Assalamualaikum wbt
The Trip
This is the 2nd
trip for the Food Service Management students. We went to Langkawi before, and
now, to Malacca. The heart of Malaysia’s history. A town that is well known for
its ancient history of Parameswara and Cheng Ho. Not to forget, it is also well
known for its traditional Baba Nyonya heritage, which is the infusion of Malay
and Chinese culture. The objectives of this 4 days trip are to let us explore
the signature food and the culture in Malacca, and to mend a tighter bond
between the students through the activities held.
The first day of trip
was started with Jonker Walk. It is more likely to the Petaling Street in Kuala
Lumpur, where lots of accessories, antics items, souvenirs and hawker food were
displayed and sold. We dropped at this place with the main purpose of buying
some food to eat since we’ve not eaten for dinner yet. However, it has come to
our sense that the Jonker Walk is dominated by the Chinese only when we got
there. There are lots and lots of foods sold along the narrow street such as
ice cream, coffees, desserts, biscuits, traditional delicacies, cuisines, fried
food, dodol, and durian puffs, but since they were all sold by the Chinese
people, so we can’t even buy them because we were not sure of its Halal state.
During this whole trip,
we stayed at Homestay Villa Sri Pinang. A lovely village located near
Pantai Klebang, surrounded by the paddy fields and beautiful scenery. We spent
the whole second day at this homestay starting off with ‘jungle trekking’ early
in the morning, where we were brought to walk around the village crossing the
paddy field and palm oil field.
After that, we were
taught by the villagers on how to cook Asam
pedas. I thought that Asam pedas
was a very typical Malay dish that does not belong to any specific region or
state, but I was wrong. Asam pedas is
actually a significant dish of Malacca and what makes it different from other
types of Asam pedas is the addition
of ‘halba’ or fenugreek in English,
and also ‘belacan’ or shrimp paste
into the ingredients used. This what makes it unique in terms of the flavor. In
fact, shrimp paste is actually one of Malacca’s main production in food
industry. We also had the chance to make our own Asam pedas and they are judged by Dr Shahrim and Dr Yaya.
The activity in the
evening is continued with the donation ceremony to the poor of Kg Sri Pinang.
There are about 10 families that have received this donation which is given in
terms of items. Although it was just a simple and brief ceremony, but it was a meaningful
one when you were able to see the smiles of these poor villagers when they
received the donations. It was a big pleasure for all of us to have the honor
of helping those who are in need. This is just one of a way for us to make the
trip meaningful. We also had fun spending the evening with games and chilling while eating the kuih.
The third day was a
full day tour. We started with the visit to the Small Scale Industry of cencaluk and belacan production. What we’ve expected is the complete process of
making them. However, it cannot be fulfilled because the production of cencaluk and belacan depends on the availability of the shrimps, specifically udang geragau. The shrimps are available
in large scale only in the months of July until October. This is when the
shrimps are caught using the specific type of net called ‘pelanggai’. Since we were not able to see the production, they just
gave us the explanations on the process of making them and after that, we were
brought to the little shops that sells cencaluk, belacan, and various kinds of
other local products such as inang-inang,
gula Melaka (brown sugar), sago, dried fishes, dried squids, and many
more.
 |
| Pelanggai |
The tour of the day is
continued with a tour in Bandar Melaka and the visit to Submarine Museum whereby a real huge submarine is
exhibited. The submarine was used to be owned by the France army and it was
then given to our country’s royal navies to be used as practice. The internal part
of the submarine is opened to the public to walk in and see what does it looks
like inside the submarine. We entered the submarine and it was beyond our
expectation. The internal parts are very narrow and crowded with engines and
machineries. The beds and kitchens are small and have very limited space to
move. Indeed, it has opened our eyes and gave us a quick imagination of what it
feels like to be stocked inside a submarine in the middle of the ocean.
The next venue is the
Macau Gallery. This is a gallery to promote the Macau tourism and it culture. It
exhibits and displays everything about Macau and most importantly, its relation
with the emergence of Malacca. As soon as we arrived there, there are guiders
who brought us to tour every section of the gallery while explaining the
history behind Cheng Ho’s shipping and its relation to Macau and Malacca. Like
Malacca, Macau is also rich in its unique history on how it was found and
developed into a successful tourist attraction.
Our fourth day, the
final day, is ended with a beautiful sight-seeing of Desa Paku House and Garden
in Lendu, Alor Gajah. It is a beautiful traditional house of Malacca that is
situated at the center of an exotic garden with 3-acre wide. Most of the
flowers planted are of Helicornia type and are very rare to be seen in normal
garden.
Every corner of the
house is perfectly designed and decorated with antic ornaments and custom-made
batik pillows for the sofas. We’re served with some traditional Malay cuisines
as our treat such as ketayap, curry puff, koci and pulut panggang. The most
interesting part of the visit to this house is that the owner had actually
produced lots of homemade perfumes using the flowers, leaves and herbs that were
planted in his garden. We’re very lucky to have the experience of testing all
of the perfumes that were made by him. Some have pleasant and sweet smell, but
some are just too pungent and could not tolerate with my smelling sensory.
Reflection
Before I went to
Malacca, I have a very cliché expectation of just another historical place that
is rich in its tradition and culture. When people talk about Malacca, the Baba
Nyonya heritage and A’ Famosa Fortress is the first thing to come out from
their mind and that was it. It has become a very mainstream significant to
Malacca.
However, this trip has gone beyond my
expectation and changed my perception of Malacca especially the visit to Macau
Gallery and Desa Paku House Garden. All this while, we have been taught about
the history of Malacca but the only things that we could remember is about
Parameswara, the mousedeer and the Melaka tree story. We know about the
Portuguese who had once taken over Malacca, created a very big impact to the
culture and tradition in here, and caused a mixed culture that lead to the
emergence of Eurasian people. But we never had the urge to know in details
about what has happened in the past. Who would have thought that Macau was once
has given a very big contribution on the history of Malacca that involves Cheng
Ho, The Father of Shipping. And who would have thought too that in the mid of
hustle bustle of the city, there is a peaceful and eye-pleasing place called
Desa Paku that is still well-maintained for the past 30 years! I realized that
in this modernize era, there are still people who care about the heritage and
culture, and try to make a very big effort to preserve it. This is something
that should be given a compliment.
Apart from the history and culture of Malacca,
I realized about the importance of traditional food to the tourism and food service
industry. For example the shrimp paste. It may look like an ingredient that is
insignificant to the international cuisine, but it is the one that contributes
to enhance lots of traditional dishes such as kangkung belacan and of course, Asam
pedas. As we are busy and putting a lot of efforts on learning the Western
dishes, we should never forget the traditional dishes that we have in this
country so that it will not be forgotten and can be commercialized to the whole
wide world. As a Food Service Management student, I actually felt responsible
to promote more on our traditional cuisine to the world and let it be known
internationally for its unique taste and texture. Some modifications could be
put in it to merge with commercial industry, but the original is always as its
best.
This trip to Malacca has definitely been an
eye-opener for all of us. We were able to explore and gain so much new
knowledge and have the chance to spread it to others. It was a wonderful
experience especially when it comes to forming a tighter bond between the
coursemates and lecturers, and also to have a much meaningful friendship
between all of us. The cooperation is obviously seen in order to make this trip
a successful one. Everyone has put their best to capture good moments to be
reminisced in later times.
I am looking forward for another
wonderful experience in another successful trip. It is always an exploration of
food and culture of the other side of the country. Malacca, 1 Nov - 4 Nov 2013
Written for report submission
