opportunity, but further preserve and promote the heritage values of the Old Melaka. At the rate that the Old Melaka is converted into commercial outlets, I hope the unique building and architectural elements can be preserved. It’s quite sad to see the embossed words on building pillars, which was very common in olden days to serve as signage, being covered with modern signage boards as replacement.

Do you know that wall anchor is a unique feature which can only be found on old Dutch building?

Related External Links

• The Star: Joy as Malacca, George Town become cultural world heritage sites
• The Star: Unesco accepts George Town and Malacca as World Heritage Sites
• Melaka Chief Minister: UNESCO Iktiraf Melaka Bandaraya Warisan Dunia

Last weekend, I’ve done quick verbal check on taxi fares with some taxis at Melaka Mall and Melaka Sentral. With comparison to the fares that I’ve learned before fuel price hike, the finding shows that most of the taxis surveyed have already increased their so-called “standard fares”, by average of RM1 or RM2, for destinations within Melaka town.

My question is, are these taxis affected by the fuel price hike? Correct me if I’m wrong; from my knowledge, most if not all, of the taxis in Melaka Tengah are already fixed with NGV parts to run on natural gas for vehicle. And the fact is, price of NGV is NOT affected by the recent fuel price! It’s only RM0.635/litre.

On what basis are the taxi operators inflating their fares, when the operating cost remains the same?

Take for example, the taxi fare from Melaka Mall to Bukit Beruang, which is only a journey of about 2.6km, was charged at RM7 (again, according to the so-called “standard rate”). However, after the fuel price hike, the same journey will now cost RM8! This is a lot more expensive than the metered taxis in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. As comparison, for the same distance in KL and Klang Valley, we will only be charged about RM5 by metered taxi.

If the Melaka state government is serious about tourism sector (I’m sure they are), public transport regulation should never be over-looked. After all, to many tourists, public transport is still the main reliance during their stay in Melaka. Can’t the authority take any regulatory measure on this issue? Frankly speaking, personally I find taxi fares in Melaka to be very expensive, and it’s getting unreasonable now. There’s no guideline to follow, but only the so-called standard fares set among the taxi operators in Melaka. They form the “standards”.

To be fair, there are still some reasonable taxi drivers in Melaka. I’ve met some, and experienced some for myself. However, this group of taxi drivers charging reasonable fare, is too few of them. And in most instances, they are not welcomed by other taxi drivers, to offer service at popular places like Melaka Sentral.

Poor Intra-city Bus Routes

Among all the public transport infrastructures in Melaka, Melaka Sentral is the facility that I’m proud of, being a Malaccan. It’s a very comfortable bus terminal, and I would say one of the best in Malaysia.

On the opposite end, intra-city buses are still the poorest public transport infrastructure in Melaka. In order to maximize profit margin, most of the bus operators are planning for 1 route that covers about 20 stops, and end up taking about 30 minutes just to reach a destination.

Imagine this: you need to wait 20 minutes (don’t be surprised there are still many places that require you to wait for 30 minutes) for a bus, and it takes you another 20 minutes to reach a destination in Melaka town. Yet, the destination should only take 5 minutes if better route is available as alternative.

How big is Melaka town? Spending 40 minutes to an hour to reach a destination by public buses, is not really favorable.

Well, I don’t blame the bus operators. They are coming from the profit maximization point of view, which is a normal practice. But I’m sure the government can do something about it to improve public transport efficiency. Isn’t the saving gaining from petrol subsidy withdrawal meant to be invested into improving public transports in Malaysia?

There are many places in Melaka serving Nyonya laksa, but Donald & Lily’s is one of my favourite.

Donald & Lily’s Corner is located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Heeren Street), within walking distance from Jonker Street and the reddish Dutch Square. However, the location of Donald & Lily’s Corner is less noticeable. You must walk to the back of Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, or go to Kota Laksamana car park, and you can find Donald & Lily’s Corner as shown in the following picture.

The dining area is located at the upstair of an old house built before World War II.

Nyonya Laksa (RM 3.20) is undeniably the signature dish here. Tasteful and spice-rich gravy, complemented by juicy clams (si ham), is enough to make you drool when thinking about it.

