Palette of Malacca

Malacca is a colorful harbor city. The old city looks like a bright-colored and beautiful picture. After arriving at the port and crossing the Malacca River Bridge, one will face Dutch red buildings—Stadthuys which is the starting point of the trip of colors. Outside the Stadthuys, at the square, rows of floats solicit visitors. Rickshaw operators shuttle back and forth in the old streets with their rickshaws decorated with seven-colored flowers, windmills, flags and bells, like moving colored pens in the city.

Malacca is divided into an old city and a new district. The large area of the new district is developed by filling in the sea, and there are large modern shopping plazas and rotary tour towers. The old city across the river represents the glorious past of Malacca and is where many historical sites are located at. As an old city with the longest history in Malaysia, its long history has made the culture very diversified, gathering the architectural styles of Chinese royal families, Portuguese navigators, Dutch and British colonists. After a long history, Chinese culture is the most vibrant. Zheng He stopped here six times during his voyages to the Western Seas. The gift he brought to Malacca is the spread of architectural style and living habits of the local people. In Chinatown, many walls of houses are decorated with beautiful tiles and door latches inscribed with lions, dragons, and phoenixes. The streets are narrow and zigzag around; houses are different in shape. Subtropical customs bring various colors to the buildings, lemon yellow, emerald, indigo, or even pink outer walls. Every place has some scenery and there are too many things for visitors to see.

To experience the streets of Malacca, it is recommended to walk or rent a bicycle from the hotel and visit the old city. You can arrange one day’s trip of architectures, one day’s trip of food, find a hostel by Malacca River, and sit by the riverside at dusk to experience cool breezes and watch the quiet buildings on both sides, which will be quite pleasant. Sightseeing areas mainly include Chinatown, Dutch-style city square, and the Little India in the north. Must-see sights include Dutch-style Christian church, Portugal-style St. Paul's Church, Porta de Santiago, Malacca Sultanate Palace representing Malacca, and The Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum integrating Chinese and local culture.

Apart from the variety of colors, Malacca also has some particular characteristics in terms of taste. “Baba and Nyonya” is a special word for Malacca. During Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas, he left some entourages in Malacca. Those people got married with local Malays or women of other ethnic groups. In Malay, male descendant of them are called Baba and female descendant are called Nonya. Actually they are autochthone Chinese or overseas Chinese. Nonyas integrate the cooking skills of Chinese and Malaysian food; therefore, the food they make is called Nonya food. It is a kind of Nanyang food, like Indonesian flavor, sugar and coconut juice are always used. The most famous Nonya food is the kind made by Jorker88 on Jonker Street. The menu is dazzling and shows that they can make the best of Nanyang food.

The night market of Jonker Street on weekends is a better highlight of Malacca. On the nights of every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the whole Jonker Street becomes a night market of food. All kinds of vendors move tables and chairs onto the streets. The street is filled with numerous foodies. Malacca food stands out among all Malaysian food. Every weekend, residents from the neighboring towns come to Malacca to spend their time and taste delicious food. Chung Wah Restaurant and Capitol are the two most famous restaurants here. They are famous for Chicken Rice Balls and Satay Celup respectively. Every weekend, there are long queues in front of the restaurants.

Make it Happen

To go to Malacca: take a bus at Kuala Lumpur Airport, after arriving at Malacca Station, take Bus 17 to go to the downtown and get off at Jonker Street City Square.

Most visitors go to the old city. You can walk through the old city. If you want to explore the new city, remember to rent a bicycle.

(Source: April, 2016, Lonely Planet Magazine, text/photos: O.Be. Without permission, it can’t be used elsewhere. For more contents, please go to WeChat account number: lptraveller)