My Malacca Trip

I went to Malacca last December, 2 days prior to Christmas Day, for a short trip with 2 of my friends. We booked one of the local hostels, Twenty Guest House, located near the entrance of Jonker Street. It was a 2 days 1 night stay. It was meant to be a get-away trip for us all, and at the same time a photographic trip. I wanted to travel light so I brought my Seagull 205 Rangefinder and a couple of extra 35mm color negative films. Oh yes! I brought my HOLGA 120GN too, for some fun shots.

So here are the street photographs I took on the color negatives. I'll update the photos from my HOLGA once ready. All photographs are scanned and converted to B&W with light sepia toning, in Photoshop. Hope u enjoy viewing them as much as I made them.

Day 1 - 23 Dec 2007, Sunday:

Parking Jeep

After we had checked in at the hostel, we were very hungry. We spotted one of the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice stalls with long queue and decided to try out Zhong Hua Cha Shi (中华茶室) on their famous chicken riceballs. Man, they taste good - the authentic Hainanese chicken rice. Yummy!

After the meal, we take a walk along the street, exploring the area for some good street photographs. The photo above is one of the first few photos I took. Though the weather was blazing hot, it provides excellent lighting for photography.

Malacca Trishaw Rider

This is one of the famous tourist attractions - trishaw decorated with vibrant flowers. I was lucky to take this shot. We were walking along Temple Street and as I turned around my back I saw this trishaw rider riding with his passengers, coming in my direction. Fortunately, I had set my rangefinder camera in advance, so I lifted it up and snapped! This is the fun part of street photography, especially when using a rangefinder camera.

Peace Fool - graffiti outside a tattoo parlor

Next, I came across this graffiti right beside a tattoo parlor. the wooden door was painted green color and the hand in yellow with the bandaged finger red. I like the color combination as it reminds me of Bob Marley and the country flag colors. If you know or heard of Bob Marley, you'll know what I mean.

Parking Trishaw

As we walked farther down Temple Street, I saw this parked trishaw outside what it seems like a shop. It's the Trishaw Association Company, I think. This is me taking the shot.

Courtesy of Stan, Shiwei

The hot weather certainly dehydrated us a lot. I was thirsty and as we reached the 2 temples, I saw this drink stall parked by the roadside. The drink seller is selling herbal tea and other cooling drinks like water chestnut drinks, etc. It costs 1 Ringgit (50 cents) per cup. Ah...! The water chestnut drink certainly quenched my thirst. Later I asked the drink seller if I can take a photo of him. He just smiled and does his work. So I did a few quick shots. This is one of them.

Drink Seller

After a short rest, we continued to walk down the street, in search of more interesting things to shoot. What a surprise! We came across Malacca's famous shoemaker store, Wah Aik Shoemaker. They are famous for the making of traditional bound feet shoes, and they claimed that they are the one and only store that still makes them, not only in Malaysia or Southeast Asia but the whole world. Even in China, there isn't anyone making it. This trade/heritage is dying off as the young generations aren't willing to pick up the skill and continue the heritage.

Wah Aik Shoemaker Store. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

This is what a pair of bound feet shoes looks like. A pair of bound feet shoes measures at 3-inches in length from tip to heel. Well, all this heritage has to trace back to history which I won't elaborate on here.

Bound Feet Shoes on my palms. Courtesy of Stan, Shiwei.

Let's meet the owner and shoemaker, Mr. Raymond Yeo. This craft and skill have been passed down for three generations. Currently, the business is managed by Mr. Yeo and his elder brother.

Mr. Raymond Yeo, the shoemaker.

Mr. Raymond Yeo at work.

Mr. Yeo is serving his customers.

We chatted with Mr. Yeo about the history and business of bound feet shoemaking before we bid farewell. We continued our walk and suddenly we craved the local famous dessert, Cendol. We stopped by this stall that sells really good tasty Nyonya cendol. One cup costs 2 ringgit (about one SGD). The boss told us that they use gula melaka (dark brown coconut sugar) and pure coconut milk, which are undiluted, for their cendol. It's not too sweet and blends nicely with red beans & jelly. Very refreshing! So far this is the best cendol I have ever tasted.