As a dining place serving Baba Nyonya cuisines, of course laksa is not the only selection available. Tau Kua Rojak (RM 3.50) is another worth-mentioning dish. It’s a dish of bean curds (tau kua), cucumbers and pineapples topped with rojak sauce.

Donald & Lily’s Corner is also serving daily special, as follows:
Tuesday special - mee rebus
Friday special - nasi lemak served with rendang ayam
Saturday special - curry chicken rice and pongteh chicken rice
Sunday special - curry assam fish rice, pongteh chicken rice, pineapple lemak prawn rice

Just like any other Baba Nyonya restaurant in Melaka, cendol is also available at Donald & Lily’s Corner. However, to me, this is not the place for cendol though. Sorry but it doesn’t fulfill my requirement; a bit diluted, and the shaved ice is too rough.

The dining ambience at Donald & Lily’s Corner is quite unique, it features its own authentic homey character not easily found else where. However, during weekend lunch hours, please expect to wait for a long queue though hehe.

Donald & Lily’s Corner has been featured and reviewed by many medias, including 8TV Ho Chak programme. I’ve been eating Donald & Lily’s Nyonya Laksa for at least 5 years; but frankly speaking, the quality has slightly degraded recently - not as spice-rich as it was last time. I hope the management will take this issue seriously to upkeep their food quality, as not to disappoint the review coverage gained.

Operating hour: 9.30am - 4pm, close on every Monday

Though wholemeal bread is undoubtedly more enriched in terms of nutrition facts, but it can never replace the role of the traditional white bread for making steamed bread with butter and kaya spreads. Combination of butter and kaya spreads is known locally as kahwin.

Where in Melaka is your favourite kopitiam?

When I’m back to Melaka during weekend, I like to visit Siang Chiang for breakfast. Siang Chiang is one of the authentic (non Halal) kopitiams in Melaka town, which is still preserving the heritage feel.

Though the shop house is undeniably an old building, but the interior hygiene is very well kept. The while tiles on the wall appear clean, and most importantly, the kitchen where breads, eggs and drinks are made is also hygienic and neat.

Pricing wise, very reasonable. My gf and I ordered a se of roasted breads, a set of steamed breads, a cup of tea, and a cup of Milo; all made up to RM4.90. Comparing to the modernized franchised kopitiams, really a big difference.

At Siang Chiang, there are a few more stalls rented to other hawkers to serve other types of food. Among all the stalls, the most notable one that I would like to mention, is the one that sells mee hun kuey (pan mee) and mee sua. I like to eat the mee sua in dry broth, which comes with 5 fresh prawns at RM3.50.

Address: 59, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 75000 Melaka.

Siang Chiang is located on your right along the one-way Jalan Munshi Abdullah. It’s opposite Teck Trading Co. which sells electrical appliances. At the back of Siang Chiang is Melaka River, and Eye on Melaka is caught in sight at the opposite river side.

Menara Taming Sari is located at Bandar Hilir, beside Dataran Pahlawan Megamall. This 110m high revolving tower was built using Swiss technology at a total cost of RM23mil. It is the first of its kind in the country with a revolving observation cabin, which provides a breathtaking 360-degree view of the entire historical areas in Melaka city.

The air-conditioned revolving viewing cabin is equipped with 80 seats. It revolves as it rises from ground level to the top of the tower. Each viewing session would last 7 minutes. The tower is expected to serve 3 viewing sessions every hour.

In addition to the revolving tower for visitors to enjoy bird view of Melaka city, the ticketing building will also be fitted with 5 commercial outlets, which includes cafe, restaurant, and souvenir shops.

Today, 2 days before the scheduled public opening, engineers are working on some final engineering and mechanical touches on the revolving tower and conduct hourly testing, to ensure that it is completely safe for public visitors. During my visit, the cabin air-conditioning equipments were being tested.

Admission Fees for MyKad Holders

RM10 for adults, RM5 for children below 12 years old, and RM7 for senior citizens above 55 years old.

Admission Fees Visitors without MyKad

RM20 for adults, RM10 for children below 12 years old, and RM17 for senior citizens above 55 years old.

Operating hours: 10am to 10pm daily

A Little Bit of History

Menara Taming Sari was supposed to be built near The Stadthuys (Dutch Square). But, the plan was stopped and relocated, when an ancient Portuguese wall - Middleburg Bastion, was discovered on the site.

