Meows in Melaka: Part 1

 

Last Friday after a long day at work, I packed my bags and spent the night at Hannah's with Sophie. Because the next day would be our first out of state holiday together! Technically I have been out of state with Hannah before in Johor, but that was because she lived there. This would be our first adventure all five of us away from home, out of state. Quite surprising that this is the first time, considering we've been friends for more than a decade. 

Saturday morning dawned and we were up bright and early to head out. Forgot to grab a photo after Nad got into the car too. This was my very first time driving out of the Klang Valley, and I was keen to test my Kiwi green car on the highway. We stuffed five of us and five overnight bags in the trunk. I think if we stayed an extra night, we wouldn't have been able to fit everything. 

The drive took about two hours, with clear roads. We made only one stop on the way, and I felt some strange glee in making my very first road trip pit stop.

Our first stop was at Klebang Original Coconut Shake. I've heard a lot about this place, and it was definitely high on my must try list. Especially since Aidil's recommendation was so good (she has dreams about this place). We were the second group of people to arrive at 10.30am, to realise that the restaurant only opens at 11am. By the time they started selling, the place was really filling up. I bought myself a packet of mihun goreng with fried chicken, and some assorted kuih. But the highlight was definitely the coconut shake special. Every mouthful was filled with sweet, milky goodness and a generous helping of crunchy coconut flesh. So delicious, we decided there and then to visit again the next day.

After that tasty brunch, it was another twenty minute drive into Melaka town itself. The last time I had visited the town proper was when I was very young - Hanna was still a baby at the time and we had stayed in Equatorial. Atuk had taken me up St. Paul's Hill and we had looked at some museums in red buildings. This time around in the blistering heat, nobody was keen to make the trek up the hill. So we visited the Muzium Samudera instead. 

My memory of it is very different - mostly due to my smaller size back then. It was nice to revisit and look at the exhibits as an adult. 

We went to check in at the hotel after this, but at 1.50pm, we were too early for the 3pm check-in time. So we decided to look for lunch instead! Yet another popular food spot, Ee Ji Ban serves up the best halal chicken rice balls in town, so I've heard. The restaurant was very crowded, but we didn't wait very long. Our choice dishes for the day were half of a roasted chicken, 25 chicken rice balls and stir fried kailan. Everything was delicious! We scraped every plate clean. Just writing this now is making me hungry - the thought of those succulent chicken pieces and the juicy mouthfuls of rice. The kailan was also incredibly tasty. Would definitely love to come back here again.

After lunch, we found ourselves on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, just behind Jonker Walk. It was by chance that we stumbled across the Tham Siew Inn Artist Gallery. Tham Siew Inn is a KL-born watercolour artist, and here you will find his paintings and workshop. You can even purchase postcards, prints and originals by the artist too. Definitely worth a look in - I loved browsing through his collection. In the end, I couldn't resist purchasing some postcards, seen above.

We weren't quite done with Day One yet! Will post the next installment to our adventure soon. 

Selamat Hari Merdekayak

Earlier this year, I received a kayak for my (belated) birthday, from Papa. Definitely one of the best birthday presents I have ever gotten in my entire life! The model is an Eddyline Skylark, a beautiful single-seater in gorgeous red. Anybody who knows anything about me will know my affinity for the colour red. I've been taking Ruby (yes, very creative name) out for paddles around the lake nearby, and it's a very peaceful activity. I'm looking forward to taking her out to somewhere a bit more adventurous.

For a while now, I've been wanting to share this experience. So for this year's 58th Hari Kemerdekaan (now rebranded as Hari Kebangsaan), Nick, Sammie, Nigel and I decided to have what we titled Merdekayak!

The weather has been hazy and unpredictable the past week or so, and I was hoping very very hard that it would not rain nor be overly hazy. Amazingly, the weather was great for kayaking - not hot at all, no rain (though the sky seemed to threaten it) and a slight breeze.

Nigel's old friend Jordan was visiting from Aussie, so he helped out a lot, along with Hanna who came down from the house. We took four of the kayaks down - my Ruby, Mama's Skylark, Papa's Journey and the Point 65 Martini. As always, set up takes a lot of time. But it was great to finally push off from the ledge.

All in all, we had about an hour of kayaking, which was pretty good. We paddled around, Nick, Sammie and Nigel went into the storm drain, we had a race! Sammie won, in my lovely Ruby. I was in the Martini that day, and really should have attempted the storm drain too - it's smaller so that makes it easier to turn around in the cramped space. Maybe next time. Check out the video Nick put together below!

We ended the day with a barbeque dinner, with Nazim as chef. It was all very delicious! Mama made some potato gratin to go with the meats, and Sammie brought an apple crumble. Good company, good food and a good evening kayaking with awesome people.

Happy independence day my beloved Malaysia! Things are rough lately, and the people at the top are questionable to say the least, but you are home. Here is to brighter days in future.