The Peranakans in Phuket Town

The Marriott Beach Scene

Kitchenette and dining area

My friend invited me to join her for a stay in Marriott's Phuket Beach Club, where she is a member.

We had a lovely 2-bedroom apartment, complete with a little kitchenette, dining and living area.  It was a cosy little place, and as there were only the two of us, we had our own rooms and our privacy.

The resort has a private beach, but as it is jellyfish season, no swimming was allowed.  In any case, the waves looked pretty rough to me.  But it was very pleasant to walk down the beach, looking at the horizon where the sea meets the sky. And to sit by the private pool, with the pool boys bringing around water and the occasional snack (like watermelon).

The resort runs shuttles to Phuket Town and Patong, so we visited both places.  Phuket Town is the civic centre in Phuket, where the government buildings are and where the early Chinese migrants settled. I have been to Phuket before, but never to Phuket Town and so this was the first time I actually learnt that Phuket was a major settlement for Chinese migrants to South East Asia.  According to this site, they were drawn by the burgeoning tin industry.  The Peranakan community prospered and apparently about 70% of Phuket's residents have Peranakan roots!   Hence, here in southern Thailand, we saw Peranakan architecture, clothing and food similar to that of Singapore, Malacca and most of all Penang.

Night Market, Phuket Town

But before exploring Phuket Town, we had to have a massage.  We went to Kim's, which has a number of establishments in Phuket Town and I have to admit it was excellent.  And much, much cheaper than the resort spa (of course).  The ambience is not so serene and restful, but the massage itself really released all the tension in my muscles and back.

We then proceeded to the little "Chinatown".  We had come deliberately on Saturday evening so as to be able to go for the Sunday Night Market in Phuket Town.  I could just imagine myself in Malacca - the Peranakan shophouses either side, the food and souvenir stalls and crowds bustling around.  Buskers sang and their music filled the air.  We walked around, taking in the atmosphere and feeling the buzz.

China Inn, Phuket Town

Later on, we had dinner at China Inn - a restaurant in another old shophouse.  The walls were decorated with old photos - I assume of the family who owned the restaurant - with the ladies all dressed in their Baju Panjang and the men in their western suits.

The food was not so much Nonya as Thai though - we had fish cakes, stuffed chicken wings (yummy), fried brinjal and green curry.  We also had a coconut each - the flesh was young and tender, easy to remove, and the coconut water was so refreshing.  We ended up having coconuts at practically every meal thereafter!

The next day we went off to Patong, famous for its beach and its sex show strip.  We spent enough time on the beach to take a few photos and walked straight through the sex show strip.  We were here for other reasons - like shopping and food!  I bought quite a few packets of Thai sauces (there's a wide range) and my friend introduced me to crispy pork skins (truly addictive). 

Fresh fish at 99 Seafood

But the main reason for our visit was to patronise my friend's favourite Thai seafood restaurant (99 Seafood)!  We ordered so much food I'm amazed that we managed to finish as much as we did - tom yum soup, squid, prawns, a veg dish and this wonderful steamed fish which was then gently poached in a lime/lemongrass flavoured stock.  All the food was very fresh and well cooked - I can see why she comes back here every year.

All too soon, it was time to go home.  I'll always look back fondly on this short, leisurely visit filled with days snoozing by the pool, walking on the beach and eating yummy Thai food.  And of course, discovering yet another little outpost of the Peranakans.

Little Nonya Mural, Phuket Town

More photos here!

Party Time on Armenian Street

The Peranakan Museum, subject of numerous posts on this blog (check them out here), has closed for a revamp eleven years after it opened in April 2008.

But before it closed, it threw a party!  The Armenian Street party, held 15-16 March 2019, was an opportunity for all to visit the museum (for free) before it closed its doors for renovation on 1 Apr 2019.

The event was held on Armenian Street itself, just outside the museum.  The street itself has been recently pedestrianised and so was the perfect venue for a little night market, selling food (like laksa), snacks and knick-knacks, so there was a really nice buzz in the air.

The Groom's beautifully embroidered jacket

I have to say that it was a busy day and so I turned up a little late for the party.   I didn't know (or didn't read) that it would start off with a wedding procession!!! The Peranakan wedding procession is just one part of the very elaborate rituals that make up the traditional Peranakan wedding.  Of course, the wedding is a perfect opportunity to showcase the wealth of the two families which are being joined together.  So it is a lot of pagentry and bling-bling, great fun for all concerned!

