Having had more rest and a lot more energy now, we scheduled our visit to the State of Malacca today. If yesterday we took it easy, today we had to wake up early and have an early breakfast as well before taking the LRT that will take us to the bus station at Bukit Jalil. Here we got a "non-stop" (or so the dispatcher said) bus going to Melaka.

The drive was supposedly only going to take 2 hours, but apart from delays with the bus departure, the driver also took a different and longer route to drop off some other passengers who were not going to Melaka at all (talk about non-stop!). It took us over 2 hours to reach the bus terminal at Melaka. We then took a taxi to bring us to its historical city center which is indeed a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2008.

By then it was already half past one in the afternoon so the first thing we did was to look for lunch. Hubby had planned to bring me to Melaka long ago in order for me to try their Chicken Rice Balls as I have always loved Hainanese chicken rice but found that nothing beats the one at Kota Raya Restaurant in Clayton, Victoria. According to him, the ones at Melaka are the best in the world. It was time for me to find out... and I whole-heartedly agreed! The rice are served in balls and I don't know how many we've actually eaten because we just kept refilling our plates. We also ended up ordering a second serving of the chicken which was so tender and tasty. "PERFECT!" is all I can say to describe the dish.

After lunch we went around the town shops in historic buildings selling all kinds of souvenirs and food. We also went inside the Baba Nyonya House Museum for me to get some background information on the Baba Nyonya people of Melaka. Unfortunately, taking photos is not allowed inside the museum, so after the guided tour, we just went outside and took photos there.

We proceeded to have a look at the Christ Church Melaka and its surroundings including the building called "Stadthuys" (red building) which was part of the Dutch heritage. We also climbed the hill where the ruins of St. Paul's Church is located and took more photos.

We've already booked our return ticket with a much better bus at 6PM so at around 5 o'clock, we decided to have a little refreshment of "cendol". We chose a restaurant serving Baba Nyonya cendol, but because I didn't particularly like the cendols I have tasted before, I decided to just share this one with Hubby - a decision I regretted and rectified immediately by ordering another one! It so happened that the Baba Nyonya cendol in this restaurant is by far the best in the world!!!

The bus promptly left Melaka at 6PM and because we were so tired, we slept all the way. It was a real non-stop bus. We reached Bukit Jalil at 8PM and we took the LRT back to KLCC. We were supposed to have dinner with Shan and Can again tonight but because we were already so late, they just had dinner on their own. Hubby and I went back to the Spice of India restaurant who still happily served us even if it was already 9PM by the time we reached their doorstep.

Now we're back in the hotel and although it's already late, I'm still packing because tomorrow is checkout day and also the day of our trip to Kota Bharu to visit Hubby's mom and grandma. "Hasta la vista KL!". 

Central Market (Pasar Seni):

I've been to Malaysia so many times in the past but my visits were always only confined to hotels and malls. I have read about their Central Market in brochures and travel websites but I've never really been there until this trip. All the official businesses accomplished, Hubby and I decided to take it easy today. We do lack sleep because the flight to KL was at the ungodly hour of 1.15AM.

So today, after waking up late and having a late breakfast, we ventured out to the Pasar Seni (Central Market) located just four stops from the LRT at KLCC. Pasar Seni means "art market" and as the name implies, here in this market you will find local arts and crafts representing various Malaysian cultures such as the "wau bulan" (traditional "moon kite" from Kelantan), beautiful Malaysian batik, handicrafts and paintings and traditional costumes such as the Chinese Cheongsam to name a few. They also have a foodcourt serving local culinary delights.

We spent half of the day there before heading back to the KLCC to pick up some groceries that I will be bringing back to China (I will write about this in a separate blog). Afterwards we had an afternoon snack of "otak otak" and "lobak" at the Little Penang Cafe and for dinner we headed out to Nando's and had Portuguese chicken which was another one of the foods in my bucket list.

Arrival and introduction (20 February):
China had really become so cold for us this winter so I really welcomed some short breaks I had. The first one was to Cebu last month and the second one is currently this trip (albeit short) to Malaysia, Hubby's homeland. This trip is not all fun and games though because our main purpose of coming here is really to renew his passport. But because of the efficiency of their immigration office, the renewal was completed within 2 hours! (I hope the Philippines' DFA could learn from this.)

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday at 5.35AM via Air Asia. Thankfully the flight was smooth although I wasn't really able to get some sleep on the plane. Hubby's sister Shan and her husband Can came to meet us at the airport and after a light breakfast, we proceeded to renew Hubby's passport first at Putrajaya. It was Sunday but their government offices were open and we were able to finish the task in just 2 hours. How efficient can you get?

Since we finished early, we were also able to check in at the hotel early. We are staying at the Impiana KLCC Hotel just behind the Petronas Twin Towers! After checking in, we then went to have an early lunch of bak kut teh ('pork bone in tea soup' would be how I will describe this) at my favorite Restoran Grandpa in Petaling Jaya. I remember the first time I had this dish 6 years ago, I really fell in love with it. I thought it is really special. I cook this dish a lot now but it was still good to visit the restaurant that I first had it from. I was so glad to see the cook - he's still the same man!

