Impromptu Night Trip to Melaka

this was not the craziest road trip we've taken. but still falls under the 'are-you-really-freakin-serious' category. mr. khairul, only 2 days away from flying back to dubai, decided that by all means, he had to have ikan bakar at our favorite grill fish haunt - sungai duyung in malaysia's historical city - melaka.

we started out from kuala lumpur to melaka at 6.30pm, and came back almost midnight. just for that ikan bakar.

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the first time we came, most people seemed to suggest umbai as the best place to get ikan bakar in melaka.

pegi umbai!

umbai la best!

best seafood go umbai!

once in melaka, when we asked the otais of melaka including the pakcik at the melaka river, they all had these to say:

umbai dah comercial sgt. gi sg duyung.

seafood klasik punye pegi sg duyung.

pegi sg duyung la kalo nak yg stail kampung.

we did go to umbai first (only because we cannot find sungai duyung) then discovered that the place was clean and comfy, suitable for a large family outing. however, it does look comercialized with a lot of different stalls operating, ala food court. it's okay if you like that sorta thing but at that time, mr. khairul still wants the classic, kampung style - lagi run-down lagi baguih!

after a lot of driving around and asking a number of people, we finally found sungai duyung. speaking of asking around, i would like to state for the record that MEN DO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS. apsal dalam jokes men are always assumed too proud to ask for directions?

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..and we arrived! through a small path, then we saw this cozy little place right by the river! this time around we went with mr. khairul's parents and his youngest sister sofia.

mr. khairul quickly left the car for his dad to park while he scooted off to pick and choose the fish and other seafood delicacies for our devouring pleasure!

we ordered:

siakap fish

ikan pari

sotong goreng tepung

ketam cili

(an unknown lala-like sea-shell)

i don't know about you guys, but when i first came here, that was the first time i found out that people eat grilled seafood with nasi lemak! not bad! however, i'm still a purist - i ordered plates of nasi putih nontheless!

i love its air asam. mainly for the kicap as its main ingredients - of course accompanied by sliced onions, cili padi and limau. cicah dengan ikan bakar - sigh!

fresh fish, the kind of fresh where you see yummy juices flow as you pick on the fish and the taste - soft and melts in your mouth! overall, it was still a wholesome meal worth travelling miles and hours for, at a moment's notice!

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after filling our tummies with yummies, we made full use of our sudden trip to visit melaka city, passing by the famous dataran pahlawan and other landmarks. we made a stop in front of the very old st. xavier church, where rows of melaka tree stood proudly on the opposite, along the melaka river.

so this is melaka tree!

legend has it that the founder of melaka, parameswara was resting when he saw a kancil fought and ultimately defeated his hunter dogs. amazed by the wit and dexterity of the little kancil, he then asked about the tree under which he was resting upon, and was told that it was the melaka tree. hence, parameswara named the place as melaka.

we then moved on to one of the museums in melaka, which not only has the shape of a ship - but it really is a ship! complete with all the parts and sections of a typical ship.

khaleef was so excited screaming, "jack sparrow ship!"

after a few shots and the kids running around, we decided to wrap up the night and head on home. a tiring trip but was so worth it after seeing the look on mr. khairul's face after his long-craved seafood meal.

goin to melaka? give it a try, guys!