Whilst I was a little late for the start of the event, I was certainly rather well positioned at the end of it to take photos of the wedding procession as they made their way back to the museum from the outdoor stage located just outside the museum.  Of course, this was definitely the photo opp moment for the event - as can be seen by the numerous photographers in action.

I was on the groom's side - would have preferred to get a close-up of the bride's outfit but at least it was an opportunity to admire the beautifully decorated jacket the groom was wearing, with the phoenix spread across the front, with flowers all around.  A much more inclusive photograph can be seen in this ST article and you can see the gorgeously dressed bride, with all her necklaces, kro-sang and elaborate headgear.  I am fortunately not to be seen in this photo.

Baba and Nonya Fashion Parade!

The procession was followed by a fashion show.  Not models, but Babas and Nonyas themselves wearing their traditional outfits.

My friends and I too had decided to dress up - at least, to wear our kebaya tops even if these were worn over pants instead of the sarong.  Sadly, we were in the minority.

We left soon after the fashion parade ended after doing a spot of shopping at the little night market.

Looking forward to the reopening of the Museum!  In the meantime, my older photos of the museum are here.

The Peranakan Museum in Party Mode

Remembering

My Grandparents' Home

It is hard to say goodbye to a beloved family home, and yet this is something I did twice this year.

The first goodbye was to my mother's parents' family home.  My grandfather built this house, for his wife and family of five children.  A simple single-storey bungalow, with a garage at the back, it was surrounded by an extensive garden. Here, his family grew up, and their pets ran in and out of the house as he nurtured his precious orchids in the garden. 

My grandmother kept house.  She pampered her grandchildren when they came to stay, cooked for her family and her clever fingers made the paper flowers which filled vase after vase in the house. 

Here lie our little pets

But now both have passed away.  The house, which has not been substantively changed in the last 60+ years since it was built, was showing its age.  It was time to say goodbye. 

And so my mum and her siblings proceeded to put the house on the market, and cleared the house of its contents. 

But some things could not be cleared.  The garden itself, full of fruit trees, the graves of pets who had passed away.  Our memories, of lazy weekend afternoons, having tea at my grandmother's large dining table.  Of playing hide-and-seek around the house and garden.  Of Christmases and New Years and Birthdays celebrated with the family.   And more recently, of visiting my grandmother in her final illness.

It's not likely that any developer will keep this old house.  So very soon, the house will only live on in our memories and photos.  And, of course, this post.

Inside the house, looking out at the garden

Sugee cake variations

I know, I know - my blog last year was more like a Malaysian holiday blog than a Katong blog!  It just so happened I visited Malaysia more than normal last year.  But let me try and make amends this year with this post on my variations on sugee cake.

Almond-topped sugee

Now I have been making sugee cake for quite a few years now and it has been getting a wee bit tedious.  So I have been trying to tweak the recipe here and there to make it more interesting and also to see how I can enhance the original recipe.  One easy tweak was to top it with almond flakes because my family find the marzipan and icing way too sweet, and to add almond flavouring so that we don't lose the almond flavour the marzipan brings.  Now however, I'm starting to used coarsely crushed unpeeled almonds instead - gives a toasted almond flavour and the crunch of the nuts adds texture.  I'm thinking of crushing them a tad  more finely and using this to partially replace the ground almonds in the cake, for a more rustic sugee.

I have also tried making it with browned butter - an interesting idea, but whilst doing so certainly enhances the buttery flavour of the cake, the nutty-ness of the browned butter doesn't really come through.  In any case, butter should not overpower the almond flavour.

This year, I decided to try it with lemon.  I mentioned it to my mother who reacted with shock and horror.  Heresy!  Lemon in sugee cake! But there are lots of "lemon almond" or "lemon semolina" or even "lemon almond semolina" cake recipes around, for those who want to avoid eating gluten.  So why not?

In deference to my mother's feelings, however, I decided not to drop the traditional sugee entirely. 

Lemon sugee cakes (made in muffin cases)

Instead, I set aside a little batter for two lemon semolina mini-cakes.  I didn't add any almond or vanilla essence in this batch, but added maybe two tablespoons of lemon juice and a little zest.  It was hard to calibrate the amount required for the small amount of batter, so whilst I could taste the lemony flavour, it could have been a lot stronger.  But the bonus was that the cake really had a nice rise, so it is  lighter than the traditional sugee.  I suppose this was the citric acid reacting with the baking powder.

