ten-ele-ven

A Good Weekend In Melaka: Restoran Aunty Lee

Last weekend, we drove up with some friends to Melaka. We had a really good time *over*indulging in gastronomic delights and catching up with our friends over big, calorie-laden meals. We drove up to Melaka with the same bunch of friends in late 2009, and had such a good time together that we promised to do this again another time. Which turned out to be more than 2 years later.

This time, I went to Melaka with a list of recommendations from various friends on where to go to find the best nonya food, wanton mee, chendol, crabs, zichar, etc. I will need at least 5 stomachs to eat everything that is on that list.

I wanted so much to try this Teochew eatery called Teo Soon Long Chan, a hole-in-the-wall place off Jonkers street, but it was fully booked all weekend! *Sniff* So I turned my attention to nonya food.

We decided to check out Restoran Aunty Lee, a small, humble eatery located some distance away from the city center at Ujong Pasir. The GPS brought us to this place, with a very colourful exterior wall and lots of little red lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Unlike the bright, purplish and slightly garish exterior, the interior of the eatery is quite old-fashioned, and looks like the living room of someone’s home. It is a small place with just enough space for 6 tables. It was a good thing that we got the hotel to make a lunch reservation for us a day before, because it wasn’t possible to get a table had we walked into the restaurant without one.

To ensure that food is freshly prepared and that there is no wastage, the eatery required its customers to place orders at the time of making a reservation. As it was the first time that I was eating at this restaurant and without a menu in front of me, I didn’t know what dishes to order!

So I named some of my favourite nonya dishes off the top of my head: ayam buah keluak, chap chye, itek tim, otah and grilled eggplant. The lady who took my order also recommended ikan cili garam, their signature dish, which I said okay to. She also recommended cincalok omelette which I declined, thinking that it was an odd-sounding dish. In my haste, I forgot to order beef rendang and assam pedas!

My friends and I loved Aunty Lee’s food. It is good, simple and hearty, home-cooked food.

We regretted not ordering more food because we wolved down everything so quickly, and still felt hungry. We couldn’t have another order of ayam buah keluak and chap chye, or beef rendang (darn…!) because it was too late for the kitchen to start cooking another batch for us. But we were told that we could place orders for cincalok omelette, which turned out to be the fluffy-est and the most delicious omelette that I have eaten, and stir-fried beef with spring onion. The beef was superb, tender and flavourful.

It wasn’t possible to wait for all the food to arrive before taking a photo. All I managed was this.

We managed to squeeze in some chendol at the end of the meal, by which time, our tummies were on the verge of exploding from too much food. I would highly recommend the cincalok omelette, ikan cili garam, otah, stir-fried beef with spring onions, nonya chap chye and itek tim. Disappointingly, Aunty Lee’s ayam buah keluak – my favourite nonya dish – didn’t quite hit the right spot.

9 scrumptious dishes for 8 persons cost us only $16 per head.

Restoran Aunty Lee
385 Jalan Ujong Pasir,
75050 Malacca, Malaysia
Tel: 606-2831009

Seoul: Korea’s Cool Public Privies

I said Seoul has an artsy vibe. I correct myself: I should have said that the artsy vibe is not just in Seoul, but can be seen in many places throughout South Korea.

Just look at their public lavatories! Definitely not your run-of-the-mill, nondescript, and in some cases, very ugly, buildings, but they are attention grabbing. At least, they grabbed mine.

^ In Gyeongpo Beach, Gangneung, Gangwon-do. My jaw dropped when I saw it.

^ In Okjukheon, Gangneung Gangwon-do.

^ In Hangang Park, Seoul.

^ In Dosan Park, Seoul. I have posted this before, but I cannot resist repeating myself.

I am always on the look-out for public toilets in Korea that have an interesting design, to add on to my photo collection! I believe there are more in Hangang Park which I haven’t sighted yet.

Peekture: Turn Me On, Turn Me Off

I spotted this cute little lamp in a cafe at Telok Ayer Road. It is really cute!