Nyonya Cendol and Coconut Drinks

Best Nyonya Cendol in Malacca.

Later on, the rest of the guys went on to buy the local famous biscuit， “豆沙饼”. Too bad I didn't manage to get any photos. We went back to the hostel to keep those biscuits and rest for a while before we moved out again to the next location i.e. Portuguese Settlement, for some sunset photography.

On impromptu, we stopped by St Paul Cathedral building, one of the tourist sites in Malacca. It's located right on the hilltop next to the main road. Upon reaching the top, I bummed into a painter. His name is Martin. I took a closer look at his work and he was doing up a new painting. I decided to have a chat with him. He looked up and smiled at me.

Chatting with the Painter. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

We chatted for a while before I asked for his permission to take some photographs of him. He seemed to be reluctant even though he agreed so. Therefore I took a few quick shots.

Martin the Painter at work.

Martin the Painter.

We started to go our way to explore the area for more photography opportunities. There are street buskers and flea market sellers around. Many tourists and including the locals came all the way here for family day outings during the festive holiday.

Taking photographs of a street busker. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

Street busker singing Bob Dylan's "Knocking On The Heaven's Door"

I came across another artist, an old man by the name of Francis. A chatty old folk who was talking to a young lad and his group of friends. As I approached nearer and squatted down, he noticed me and smiled at me. "Go ahead! You can take as many photos as you like!", he said out abruptly. I just smiled back at him. Then he turned his attention to me and started to talk about his artwork and even asked me where I came from. In the end, I took a few shots and this is one of them.

Francis the old painter

After asking for directions and reading the map, we somehow decided to walk to the Portuguese Settlement. You wouldn't believe it. It was the craziest idea! After a few minutes walk on the busy street with heavy traffic, we thought that the distance is way too far. We tried to hail a taxi but in vain. We were standing right outside this Club and there was a car with 2 guys, that drove up and left the place. It stopped at the entrance.

As a last resort, my friend approached them for directions and asked if they can give us a lift to the Portuguese Settlement. They gladly agreed. Whoa! we did actually hitch-hiked a ride. Fortunately, we arrived at our destination safe and sound. My personal advice: never hitch-hike a ride on your overseas trip for your own safety. You never know what will happen. Never take that risk. Well for us, we were lucky. Based on the car journey and distance, we wouldn't be able to reach there on time for the sunset shoot. We were really lucky to meet those two kind-hearted guys.

After staying there for an hour or so for the sunset, we decided to go back to Jonker Street for dinner. We had a good meal at an authentic Nonya Restaurant. After dinner, my friends suggested to go for spa and we went to Hotel Puri to check it out. To our surprise, there was a Christmas carol going on. Well, we wouldn't want to miss this opportunity for a few good shots. Here's mine.

Christmas Carol @ Hotel Puri

To their disappointment, the hotel spa service was closed for the day so they decided to go for foot reflexology. I didn't join them but we had supper after their one-hour session. After the meal, we continued to walk around for a little sightseeing of the night street market til its closing time. Our last stop was at a pub on a quiet street. We had drinks and a nice chat before we called it a day and retired to our hostel room for a cool shower and a good night's sleep.

The next morning, we had breakfast in-house, provided by the hostel. Simple bread with fruit jam and hot coffee. Over the warm breakfast, we discussed the day's program. The other two fellows decided to go back for more foot reflexology after some walk-around shootings at Christ Church Melaka area.

Trishaw Rider, resting

Christ Church Melaka

Flying High In The Sky

Sunburst over Church

Our group photo (clockwise from right): Vivien Lee, Stan, and me.

Later on, we visited a photography gallery and had Melaka Laksa and Cendol for lunch. Lastly, Vivien and Stan went back for foot reflexology and as for me, this time I decided to try body massage on my back. Whoa! It was really good despite the painful scrapping. I felt much better after the session and the following days to come.

Finally, we walked back to the pick-up point at Hyatt Hotel and waited for our coach. Overall it was a great short trip which I really enjoyed so much.