How was it received? My mother basically said that if I wanted lemon cake, to stick to Nigella's lemon drizzle cake recipe which doesn't require me to soak semolina in butter overnight.  Likely she's right but I'm nonetheless glad to have tried this little experiment.

Penang Peranakan food

I was chatting to my colleague just before our holiday to Penang and she kindly shared with me a few restaurants which she had been patronising on her own frequent visits to Penang.

Prawn Noodles at Malay Street

As a result, we ended up going to quite a few restaurants this visit to Penang!  Of course there is that seafood one which I wrote about in my last post.  But because of this, we ended up going to fewer hawker stalls (except for the Malay Street coffee shop which we went to THREE times to eat the famous Tiger Char Kway Teow and our favourite lor bak and prawn noodles, washed down with "ampala" juice - also known as "umbra" or "kedongdong").  I have to admit I have also stopped writing up on my Penang hawker experiences - it was getting a little repetitive but maybe next trip we will have to make an effort to revisit all the old favourites.

Food - from left to right: jiu hu char, inche kabin chicken,
assam fish head, rendang, hee peow soup, acar/otak/hae bee

Anyway, we are trying to work our way through the nonya restaurants in Penang and our first visit this trip was to Ivy’s Kitchen on Jalan Chow Thye.  This is a small family restaurant - Ivy’s the cook and her husband runs the front of house.  The restaurant is not that big so it might be good to make a reservation.

The food was excellent - we had the assam fish head, the jiu hu char (bangkwang or jicama fried with cuttlefish, and wrapped up in a lettuce leaf before eating); a beautiful creamy otak-otak, fried inche kabin chicken, achar, rendang (nice and tender) and hee peow (fish maw) soup. 

My favourites were definitely the otak - this was incredibly creamy and delicate, and the assam fish head - the gravy was so tasty and the dish was sprinkled liberally with bunga kantan (torch ginger). But everything was really very tasty and the portions were  generous (sized for our group of eight).  In summary, this is was authentic and yummy nonya food at reasonable prices.  We're coming back here.

Food (clockwise, from top right): Laksa,
Too-thor thng, assam fish, jiu hu char,
babi pongteh, fried mixed veg.

The next restaurant we went to was quite different - Richard Rivalee's, in M Mall.  Richard Rivalee is a well-known fashion designer in Penang but he learnt how to cook his grandmother's nonya recipes.  He started off with a small cafe beside his boutique but has now expanded to a larger restaurant in M Mall.  I didn't have time to visit the mall but from what I understand it is targeted at tourists and as such the shops mainly sell branded goods so I don't think I missed much! The restaurant itself is really very charmingly decorated, with lots of little Peranakan touches about the place such as the tiles on the walls, the kebaya clad mannequins and the Chinese couplets on either side of the doors. 

Food-wise, I have to say that the rempah/ gravy for all the dishes were really tasty and authentic.  But I was not too happy that a number of dishes were not available, for example the otak-otak, and the ikan purut (fish stomach), which I had been looking forward to!  Also, when I ordered the fish dishes, they were the same selar fish whether it was achar fish or assam fish (what I ended up ordering after finding out that the otak and ikan purut were both not available). 

Besides the two fish dishes, we had jiu hu char (again), babi pongteh (rather nice), and too-thor thng (peppery pig stomach soup).  We also had a rather interesting mixed vegetable dish - with four angle beans, petai beans, fried together with onions, sambal and prawns.

But what I really enjoyed was the assam laksa!  The gravy was rich yet piquant, and the helping was pretty generous too.  It's not quite a "pure" assam laksa as I think they added coconut milk, which would make this "laksa cham" or a cross between assam and lemak laksa.  Mmmm.... I could come back for this next year, too. 

Can't wait!

If you want to look at all my Penang food reviews, they are here.

Fresh Seafood in Tambun, Seberang Perai

Prawn Village, Tambun

My family has started making little trips to the Penang mainland on our annual trips and this year we decided to go to a seafood restaurant in Tambun.  Tambun is a little fishing village with just one major road running through it, and not much more.  But because it is on the river (Sungei Jawi), it gets a lot of seafood and therefore, seafood restaurants.

My Penang Uncle recommended Prawn Village, Tambun, and since he is the local we followed his advice.

The restaurant is not much to see from the roadside (see photo on the right).  But upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a wide expanse of water - the river runs just behind.  We were happy to have a table just by the river.