The barista in the cafe told me that I may be able to find this lamp in Chinatown. I am gonna hunt for it.

I can see my husband rolling his eyes when he reads this. 🙂

Seoul: Lady On The Steps

^ Steps outside the Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

People ask me what I like about Seoul. Amongst many things, the city’s artsy vibe is one of them. Its street art is amazing.

Jeonju: Jeonju Hyanggyo

Together with Anna, an exchange student from Prague whom I met the day before, we visited Jeonju Hyanggyo, a Confucian school that was established during the Joseon Dynasty. Located in the Jeonju Hanok Village, this school has been designated as a national treasure by the Korean government.

I love trees. And I fell in love with all the gorgeous old trees in Jeonju Hyanggol the minute I stepped into the compound. They are magnificent! Huge, like a grand dame with a glorious mane of golden hair.

These trees may have been growing in the same spot for a few hundred of years.

Anna and I bumped into a Korean filming crew that afternoon. The crew were filming a documentary about travelling around Korea during autumn, and they wanted us to “act as tourists admiring the huge trees and taking photos of the surroundings” for their very short film. We obliged, of course.

Afterall, it didn’t require us to do any acting. We were tourists admiring the huge trees. And taking photos of the surroundings.

Oh, before I forget. Any Sungkyungkwan Scandal fan should be able to recognize this place, because Jeonju Hyanggyo was the filming site for the drama.

My favourite tree. Wouldn’t it be fun to climb up the trunk and sit in the nook between the branches?

Korea is a country that is blessed with so much natural beauty.

Seoul: Dosan Park

Dosan Park is a lovely spot of nature in the midst of sprawling buildings and high-end shops in that part of Gangnam.

It is not a very big park, and takes probably less than 30 minutes to walk around it.

Seoul has got some architecturally-interesting public toilets in its parks. I wouldn’t expect anyone to pay much attention to the design of their public privies but clearly, the Koreans think differently.

During the trip, I came across quite a number of funky public toilets and I am gonna put them up one by one. Whenever I came across one, I will get all excited, and start skipping around the building taking photos of it from various angles.

I couldn’t be bothered with doing outdoor/indoor wedding photo shoots when I got married. Running around for an entire day in full make-up and a heavy gown wasn’t really something I wanted to experience.

BUT.

Had I lived in a place with gorgeous foliage and cool weather, I might have thought differently about doing a wedding photo shoot.

Dosan Park is a great place to hang out before or after a meal at Gorilla In The Park.

Peekture: When It Drizzles

Every morning, I take a 10 minute walk from where I park my car to my office, along Robinson Road. Most of the time, I walk along quickly, deep in thought, and not paying much attention to my surroundings, which are more often than not, noisy, dusty and rather dull.

Robinson Road feels different when it drizzles. Seen through a light drizzle, the buildings and road take on a faintly surreal and dreamy look. Reflections on the roads. Sounds of tyres splashing in the rain.

I couldn’t resist snapping a quick picture one drizzling morning.

Peekture: View From The Gym

I am back to being a gym rat. More accurately, I am trying to be a gym rat.

When you stand at a corner of the gym and watch dozens of people run on the treadmill machines synchronically, they make me think of hamsters running on wheels.

But I have to say that the view of Marina Bay Sands from the treadmill machines is pretty good.

Seoul: Gorilla In The Kitchen

I read about Bae Yong Joon’s celebrity restaurant in Seoul, and decided to check it out. Gorilla In the Kitchen is located in Dosan Park, a memorial park for independence activist known as An Chang-ho, which is in the Gangnam area.

Who knows…? I might run into some Korean celebrities. 🙁

I spent one afternoon by myself, chilling out in the restaurant over a cup of coffee and my iPad. It is located in pretty surroundings, in a modern cement-and-glass structure. I liked the classy interior decor, and service was quite good. It was my husband’s type of place, so I brought to the restaurant for brunch during the weekend when he was in Seoul.

