And the 26th they rested. Actually they collapsed. Other than leave the apartment in search of another bottle of alcohol and to get a delivery of water and soft drinks, we stayed in the apartment and recuperated from the two major days of dealing with masses of humanity and touring activity from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But the 27th brought us to a new beginning! Time to hit the touring trails again. In my sights was the Malay Sultanate Museum. If I can be blunt (and I can because it is my blog!), I have had more than my fill of European colonial history and their way of bludgeoning the cultures they encountered. (Yes, thank you, I do recognize the hypocrisy of my traveling the world with my entitled, English centric advantages). This museum is supposed to be a very authentic replica of the palace occupied by the Sultans of Melaka during the height of their power before arrival of the Europeans.
Here we are! I am SO EXCITED!
But...there is no one around the entrance. This is weird.
WTF!
Inconvenience! We may never come back here. How come when I internet searched there was no mention of this.
Fine. Be that Way. I will just pal around with my Eurocentric heritage then.
A Famosa - The original fortress built by the Portuguese. All that is left of it is this entrance gate due to the English desire to destroy Melaka's influence discussed in a prior post.
My Albuquerque Heritage follows me!
The old and the new
Honoring the slayers of the infidel
Right by A Famosa are the ruins of the original Catholic church, St. Paul's, built by the Portuguese
After the Portuguese, came the Dutch. One thing the Dutch were very good at evidently is dying from all the tombstones and mausoleums we saw.
Scenes from from St. Paul's Hill
On-going Themes
Laundry - Not a part of the culture, at least where we've been so far.
Lamps
We went into a museum with enough history to keep even a Celebrity Historian interested.
After this we went into the large mall we had passed on our way walking back from Jonker Street Market and grabbed a light bite to eat as we have dinner plans.
While we were chilling in the apartment, I looked down. The tide changes are pretty significant. I saw what looked like someone or something making patterns in the mud
On closer observation, I think he was searching for clams!
However, we were not done with our day yet. We were determined to try the Portuguese style seafood from someplace in the Portuguese Settlement. We decided we would go early when things were just opening up in order to get seated. It was way easier getting there than on Christmas Eve. We had no problem getting seated. And the food...well the food was everything it was cracked up to be.
I Love Portuguese Malay Seafood. You Should Too!
This was the place we decided on after reading a bunch of reviews that all contradicted each other.
I ordered a beer and order taker (who seemed to be an older family member) asked if we needed two glasses.
I can see why. But it is the only size offered!
Wife wasn't going to get a drink but finally settled for a lime juice with prune.
She is smiling bravely here but it was pretty weird tasting.
But on to the food.
Scallops with Ginger
The scallops were slightly overcooked but the sauce Was Amazing! And I really could not figure out how it was made. It was almost as if it had some kind of milk/dairy base. It got better as it sat in the dish. I ate every bit of it on the rice we had.
Baked Fish
We asked what kind of fish? What flavoring? We were told, "It's not too spicy." Oh well.
The fish itself was moist, not overcooked, full of flavor. The sauce was like rendang sauce, spicy but not overpowering.
And we had some mixed vegetables and rice.
How good was this meal?
Nothing was left. Nothing.
Google Maps said it was only a 17 minute walk back to our building. It was light out so we decided to give it a try.
We saw more of the Christmas decorations and had a number good views of where we are staying.
The juxtaposition of the sweet smelling flowers and the traditional 'winter' Christmas decorations.
As we left the Portuguese Settlement, it go a bit rough so glad we didn't try this in the dark on Christmas Eve.
It was a very short section
And
SIGNS OF THE WORLD
Christmas bongs are important
Do Not Go In Two Directions At The Same Time!
Shooting of People - Strictly Forbidden
2 comments:
But I really *wanted* to go two directions at once!
that restaurant sounds amazing! Maybe I'd even like that fish
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