The river behind

Mantis prawns

True to its reputation, the restaurant wall is lined with tanks of water on the way in, each with its own inhabitants.  I didn’t go and examine them closely (I don’t want to know my dinner that well) but if you want to see some photos of the live seafood you can check them out here.

We ordered a range of dishes - prawns, fish (cooked steamboat style in a hot pot), mantis  prawns, clams, crab and the like.

I rather like the mantis prawns, which I have never noticed on menus in Singapore.  It’s not really a prawn per se, being more like a mini lobster/shellfish.  It gets its name from its larger pincers which apparently resemble those of the praying mantis insect.  As they are fast, and the pincers are sharp, these little shrimp are considered lethal predators, spearing or smashing their pray with the pincers before gobbling them up.

I had eaten it before on our previous trip to Nibong Tebal, cooked in sambal.  This time round, they were lightly battered and fried.  I would liken the texture of the meat to being a little more like crayfish than prawn, tender and delicate, quite contrary to its "lethal predator" image.   Just glad I didn’t have to deal with the big pincers!

Of course I also had masses of their delectable crab cooked with sambal chili but not smothered in sauce (which is Singapore style).  They gave us huge wooden mallets to crack open the shell.  Photos of the crab, and of some of the other dishes are below:

Chili crab

Clams in Chili and garlic

Lovely fresh fish, steamed Teochew style

Prawns with garlic

Stuffed Yu Tiao and Tau Hu

And the price?  I can tell you, that for a group as big as ours, the price can only be considered extremely reasonable, especially by Singapore standards.  Not gourmet cooking but well-cooked, tasty, super-fresh seafood dinner.

We went back to our hotel, full and happy 

Durian Daze in Penang

King of Kings

Another year, another durian holiday in Penang!

As is our family tradition, my extended family whipped out our schedules (on our respective phones), whilst eating our Chinese New Year lunch, to figure out when we could make our way to the Pearl of the Orient to feast on the fabled fruit (and other goodies) for four days, three nights.

By now, we have our routines down pat: the setting up of a common $ pot, the hiring of a van and driver to take us all around, the identification of a few nice peranakan restaurants for dinner, and of course our durian routines, which I summarise here in a few simple rules:

1.  Go in the morning.  Mornings are critical because these are when the durians which fall in the night are harvested and brought to the collection centres.  Later in the day, the durians would be less fresh and more importantly, the good ones would have been eaten by the tourists who got there in the morning.

At the durian collection centre 

2. Go to the farms and collection centres.  Avoid the city centre.   That’s where durian prices are jacked up in order to fleece all the tourists.  No self-respecting local goes there.

3.Go with a knowledgeable local.  Which could be a friend, family member or your driver.

Having said all that, be flexible should things go wrong or the durians run out.  Our group was turning up in two batches - the main group on Thurs morning, then another two the next morning.  As such, we decided to have our first batch of durian the afternoon of our arrival (breaking rule 1 above) as we would otherwise have to wait one whole day more before sampling the fruit..

We went off  first to a durian collection centre in Balik Pulau recommended by a friend.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was a little late as they had run out of durians after setting aside the majority of the day’s durians for a durian party at a local hospital (in other words they were probably quite a reputed supplier, just our bad luck to appear late in the day).  So we had to go to a roadside stall we had passed earlier on, called Durian Kaki.  Easy to find as there is a gigantic inflatable durian right outside.

Durian Kaki 

Here, we had a good time feasting on King of Kings (really creamy, slightly fermented taste - *yums*, lots of meat on the seed), a rather good XO durian (another one with that alcoholic note) and Black Gold (bittersweet flavour) and one last one which I can’t remember as it was not impressive.  The King of Kings was really good so we ordered a second one - of course it is the most expensive of the lot but well, this is what we came to Penang for.

The next day was not a big durian day since we were waiting to meet up with our fellow travellers, but on Saturday we went off to a durian collection centre in Balik Pulau, followed by a durian stall.  There were just three of us (everyone else had gone off to Ipoh for the day).   My uncle was our "durian tour host". The durian collection centre had been recommended by a friend, but the selection was a bit limited (were we there a little late?). Anyway, we had Cheh Puay (green skin) and Ang Hae (red prawn) - both rather good. We then went to a small roadside stall where we had Hor Lor (gourd-shaped) which I found rather hard.  We also had a kampong durian, which as everyone knows is hit or miss and in our case it was a miss.

Cheh Puay (Green Skin)

My uncle then drove off to a private house which was also serving as a durian collection centre.  Quite interesting as the house was in the middle of a housing estate! I could just imagine the neighbours complaining in Singapore. 

