Jonker Walk

Jonker Walk is situated in the heart of Malacca. It's a long narrow 500m street, flanked by old houses and temples dating back to 17th century.

The story of Jonker Walk goes back to the Dutch Period in Malacca. The servants and subordinates of Dutch masters used to live at the nearby Heeren Street (now Tun Tan Cheng Lock Street). However, as soon as the Dutch left, it became noblemen's street. The rich Baba and Bibiks started to live and trade here giving the street a deep rooted ethnic and culture flavour.

Jonker Walk is a haven for antique collectors. Assortment of artifacts, some dating as far back as 300 years can be found in the antique shops that lined the street. There are also many entertainment, food and beverage outlets catering for the visitors in the area.

Most of the shops in Jonker Walk operate their business from 10am until 8pm, whilst Tourist Market is held on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at which vehicles are not allowed into the street.

There are also Chinese Cultural Shows held at Jonker Street (Friday-Sunday night) as on of the ways to further promote the cultural lifestyle and heritage of the Babas and Nyonyas (Straits born Chinese) to the tourists.

During these hours, traders are lining along the pedestrian street and setting up stalls to sell and display products such as antiques, local and ethnic traditional food, unique arts and crafts. souvenirs, ornamental jewellery and wooden clogs.

I reckon this would be a better place to hunt for souvenirs compare to the heritage areas across the Malacca River. One can get better quality and more creative items here.

Strange thing is most of the stalls and shops here don not allow people to take photo in their premises.

The street is also an ideal place to look for food or snack. Pineapple tarts, twisting potato, dumpling, "Ting Ting" sweets and many more signature products can be found here.

For the record, there are also some pubs nearby the street that serve foreign beers such Paulaner, Kilkenny, Hoegaarden and Franziskaner which are usually found in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

This street is only worth to be visited from Friday - Sunday night as it really comes alive during that duration time. It is kind of dull on any other day