Sure enough, he liked it.

How was the food? It was alright. I would like to visit the restaurant again on my next trip to Seoul, if time permits.

After brunch, we took a walk around the beautiful Dosan Park, located next to the restaurant.

Peekture: Penang Assam Laksa

From Gurney Drive at the Changi Airport Terminal 3.

Assam Laksa is my favourite Penang food, followed closely by Char Kway Teow.

I must find an opportunity to visit Penang again. If for nothing else, just to eat the delicious assam laksa sold at the famous Air Itam stall in Penang. Their gravy has such full-bodied and robust flavours, and contains generous amounts of fish flakes and prawn paste. The last time I ate there, I drank three bowls of gravy.

Jeonju: Splendid Autumn Colours In Jeonju Hanok Village (Part I)

After leaving Jeju, the husband and I travelled back to Seoul where we parted ways. He took a flight back home and I travelled south to Jeonju in Jeollabuk-do by the KTX train.

Many people have asked me how easy is it for someone who cannot speak the language to travel around in South Korea, and my answer is: “Not difficult at all.” I did most of my inter-city travelling by coach.

From personal experience, I find travelling by coach within the country to be a lot more convenient, and cheaper, as compared to the train. I make my way to the local bus terminal, buy a coach ticket at the ticket counter, locate the coach departure gate (which is written on the ticket), check the signboard that the bus is indeed heading towards my destination, throw my lugguage into the bus, board the bus, sleep for the rest of the journey, alight at the bus terminal of my destination, get into a taxi, show the taxi-driver the name and address of my hotel/motel written in Korean characters and that’s it. With the coach, it is a relatively hassle-free point-to-point travel. I don’t have to worry about getting lost in transit, or lugging my suitcases all over a train station trying to find the right platform to board the train.

I took the KTX train from Seoul to Jeonju and the experience was a nerve-wrecking one. I had to change trains mid-way through the journey, outside Seoul, and worried about getting off at the wrong transit station. At the transit station, I had to lug my heavy suitcases up and down flights of stairs to find the platform for the connecting train. I very nearly missed the connecting train because I was at the wrong platform. That was the first and last time I took the train. And I stuck with coaches for the rest of my trip.

I arrived in Jeonju Hanok Village at the right time. Autumn was at its peak and I was treated to a pletora of beautiful colours eerywhere: yellow, reds, mustard-gold, burnt orange, bright green. Huge and very old gingko trees look so majestic covered in their gorgeous yellow leaves.

Fallen leaves in varying shades lined the eaves of old Joseon buildings, and covered the pavements. It was a magnificent feast for the eyes. Witnessing the changing colours of leaves is the reason why I love visiting Korea and Japan during autumn. I never get enough of looking at the autumn hues. It is beautiful a world that God had created for us.

^ Gingko fruits. Unlike the ones we saw in Seoul, these did not stink. They were probably male fruits!

Peekture: A Box Of Macarons

A box of home-made macarons in five different flavours: blackcurrant, chocolate, lemon, passionfruit and salted caramel.

I am not a fan of macarons because I find the ones sold in the shops outside are too sweet.

But these ones baked by my friend are absolutely scrumptious. Not too sweet, soft yet slightly crunchy with a wonderful nutty flavour.

Passionfruit gets my vote as being the yummiest.

Jeju: PODO Hotel Pinx

When we were in Jeju, we stayed at the PODO Hotel Pinx, which is located in the western part of the island.

In Korean, ‘podo‘ means ‘grape’. An aerial view of the hotel show the design of the roof to be in the shape of a bunch of grapes – it’s a pretty interesting architectural concept. The interior of the hotel is constructed mostly with wood and stone – classy yet understated. The hotel’s expansive grounds are covered with volcanic ash stones and large fields of reeds swaying furiously in the strong Jeju winds.

We enjoyed our stay at PODO so much and want to go back again…!