Unfortunately "the boss" was not around and only one of the "couriers" was there.  So we could not buy any durians.  The house itself had a number of fruit trees (nangka I think) and one batch of rambutans had just come in. 

We also went and bought more durian (mostly Ang hae ) to bring to the people who went off to Ipoh.  They would eat it later, as dessert after our seafood dinner.  (More on that later).

So that’s all the durians we ate during our little jaunt this year.  I was quite amused subsequently to learn that my colleague was in Penang around the same time, staying at a durian farm (in a tree house at that).  Maybe an idea to explore for another time :-)

Up in the Highlands of Malaysia

View from the top of the farm

My family didn’t go on holiday much when I was a child.  We’d been to Penang (and Penang Hill), and to Genting Highlands.  But, we had never gone to Cameron Highlands.   The British, of course, had built holiday chalets in the Cameron Highlands which remain the most developed of these highlands.  But thanks to continued development over the years, this area has grown rather congested and busy, especially during peak periods.

Fortunately, we would be in a much more secluded and peaceful part of the highlands - specifically the Sigar Highlands' Moon River Lodge.  Beside the lodge is the farm, which provides all the vegetables used in the meals provided in the lodge, using sustainable farming methods.  It was indeed an opportunity to spend some time out of busy Singapore, to breathe the cool fresh air and look out to the magnificent scenery, where the clouds roll down the mountainsides even as the sun still shines on the distant hills.  At night, the stars looked down on us and the sound of water flowing just beyond my room lulled me to sleep.

We woke bright and early the next morning, to  go for mass at the Chapel of Our Lady of Mt Carmel in the little town of Tanah Rata.  It's only an hour's drive away from the lodge!

It is a pleasant little church, bright and cheery (it has been newly rebuilt).  I was amazed when the mass was celebrated by Fr Philip Heng, a Camerons native who of course is now the Rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore!  Just goes to show how many and how close the ties are between Malaysia and Singapore.  ubsequently tried to drive around the area a little more but unfortunately the traffic was starting to build up and we ended up just going for a steamboat lunch with lots of fresh vegetables, fish and meat.

The Rafflesia

The next day, we went on the "Rafflesia Trek", to search for the elusive Rafflesia flower (another milestone to mark our Big 50 year).  One would have thought the largest flower in the world is not that difficult to spot.  But, you have to walk through the cloud forests first!  And for that, you definitely need a guide familiar with the forest, who knows where the flowers are likely to be found.  Fortunately, our guide had managed to find the flower (probably he had marked out its position some time beforehand on previous trips to the forested area) and after an hour's walk or so, slipping and sliding on the slippery trail (trying to stay clear of pesky leeches), we found the Rafflesia flower!

Some say that this is supposed to be a smelly flower - but I didn't really think so.  Yes, there was a smell but I had to go quite close up to detect it.  I did see a few insects trapped in the liquid which had collected within the flower though - this reminded me that the Rafflesia is a carnivorous plant, relying on the foul stench to attract insects to it.

Rafflesia and bud (left, beneath some leaves)

I was glad to see a few more buds of various sizes near the flower, so presumably the flower will continue blooming away in this area.  The flower blooms for about a week, and ours was apparently about 3-4 days old, so it was probably starting to wilt.  Subsequently, we also spotted a wilting Rafflesia. 

Of course, the trek was not over.  1+ hours in, and 1+ hours out!  As is often the case, the way back seems faster than the way in, as we spotted landmarks and other familiar spots along the way.

The sad thing is that there is much development going on in the Highlands.  Farms are expanding, many growing flowers and fruit for export.  I hope that there will still be sufficient forest to sustain this majestic flower for many more years to come.

After the trek (and after showering off all our mud) we drove off to Ipoh, where we would be spending our last night in Malaysia before going back to Singapore.  But it was indeed a happy and memorable interlude out of our busy lives.  Good friends, good food, happy memories.  What could be better.

All photos of the trip here.

Big Food Night in Ipoh

We spent one night in Ipoh, just before going back to Singapore.  Of course it was a big foodie night, where we had a huge dinner followed by supper.

For dinner we went to Restaurant Mun Choong (or Mun Zhong) at 57-65, Jalan Horley, Kampung Jawa.  It's also apparently known as Pusing Public Restaurant (or under this group).  It's one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in Ipoh, as attested on various websites including this one here.

