Monday, November 14, 2005

Ode to Melaka

I'm sure many of you have known the story of how Parameswara founded Melaka. For those of you who don't know, the story goes that Parameswara a Sumatran prince came to a place by a river bank. As he was resting against a tree, he saw a mousedeer kicked his hunting dogs into the river. He was dumbfounded by the sight that he told his followers that it's a good omen. So he decided to name the place after the tree that he was resting on. So Melaka it is known! (Until today I don't even know what the f**k a Melaka tree is...any input from people who studies botany? or treelogy? Sorry for the pun).
However, if you make a search on Google, you will know that the word in Greek actually carries the meaning of...'Masturbation'. Now it makes you wonder what Mr. Paras was actually doing while resting against the tree. That's why history is so exciting. No one is around right now to give justification or validation on things like this. It's based on hear say. Just like Hang Tuah, right now historians are proving that he is not some kind of superb, kick-ass warrior. In fact he is a sychophant (in Hockkien, we call these people Por-lampa or Bodek in Bahasa Melayu) who stood up for a king who oppressed the weak. The true hero is in fact Hang Jebat. Now that is story for another day...
Anyway, I had my higher education in Melaka. Was there for the whole duration of my Bachelor's degree. I've not been back there since I graduated. (Close to 4 years). So the recent trip back was like a walk down memory lane.
Melaka has changed quite a bit in these past 4 years. The Air Keroh area is now filled with new buildings. Hotels and shoplots among them. The roads are nonetheless the same. I could still go around without much of a problem.
My first stop was of course the town. The place more commonly known has Stadhuys or the red house. Stadhuys is actually Dutch for 'State house'. Which was the administration center when the Dutch ruled Melaka. I went to the famous Chicken Ball Rice in that area. It's actually Chicken Rice but the uniqueness is that the rice are made into cute little balls. (Size of a golf ball). I should think 5 balls is equivalent to a usual plate of rice as this is the serving everyone gets. The 5 balls are accompanied with a plate of steamed chicken. Until today I do not know why people call it Chicken Ball Rice. To me, it's not the chicken that's made into a ball. It's the rice that is balled up. So it should be Chicken Rice Balls rather than Chicken Ball Rice!
After that it was a walk down Jonker Walk. Not much has changed. Except for the fact that I noticed there were more antique shops than I could remember. There was a shop that struck my fancy. It was called Puri Padi. The shop actually sell a lot of knick knacks (from retro clothes to antiques to decors). But the most eye catching part was the entrance of the place. It actually converts part of the house into a garden with a Balinese theme. I got to know that the owner of the shop actually an interior designer as well as a landscape architect. The shop is actually a show house for his works. Truly impressive.
A visit to Melaka is not complete without paying a visit to my alma mater, Multimedia University. A drive along Bukit Beruang brings back all the sweet and bitter memories. The time that I walked from my rented house to university, the numerous mango trees that provided myself and my uni-mates fruits for 3 years, the mamak where we use to hang out, the makan places...the memories came gushing back.
Melaka, thanks for everything. Thanks for being a place where I went as a stranger and left 3 years later with you being so close to my heart....

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

melaka sien man....

3:32 PM  
Blogger vin said...

No lar, melaka can be quite cool. Ring me up and I'll show you a good time...stealing fruits perhaps?

3:45 PM  
Blogger Shannon said...

go where and steal ?

i went there during raya. The things in the Puri Padi not bad la... Looks like imported from Thailand, Indon.... But looks classy for me....

11:49 AM  

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