Big Day Out: Jonker Street

On Day 2, we were given the opportunity to explore Malacca and visit various places-of-interest around the city. Such a place was the popular Jonker Street, which our class visited in three separate groups.

Walking along Jonker Street was a delightful experience as we were all able to see for ourselves the antiquated nature of Malacca, which was vastly different from our own modernised hometown. Much of Malacca's old traditions and looks are preserved, and the now obsolescent shophouses that line the roads just adds to the rustic and colourful atmosphere. 

Upon crossing the Malacca River, Group 2 saw that a rather popular (according to reviews on the Internet) chicken rice stall - Chung Wah Chicken Rice Ball Stall - had a surprisingly short queue (although I suppose we did reach there just before the lunch hour). We got a seat within 5 minutes and then tucked into a truly satisfying and delectable meal consisting of flavourful rice balls and juicy chicken. It also costed quite little - about SGD $3 for each person.

Another group had their lunch at Mamee Noodle Cafe/Museum. While this seems like a rather unsual choice in a street full of delightful local food, there was a rather rational reasoning behind the choice:

Throughout the bus rides, we had seen many mamee signs and were slightly puzzled why it was so popular. When we saw that mamee noodle had a restaurant, we were instantly intrigued. In addition, we noticed that it was air-conditioned and more importantly, had Wifi. Our group agreed in unison to patronise this restaurant. Although the food seemed to a bit more on the pricier side, the food was rather worth the money in terms of experience, taste and ambience.

The food sold there was an interesting instant noodle take on Malacca classics with a hint of Western cuisine. Examples include Chicken Rice Balls and chicken Bolognese featuring Mamee noodles, which they described as "mameelicious".

The mall marking the start of Jonker Street was filled with local produce, which included some types of snacks, bottled condiments, and some sorts of drinks unique to Malacca, which were packaged and unceremoniously dumped in a plastic tub filled with rapidly melting chunks of ice. We (Group 2) sampled two of the drinks, one being a curious black liquid that reeked of liquorice and a considerably sweeter honey and lemon concoction, which was a mellow yellow in colour.

Afterwards, we dawdled around, walking around the streets till we found a chendol stall nearby that was bedecked with anything related to Coke: antique collectable glass bottles, metal cans, framed posters and I even spotted a clock hanging from the wall in the far corner of the room. We also visited shops such as Jonker Gallery. The shops were filled with affordable and colourful crafts. We bought quite a few items for ourselves, our relatives as well as our tour guide.

In the various small shops of Jonker Street, we also visited interesting shops, filled with clocks and stationery. The other groups learnt about the stories of two very interesting people, Ah Tan (a long time employee at a printing shop turned stationery museum) and Mr Chan (the owner of a clock shop)

Afterwards, we met the other two groups outside a tiny store selling drinks and some knick-knacks. While waiting for our tour to start, we started waving to people driving cars in a group effort to spread the happiness and maybe bring a smile to their faces (and it did bring a smile to some of their faces)! :)