Melacca : Tracing Back The History

Hello……. I just came from study trip. Tired…and tired……..

Andy -”the laughing Budha” and me at Jonker Street ( now Jalan Hang Jebat - Chinatown of Melacca )

We’re going to Malaysia yesterday. It’s really a nice trip. Especially Melacca. It ’s really amazing ….. a place with exotic historical sites and architectural heritage… For, me this town is a little bit like Jember in east Java, but for us this town seems very rich in order to trace back South East Asia History, especially history of its architecture.

Buah Melaka, where was the word Melacca came from.

At Melacca, we are visiting a lot of interesting places. the first night, we are going to Kampong Portugese, the place where the Portugeses stay at Melacca. As we know in history, European, including Portugese came to Melacca to seek for spices. Some of them stayed adn married to local people and make their own community here. Papa Joe, the owner of the Portugese restaurant ( the place of where we had dinner that night ) sang a song for us.

Andy, Me, and Papa Joe

And at the second day we were transfering to… Amsterdam! hehe, no, It’s still in Melacca. But without the sign of Melacca in this picture, you must be think that it was in Netherland. because it has the windmill, too!

** Click the pictures to enlarge.

At that night, “Mr. Neo” who is our “funky lecturer” introduce me to the local delight call lok - lok, which is the speciality of Melacca. It was satay celup. I told him that this satay celup in Indonesia would probably similar to our “batagor” which also have fish meat, beancurd, and eggs that being eaten with satay sauce.

Bahasa Indonesia ( sorry who don’t understand ): Ya ampun, …orang malaka jualan sate celup aja bisa buka restoran. Ngetop lagi. terus opor ayam sama pepes ikan dicari - cari orang Singapore. Gimana kalo pulang gue investasi bikin restoran “batagor’ aje ye.. atau buka restoran ” opor ayam” sama garang asem. Rasane podo ae bok ! Gitu ae dicari - cari orang Singapore.Terus takkasi nama restoran peranakan bibik christine atau bibik ratna …adoh jelek amat. Soale di sini menurut brosur ada resto bibik neo ngetop banget jualane: semur!

The old city of Melacca. We can feel and trace the history from the sense of this place. They try preserve the Portugese ship ( its a replica ) to remind people about the coming of western people to this region.

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple -Mixed style of Hokianese and Teochew Temple. The oldest temple in Malaysia. The signature of the arrival of Admiral Cheng Ho to this region.

  ** Click to enlarge

* under construction

~ oleh Christine Wonoseputro di/pada Nopember 13, 2006.