This also means that, Parkson will have 2 stores operating in Melaka. Another existing Parkson store is located in Mahkota Parade.

About 10 months earlier, the MBO Cineplex Melaka has started its business in Melaka Mall, marking the presence of second modernized cineplex in Melaka. Now that Parkson is also opening in Melaka Mall, it makes Melaka Mall more strategically positioned to attract tenants. At present, quite a number of outlets in Melaka Mall are under renovation; I’m sure most of them will be opening very soon, hoping to share the potential flow of shoppers that will be brought by Parkson.

• Venue: Dataran Bandaraya Melaka
• Date: 14th Apr 2008, Monday
• Time: 8pm

On this auspicious event, one of the most awaited agenda is the fireworks display at Dataran Bandaraya Melaka. Residents at the neighboring areas, such as Bukit Beruang, Ayer Keroh and Taman Merbok (behind Melaka Mall), will be able to enjoy the picturesque sky from the comfort of their home, especially those staying in higher buildings, such as Ixora Apartment. In my opinion, the roof-top car park at Jusco is one of the most strategic locations as well.

Workers setting up stage and facilities at Dataran Bandaraya Melaka

By the way, as reported by The Star, hopes are high for Malacca and Penang to be listed as Unesco World Heritage Sites in July.

“Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the state had fulfilled the required criteria for Unesco’s consideration and was confident of a favourable outcome from the World Heritage Site Committee meeting later this year.”

Cooked dishes aside, Nyonya kuih is another well sort-after Nyonya food in Melaka. Many people, both visitors and Malaccans, just couldn’t stop loving the savory Nyonya kuih.

Though there are plenty of places selling Nyonya kuih in Melaka, but there are very few decent-scale producers. If you’re planning to indulge yourself with Melaka Nyonya kuih during your next visit, you may try visiting a Nyonya kuih production house located at Tengkera (a suburb in between of Old Melaka section and Klebang), during day time.

Address:
72, Lorong Pantai Tengkera 2C, Tengkera, Melaka.

GPS Coordinate: N2.20325 E102.23149

Click here for location map (popup) of this Tengkera Nyonya kuih.

As shown in the location map, you may get to Tengkera from Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Heeren Street). If you’re coming from Old Melaka town, it will only take you about 5 to 10 minutes.

Coming from Old Melaka, the first notable landmark that you will notice at Tengkera, is the Balai Polis Tengkera (police station; GPS: N2.20040 E102.23980) on your left. Then, keep going straight for about 1km, and you will come to Masjid Tengkera (mosque; GPS: N2.20405 E102.23201) on your right. Once you’ve spotted this mosque, you need to decelerate.

Just about 45m from Masjid Tengkera, you will come to a small lane on your left, called Lorong Pantai Tengkera 2C. Turn left into this small lane, and go towards the end to find the last house on your left. This is the place houses freshly cooked Nyonya kuih, at non-marked-up prices.

Please be reminded, that Loring Pantai Tengkera 2C is a narrow lane. If you’re driving 4-wheel or SUV, it would be a bit hard to make turning in the lane for your way out.

The owners of this Nyonya kuih business are not just simply surviving with their house as the main premise. They are mobilizing at some pasar malam (night markets) in Melaka at dusk selling their signature Nyonya kuih. If you’re a frequent visitor of Bukit Beruang pasar malam (Monday and Wednesday), you will most probably know who’s the Nyonya kuih uncle aunty I’m writing here

Just taking my workplace into consideration, about 20% of my colleagues own a GPS device. I’ve also recently joined the troop, by getting the QStarz BT-Q818 GPS receiver to pair with my Sony Ericsson P1i.

I’ve already revised most (not all yet) of the previous posts with relevant GPS coordinate at the last sentence of each post. If you have a GPS device as well, hopefully the GPS coordinate given could ease your routing on the road. However, to those who don’t possess this gadget, I’ll still carry on providing a conventional map.

I’ve been convoying with my colleagues for a few road trips, which were heavily dependent on GPS for our direction. The most challenging one was done in Krabi, a place of total geographic unfamiliarity to us, with a total of 4 cars driving out of the city. Though common sense and some good guesses are needed at times, especially at places with under-developed map features, but still, GPS works great and help a lot in our leisure.