Indeed, it was very busy on the Monday night we were there, so we were grateful that we had gone early.  We ordered a sumptious meal, befitting our last night on the road:

Shark's Fin (evil I know but just this once) - really flavourful

Roast Suckling Pig (pork fat is good fat!)

Qing Long (青龙) Vegetables (unusual, we hadn't tried it before)

Fried Prawns - big and fresh!  

Red Bean Soup - with that hint of orange zest

We also had some noodles to complement the dishes.  All in all, a truly excellent meal.  Indeed, Malaysia has so many good Chinese restaurants to visit!

For supper of course it was taugay chicken accompanied by oh-so-smooth-and-slippery hor fan!  There are many famous spots for Taugay Chicken in Ipoh but we went to Onn Kee.  As we were slurping down the hor fan and chomping away on the crunchy sprouts, one of my friends (a native Perak boy) suddenly exclaimed that one of the opposition candidates was walking towards us!  (Don't forget that this was during GE2018 in Malaysia).  Well, he greeted the candidate as though they were good friends, and introduced the rest of us as his friends.  We on our part nodded politely and the candidate walked on, probably guessing (correctly) that our lukewarm reception was because we were tourists.

Supper at Onn Kee

(After eating at Onn Kee, go over to Lam Fong Biscuit Shop around the corner, for traditional Malaysian Teochew biscuits.  I found the ark-am or duck's neck biscuit which I bought in Penang last year.  I really like the texture of the crunchy peanuts against the soft paste of the biscuit.  )

P.S.  For those interested, we stayed at another of those hip new hotels in Ipoh - M Roof Hotel  Residences.  Recommended. The hotel coffeeshop is run by Old Town, which means you get a great coffee for breakfast.  We went back to Singapore the next am, with stops at Bidoh and Seremban for our second breakfast and lunch respectively.

Malaysia Road Trip - Caves of Gua Tempurung

The Caves of Gua Tempurung

When you reach a milestone in your life's journey, you want to commemorate it.  My friends and I decided to celebrate our Big 50 by going on a road trip to Malaysia together.  If ever you want to pretend you’re 18 again, there is no better company than the people you were 18 with in the first place.  It was an adventure like no other, a chance to remember the years we have spent on the journey of our lives together, as we climbed through the highlands of Malaysia and into the limestone caves at their centre.

We departed from Singapore in two groups - one by car and the other by air, to meet in Kuala Lumpur where we would spend the night before our trip proper began.  Our plan was to spend two nights in the highlands, before moving to Ipoh for the night, then making our way back to Singapore.  Food, fun and friendship were all on the agenda.

But first, we drove off to Gopeng, the launch point for the caves of Gua Tempurung.  There's a pretty good write-up on the caves and their origins here, so I'm not going into all that detail.  Suffice it to say that these limestone caves were created many thousands of years ago, discovered by man and used to mine tin, hide during wars and during the Malayan Emergency period, before becoming one of the major tourism draws in the state.

Indeed, the caverns are magnificent.  Soaring caverns, stalagtites and stalagmites can be seen in this cave and I can confidently say I’ve been to the top and bottom of the caves.  There are four alternative treks, ranging from the easy one to toughest.  We were on the third option, considered "Exciting and Challenging". The first part was the “easy” part, where we walked into the huge cavern, bigger than any cathedral.   Stairs - lots of them - take us up to the top of the cavern, so near we could *almost* touch the ceiling.  Water drips slowly, and we see where stalactites/stalagmites are forming slowly, over millions of years and slowly meet, thicken and become massive pillars.

Then we walked down all the stairs to reach the bottom of the cave.  Here we squeezed through little tunnels, to where the underground river flows through the "caverns measureless to man".  We had to crawl through in places, on elbows and knees through the water-filled tunnels to reach the larger caves beyond.  And then we came to a point where we had to slide down the side of the cavern.  Shall we say that I was exceedingly grateful that the guide was there to catch me at the bottom.  We finally got through the last tunnel, to emerge back into the huge cavern from which we emerged back into the main campsite of the caves - wet, dirty, scraped and bruised, but with a pleasing sense of accomplishment.

We’d gone with Radak Adventures, and the guide took us back to their campsite near the caves to clean up before we went back to Gopeng.  The campsite is by a large river, where we rested and waded (and had a snack).  If you ever think of going to Gua Tempurung, some practical stuff to remember - bring a torch, wear old clothes, preferably a long-sleeved top and pants which cover the knees (I wore leggings) and shoes you don't mind getting totally soaked (and which dry fast).  I wore my Crocs sneakers and they were perfect.  If you want to bring a camera, make sure you have a waterproof bag.  I left my cameraphone behind - hence the lack of photos in this post; the one above was taken by a friend of mine.

