Baba-Nonya Melaka
Posted On Friday, February 8, 2008 at at 1:03 AM by AlvinWe spent a long day travelling from Kuching to the colorful city of Melaka; this entailed :
- an early morning AirAsia flight;
- bus from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to KL Sentral;
- Metro to the Pudu Raya Bus Station in KL;
- pushing through thousands of people at the station;
- asking almost the equal number of people where to buy a ticket;
- 2 hours wait for the next bus;
- 3 hours bus to Melaka Sentral;
- 1 hour bus to downtown Melaka;
- 1 hour walking around to find a vacant hotel (that had probably the last room in town).
Whew ! Exhausted but it was worth every effort as we found ourselves in a most colorful and characteristic town and we sampled the delicious Baba-Nonya cuisine. Although the town was packed with Asian tourists because of the CNY weekend, this made the town even more vibrant and lively.
Many houses in the Chinese quarter still belong to the Baba Nonyas, the Straits Chinese, also known as the Peranakan. These were Chinese immigrants and sailors from long ago who had married with the local Malays.
Many houses in the Chinese quarter still belong to the Baba Nonyas, the Straits Chinese, also known as the Peranakan. These were Chinese immigrants and sailors from long ago who had married with the local Malays.
I can only describe the Baba-Nonya cuisine as a delicious and ingenuous fusion of Chinese cooking ways with local flavours of coconuts milk, spices and ingredients.
What a delightful city with its culture, cuisine and sights !
What a delightful city with its culture, cuisine and sights !