After lunch we went around town with Shan and Can. We went to their place and in the afternoon we had some cold refreshment: ABC and cendol. These are equivalent to the Filipino halu-halo but with different ingredients and with no milk. When dinner time came, and after confusing ourselves with the many food choices in KL, we went to have it at a hawker place just nearby the KLCC. The good thing with hawker food is that they are good and cheap. We really enjoyed it. After dinner, we drove to Puchong to visit Hubby's cousins and uncle and at 10.30PM, we headed back to our hotel.

TODAY (21 February): Official business and catch-ups
This morning after breakfast, we immediately went to the China Visa Processing Center here in KL to process Hubby's visa for China (for his new passport). Again, it was so efficient that we can already get it this afternoon. For lunch, we've agreed to meet with Chui, an old friend of ours back in our Autodesk days. We met him at the Buddhist temple near the KLCC and we had vegetarian food for lunch. I think by far, this is still the best vegetarian food I had ever had. After lunch and some Buddhist teachings from Chui, we went to have coffee at the San Francisco Coffee house across the China visa processing center. At around 3PM, we parted ways and Hubby and I went back to the CVPC to get his visa. After this, we went to Hubby's old office to pay his old colleague, Aminder, an impromptu visit. Aminder took us to get some drinks again and for a short chit-chat. 

Dinner time was spent with Shan and Can at the Spice of India restaurant in KLCC. I personally requested to have Indian food for dinner as this is really my favorite cuisine in the world and I cannot really find any in China. Luckily everybody agreed. The food was North Indian and it was nice but not the best for me.  

 

Finally, after almost 2 years, Hubby has decided to boycott their office cook's monotonous lunch menus and asked me to cook him lunch everyday instead. So since he came back to work after the Chinese New Year break, I have been cooking his lunch every morning so that I can pack it and he can take it with him to the office.

The dish I prepared this morning was my pork meatballs with an egg/onion sauce inspired by the one served at Carmen's Carenderia in Argao. (*According to him in Malaysia they call this dish "lion head".) I started experimenting with this dish when we were still in Melbourne because he requested for it once since he liked Carmen's version. The one I came up with is not exactly the same. It's a simpler and much easier version to do at home but he still loves it. 

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year in the year of the metal rabbit. This is our second CNY here in China and the second time for me to do my observations as to how the Chinese in China celebrate this very important occasion.

The Chinese New Year in China and in some other parts of Asia are celebrated for 15 days. Most of the activities happen during the first and last day of the celebration but they do get a holiday off from work for at least a week so it is very nice.

Last year, Hubby's officemate and friend, Vanessa, invited both of us to her family's New Year's Eve dinner. It was my first time to visit a real Chinese house on this occasion and it was very interesting. We were greeted with different kinds of finger foods like candies and nuts while drinking warm water (it is indeed winter here on CNY). Each house or each family have different rituals for CNY depending on which part of China they came from. For Vanessa's family, each NYE dinner, they must eat pork dumplings. Since we arrived early, I was able to help her parents-in-law in preparing the dumplings. They usually make hundreds of pork dumplings and in only one dumpling, instead of pork, they will wrap a candy. This is then the lucky dumpling - they believe that whoever gets it will be lucky for the whole year. Aside from the dumplings, they also prepared lots of dishes containing pork, beef, lamb, fish and vegetables. After dinner, the elders give "ang paos" (red envelopes) to the younger ones so Vanessa and her husband, Robin, gave an "ang pao" to their son while their parents gave to them including us! It's very nice to receive a very unexpected gift for this season. In the workplace, it is also customary for managers or group leaders to give ang pao to their subordinates.

We didn't get any invitation for NYE dinner this year and I have also just returned to China after a few weeks in Cebu. I arrived back here on Tuesday morning, just 2 days before the start of the big celebration and I've noticed how busy everyone was in preparing for this occasion.

The afternoon of my arrival, Hubby and I went to Guangzhou. All the shopping centers were teeming with people making their last minute shopping and in almost every corner of town you will see flower markets. Almost everyone you meet were carrying bundles of flowers and other decorations. Some were carrying kumquat trees filled with fruit. They give these as gifts to their friends, family or business partners. The kids were all carrying flower-shaped toy windmills. I actually don't have any idea as to the significance of these but this is part of their tradition every CNY.

Then yesterday while at home, I've noticed our neighbors busy cleaning their houses, cars and shops. I found out that no one is allowed to do any type of cleaning including washing their hair on the first day of the new year. They believe that it is like throwing away your luck. True or not, I also just did my laundry yesterday and never did any cleaning today except washing dishes and of course washing my hair. :-)

Well, whatever the ritual, there are always these things that the Chinese (and now most of us) pray for during the new year: good luck, good health, good wealth and happiness. Kung hei fat choy!