More photos of our KL hotel, and of the caves here.

Teochew Food in Malacca - Teo Soon Loong

When you have a group of two, it's harder to have a good variety of food when eating at Chinese restaurants.  So with our group of four, it was a good time to go try out the food at Teo Soon Loong, a well-known Teochew restaurant in Malacca.  It used to be in a tiny coffee shop on Jalan Hang Kasturi, just round the corner from Jalan Hang Jebat, but has shifted out of the Old Town to a newer, much larger restaurant in a newer part of the city (on the reclaimed land area).

Our hotel got us a car via Grab - a modest RM6 only.  We drove well out of the old town, through undeveloped plots to a small cluster of buildings.  I was not really expecting a large crowd but when we got there, the restaurant was packed!  Good thing that we had a reservation (via our kaki in the jewellery shop).  We had to wait for our table to be ready (we were a little early) and so had ample time to review the menu.

We chose a mixture of recommended dishes (off the internet) - the pork ribs with bittergourd (really tender, highly recommend), the braised Teochew duck (it was good but not as good as the pork), cai por hor fun (good wok hei but not enough cai por for me), braised noodles with oysters (I know, two carbs but we couldn't resist) and sweet potato leaves cooked with ginger (to be honest this was a revelation - I really enjoyed the freshness of the vegetables and somehow the gingery flavour complemented it well).  Indeed a suitable dinner for our last night in Malaccca.

Buying Manek Potong Shoes

Every time we visit Malacca, we end up visiting this little Kasut Manek (Nonya beaded shoes) shop down Temple Street called Lim's Trading.

Down Temple Street

But it was always an exercise in window shopping.  For myself, I was determined not to buy another pair until I had finished making my own.  And that took years!  As for my dear friend, she makes her own shoes most of the time!

But this year I was determined that I would buy a pair of "Manek Potong" shoes.  For the uninitiated, "Manek Potong" represents the utmost pinnacle of beaded shoe craftsmanship.  The beads are smaller than the standard machine made beads, and even the better quality Japanese Beads.  Apparently they are made somewhere in the former Czechoslovakia, cut by hand such that the facets of the beads are less regular and reflect the light differently as a result.  Because the beads are smaller, the patterns on the shoes are more intricate as a result.  The beads are also difficult to get, because the Czech factory which made them has discontinued the line... ... at least that's what we are told but somehow there are rumours that there is a new source ...

Anyway, Mr Lim is well known in Malacca/Malaysia for his beaded shoes, as this New Straits Times article can testify.  (The article also gives a little more background on beaded shoes, which I'm not going into here as I've done so on a number of times on this blog already).  In 2012, he received the Unesco Seals of Excellence for Handicrafts in recognition of his work.  What is so unique is that rather than just use the "traditional" patterns, he designs his own beautiful designs, of goldfish swimming with water and seaweed rippling around them, of birds and flowers amidst the foliage.  You can choose yourself a pattern, and he will sew it up for you, get the cobbler to make up the shoe and post it to you.  I have to say that I was tempted to do that but fortunately I found the perfect shoe in terms of fit, design and style so I bought it on the spot (for a pretty penny, I should add). Here it is:

Birds and flowers - my Manek Potong shoes

In my humble opinion, they go nicely with my new turquoise kebaya and orange sarong :-)

Malacca Bunga Raya

It's the Year of the Dog!

For someone who goes so often to Malacca, is there anything left to write about?  Indeed, I am quite embarrassed sometimes that I seem to be going to the same old places year in, year out.  But this year was slightly different.  First, we were going with a group of four instead of a small little group of two, with their own added set of interests and priorities.  It was nice taking them to our favourite spots but equally, it was great to find new areas we had not been to.  Before this, we were getting into a "Malacca-shaped rut".  Second, it was just before the Chinese New Year and so the shopping opportunities opened up were quite different!  New Year goodies galore (as though Malacca wasn't filled with foodstuffs for greedy Singaporeans to buy already)!

