quite accidentally

 (photo from pooja)

i happened to be a small part of history.

well, sort of.

had a hankering for crab bee hoon and met some like-minded friends for dinner at ghim moh block 10. it was a short trip down memory lane, having gone to a high school, that used shipping containers as classrooms, in the very same neighbourhood.

sometime between slurping the xo soup and chomping on har cheong gai i heard the horn of a train that had my hair standing on end. hadn't planned on being around to witness the last train out of tanjong pagar, but on my way to the red house bus stop i used to have to cross the train tracks and the old rusting trains were a big part of my going home routine.

the railway is also part of another important memory to me. the first holiday i ever went on with just friends i.e. no adults was to KL before starting university. being the backpackers on a budget, the eight of us took the overnight train there and i was almost refused entry into malaysia because in my excitement i went a little trigger happy at the customs checkpoint. oops. not one of my prouder moments but a milestone all the same. 

then i suddenly realised i'd friends on the last train and thought of them clinking flutes and sipping their champers. suddenly my xo fish soup didn't cut it anymore :(

the home stretch

laksa and fishball noodles for brunch

checked out jonker one last time and hoarded the freshest, flakiest tau sar piah piping hot from the oven.

and left for home fuelled by the freshest, smoothest ang ku kueh.

 

home safe and mad props to mitsu, the steady, stable steed for carrying the lot of us 600km in 36h. and of course, the responsible, fatigue-resistant steerer of said steed deserves a shout out for his effort, too.

saturday night in malacca

hungry for some culture, we began at the portugese settlement by the sea and found ourselves satiated instead by some of the freshest seafood malacca has to offer. on nabil's recommendation (thanks nabs!) we checked out the imaginatively named stall 1. the vote of confidence from nab's discerning palate aside, what stall 1 had going for it was that it was the only stall that didn't tout. the moment we paused and exhibited some semblance of indecision along the esplanade, a swarm of touts descended on our little group, badgering us to patronise their stalls instead. jawrn was almost swayed by the tout from stall 5 who might have taken the negotiation module at university because he knew to enlarge the pie and create options. 

"you go stall 1 okaaay but if no space and food too slow, you come to my stall, stall 5."  

and true to form, we waited what seemed like eternity both for our table, and for the food.

bursting at the seams and with the seafood swimming in our bellies, we made our way to where the action's at i.e. jonker street. made a pit stop at bibik's for chendol* but ended up staying for the ge tai performance. every once in awhile, it's therapeutic to slow down, take a step back and listen to golden oldies singing the golden oldies on the makeshift stage smack in the middle of the night market.

the enraptured audience

after we'd our fill of wong fei hong & co., we loitered outside ringo for some golden oldies of a different sort, chiming in during the chorus and feeling like we were right there on penny lane.

*jonker 88 was closed, and i personally prefer the shaved ice at bibik's because it's much finer

cannonball 101

these are my absolute favourite set of photos from the entire trip. feel like i should've saved it for right at the end but couldn't resist sharing them now ;)

isn't the hotel beautiful? i'm such a sucker for peranakan houses and old architecture. the pool too inviting on a hot, windless afternoon and the boys couldn't resist a quick dip. see how perfectly still the water is?

1. bottoms up

2. every journey starts with the first step

3. and they take the plunge! 

at this juncture, i need to point out that someone didn't get the memo to cannonball in. but i'm thrilled with the fortuitous timing and how the hipsta managed to catch them just split seconds before they hit the surface.

4. splish splash - byebye glassy reflective surface

/the end of the cannonball adventures

and i returned to my deckchair in the shade to write me postcards!

exploring the neighbourhood

rolled out of ta chi's and followed the river back.

passed a mama shoppe along the way...

quibbled over what the chinese calligraphy meant

and ended with a beauty and the beast moment in the hotel dining room

props to my willing models who let me paparazzi them every few metres or so! much obliged :)

ta chi's

teewteeewteeewW!

and the ramly burger materialises.

ordered enough for an army at ta chi's and washed it all down with a ramly burger from the pushcart across the street. i like how we brought our 'the best or nothing' approach with us up the causeway, ordering a ramly special with the works. figured whatever the RM1 extra was to cover would be worth it, even if it was protection money to keep the ramly man from spitting in our burgers. it boggles the mind how the ramly man transforms rock hard frozen solid patties that land on the griddle with an unceremonious THWACK into succulent juicy burgers in a matter of minutes. also appreciate his judicious use of spices, it was like watching performance art the way he seasoned the burger with just enough and not one shake more.

helloooo malacca

after missing our exit on the north-south highway, driving 30km beyond malacca and getting fantastically lost, we finally picked out way back by the scenic route. constant traffic light interruptions and general frustration aside, by the time we rolled into our hotel we could've eaten a horse.

stepping into the lobby was like traveling back in time and the industrial strength a/c was a welcomed respite from the oppressive heat that is our equatorial burden to bear. was immediately distracted by the old photographs, paintings and maps on display and soon forgot my annoyance at being directionally challenged. 

and then there was the prospect of a massive lunch within walking distance from the hotel! and the view of the river and low rise houses more than made up for my being mad at the world that our two hour journey took us four hours instead.

have some photos to share from my brief 36h in malacca, will be posting a few a day for the rest of the week!

p/s yay to the 100th post on m0remysterymeatballs! hurrah :D

malacca roadtrip

back from a whirlwind (hurhur) 36 hours in malacca. left bright and early saturday morning and was back in time for dinner with the folks on sunday evening. glad for spontaneous friends, who are game to venture up the peninsular at the drop off the hat. missed kenchy because he was the key player the last time we headed north (july 2009) and my goodness so much has changed since then amongst team string bean. 

it's awesome to have friends who've been there and who will be there. 

also, i'm thrilled to have finally met the latest addition who is smart, spunky, funny and a hottie to boot. lainking did good this time ;)

photos and posts to come!

yut kee kuala lumpur

(l-r top then bottom)

1. complimentary swiss roll (because it was the "shop anniversary")

2. soft boiled egg from happy hen

3. kopi

4. steamed bread with kaya

5. life-changing fried mee sua

6. hainanese pork chops

while i'm proudly peranakan, professing a closer affinity to malacca and penang than i do to KL, there's something to be said for yut kee in KL. as an aside, i've made it a point to get better acquainted with hainanese fare because they seem to have been the most blessed in the culinary department. colbar in singapore is a personal favourite and i was determined to sample hainanese fare in malaysia. a friend of a friend who knows his stuff, a mungen son of the soil as they call it, recommended yut kee. thankfully, it was a stone's throw from where i was staying.

rolled in around noon and my eyes were bigger than my tummy. picked from the menu scrawled on the walls and ended up struggling to finish a mountain of food. but everything was good and to make up for the morning's excess, i walked back to the hotel. found it pricey by malaysian standards (fried mee sua was RM6!) but well worth the splurge :)

and definitely worth a repeat visit.

ripped the details off time out's review.

Open time: 7.30am-4.45pm daily.

Address : 35 Jalan Dang Wangi, KL

Tel : 03 2698 8108

fried mee sua kuala lumpur

reason enough to make the hike.