I managed to do some research before heading to Malacca and found out that the best street to visit was Jonker Street where you can find funky souvenirs and the famous Hoe Kee chicken rice balls restaurant. We went there after walking around Dutch square and the surrounding heritage area just in time for dinner. From the square, it's easy to spot Jonker--just look for the triangular rotunda with the dragon and look for the street sign.
It began to rain as soon as we set foot at Jonker so we ran from one place to another. It was quite fun to look for shelter inside the souvenir shops since they had interesting knick knacks.
Save for the fermented spicy shrimp vinegar mix I bought at the Melaka Sentral, we bought most of our souvenirs here at Jonker Gallery. Malacca's known for the spices magnet--as in they use real spices such as cinnamon, star anise, and even coffee beans to place inside the katya mini-bags. They smell really good!
My sister and I gave up on our futile search for the famous pineapple tarts and ended up getting soaked to the bones while walking around Jonker. The only good thing that came from the torrential downpour was the fact that the notoriously crowded Hoe Kee Chicken Rice had a table available for us! I read online that you have to wait at least an hour to get a table, but thanks to the rain, the long line of locals and tourists were nada, although the place was still packed when we went in. Talk about good timing!
Being a self-proclaimed foodie, I made sure to research where to eat the best chicken rice balls in Malacca and this place came highly recommended and on top of almost all lists. I can understand why: the Hainanese was superb and cheap! They have set meals for huge groups and we only paid RM 70 or Php 980 for our group of eight for the whole meal including our drinks. We even had a hard time trying to eat all the chicken and rice balls!
Basically, Malaysia's version of Singapore's Hainanese chicken rice is to serve the rice in little glutinous balls. The chicken has the same recipe as with Singapore. Our auntie waitress (but I think she partly owns the place or is the head waitress since she bossed everyone around), was a very sweet lady who demonstrated how to eat the rice balls and mix the perfect amount of ginger, hot sauce, and soy for the chicken. She was very keen to have us experience it the right way and gleefully observed our reactions while we ate. She even gave us a discount for the final bill since I ran out of Malaysian ringgits. I loved her!
Behold the chicken rice balls! It's really more than enough for eight people, I tell you.
Our perfect timing to snag a table at Hoe Kee Chicken Rice was actually the highlight of the Malacca trip for me. The culture heritage area is nice if you're into architecture and history. However, Malaysia can still improve their tourism in terms of cleanliness and transportation. Imagine my surprise when it started to flood on our way back to Dutch Square from Jonker. Good thing I'm from the good ol' city of Malabon and had no qualms about wading into the ankle-deep water just to hail a cab. On our way back to Melaka Sentral bus terminal, our cabbie refused to use the meter and charged us RM20 or Php 300 for the ten-minute ride. His cab was also EXTREMELY dirty and smelly. I couldn't wait to head back to the squeaky clean and systematic Singapura at the end of the day. I'll definitely go back for Jonker Street, though!
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