So this year, our new discovery was Jalan Bunga Raya, just north of the Malacca river and near all the Kampong Jawa cooking equipment shops we discovered on a previous trip.  Bunga Raya was the old shopping street of Malacca, but the tourists deserted it for Jonker Street's charms and the locals were drawn to the newer malls with all the supermarkets and chain stores.  So today there is a sort of quietness about the place, where the shops seem to hark back to yesterday and their proprietors slowly greying together with it.  There is some rejuvenation, however, with new businesses starting up even as the main Jonker area gets more crowded and the benefits from the UNESCO status spill over out of the old town into the surrounding areas.  So there are newer restaurants and hotels starting up here.  We will see how it goes.  

Lanterns along Jalan Bunga Raya

We were, however, here in search of New Year lanterns and other decorations, which my friend wanted to deck her home with for CNY.  A local (I think it was either our hotel concierge, or our jeweller) recommended Jln Bunga Raya and so we walked over.  It was evening, the street was dark and many shops were closed or closing. But as we proceeded, suddenly a few brightly lit shops appeared, all the better to show off the beautiful lanterns, of silk, paper or a felt-like material (made out of recycled cloth).  

We wandered in and out of a few shops.  Most sold fabric and other haberdashery or craft items, but during the CNY period, pushed all these day-to-day goods to the back of the shop and instead stocked up on the decor for CNY.  Not just lanterns, but banners, tassels, paper cut pictures, and (since it is the year of the dog) lots of little stuffed dogs too.  Business was reasonably good for the few shops which remained open; I suppose either locals or well-informed tourists made their way here to get their CNY decor.

Down the Malacca River

Bunga Raya isn't exactly a short walk from our hotel in Heeren Street, so I didn't really expect to walk back the next day in the hot sun for lunch.  But that is what we did.  We were going to Manis J, the restaurant owned by the proprietor of the shoe shop, J Manik (of course at her suggestion).  It was a pleasant stroll by the river, lined by the old buildings (and some new extensions), which were decorated to catch the eye - some with brightly coloured murals, and others with fun/gimmicky items such as this one which featured old cars - Minis and Beetles.

Lunch itself was really quite good.  We had all our old nyonya favourites - Ngoh Hiang, Ayam Buah Keluak, Chap Chye, Hee Peow soup etc.  And for the hypercritical Singaporeans we are, there were no complaints.  Everyone ate happily.  And I don't think it was the long walk.

Lunch at J Manis

Sinpopo at Joo Chiat Road

In Singapore's highly competitive restaurant scene, it is quite difficult to write about food because somehow they get outdated quite fast!

Fortunately, unlike some other establishments I've written about, Sinpopo is still going strong.  Although, it looks as though they expanded the menu since I went...

Sinpopo is run by the folks behind Awfully Chocolate but this is completely different in concept, serving "old style" Singaporean food with a twist.  I came here with two lady friends and we had a good gossip, over luncheon meat crisps (terribly unhealthy), deep fried wantons  (scarcely less so), the crab meat bee hoon (my fave) and for dessert, gula melaka cake and brown butter sugee cake.  Washed down with Katong Jelly drink (red agar agar jelly in a 7-Up and soda mix).

Whilst I did feel that the gula melaka cake really brought out that gula melaka flavour, I was not sure that the brown butter flavour was really that prominent in the sugee cake.  Rather, the brown butter flavour was more obvious in the thin layer of butter cream icing the cake.  I was intrigued however by the whole idea of "updating" sugee cake using brown butter and so I was inspired to make my own version of brown butter sugee cake!

First of all, I had to learn how to brown butter.  Fortunately there's a pretty good guide here on Serious Eats.  Briefly, butter is melted and then boiled over the stove till the water evaporates.  As the melted butter continues to boil, tiny little particles of milk solids emerge and as these brown, they impart a nutty, caramel flavour to the butter.  However, you need to watch it carefully to make sure that the little flecks of milk solids don't burn!

My Brown Butter Sugee Cake

Having browned the butter, I then went on to make my sugee cake, which I've written about here.  I soaked my semolina in the browned butter and then made my sugee cake as per normal.  As usual, I did not put any icing or butter cream on the cake which enabled me to taste the "natural" flavours of the cake.

The verdict?  The colour of my sugee cake was a little darker than in the past - not so much a bright sunny yellow but a slightly browner shade.  As for flavour - well, I enjoyed the buttery flavour of the cake, but again the brown butter flavour did't really emerge.  I suspect that with the traditional marzipan and royal icing, the buttery flavour would be overpowered by the strong almond flavour.  It's probably better to take it to a different flavour profile altogether, add brown sugar in place of some of the white, and top with buttercream made with browned butter.. hmmm, seems to be what Sinpopo has done :-)