Porta de Santiago

Porta de Santiago remains the most recognizeable landmark in Malacca. Porta in Portuguese refers to portal, which means gateway and true enough Porta de Santiago was indeed one of four main gateway into the Portuguese fortress of A'Famosa.

The leader of the Portuguese army that conquered Malacca in 1511, Alfonso de Albuquerque started the construction of A'Famosa in 1512 from which they fended of attacks by the armies of Sultan of Malacca and Acheh for well over a century, a testament of how formidable this fort once.

The Portuguese used slaves to construct this squarish fort surrounding Malacca Hill with walls 3m thick using parts from the demolished palaces, royal mausoleums and mosques. A 40m high watchtower once stood in the Northwest corner of fortress.

After the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in 1641, they reinforce and widen the fortress and put the mark of "VOC" (Dutch East India Company) of the coat of arms of the Dutch soldier together with the year 1670.

This fort was nearly obliterated by the British in 1795 who decided to destroyed it for fear of it being used against them after Malacca handed back to the Dutch. In 1807, British under the Resident William Farquhar used gun powder to blow up the fort.

However, Sir Stamford Raffles and Lord Minto intervened and stopped his countrymen from totally demolishing this fort completely. Only Porta de Santiago was spared from the total demolition.

It is now a star attraction for the city of Malacca with traders selling their art works inside the ancient structure.

Tokyo Street @ Pavilion

Tokyo Street is now the newest outlet at Pavilion Shopping Centre which offers shoppers a blend of traditional and contemporary experience of Japan culture and lifestyles.

The design here is inspired by Asakusa, a district in Tokyo that blends the urban feel with the rich heritage and traditions of Japan.

Located at Level 6, it offers a vibrant mix of Japanese food and beverage, retail and service brands to meet the ever changing consumer fashion trends, lifestyles, high fashion, gourmet cuisine and home wares.

nanoblock also set up a display here which showcases some of the notable  landmarks in Japan like the Tokyo Tower.

Paddy Village Hotel @ Sekinchan

We stumbled upon Paddy Village Hotel while looking for a place to crash for the night at Sekinchan. Since we were there on a public holiday, most of the hotels in Sekinchan were already full.

Paddy Village Hotel is a new hotel located at the edge of the Sekinchan town. It is visible from the main road, heading to the Sabak Bernam direction. It might be a bit far from the town for those who are walking. I reckon one will need to walk less than 10 minutes to reach the town.

It is quite evident that the hotel is converted from a huge bungalow to a hotel. Mr. Lau is the owner of this hotel and can be reached by 03-3241 0636/019-7287929 or paddyvillage@hotmail.com Mr. Lau is a nice lad to chat with and one can always ask him on the best place to eat or even sight seeing in Sekinchan.

There is a small kitchen at the rear of the hotel which is equipped with water dispenser. Definitely a neat hotel arrangement.

The hotel has 2 rates, the normal rate and peak rate. One way or another, the rate is still consider cheap.

This is the Standard Twin Room (RM 78) which reminds me of the budget hotels usually found in KL. The room is without window but it is very clean. Even the bathroom is bigger than those budget hotels in KL.

I really like this hotel and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to spend a night while in Sekinchan

Jiann Chyi Restaurant @ Sekinchan

Jiann Chyi is one of well known restaurant in Sekinchan. It is located at the Bagan area, just within the fishing village.

The restaurant is always crowded during public holiday and weekends. The never ending line is very obvious from the moment we arrived here. The restaurant open from 7.30am until 3pm only and will not be available at night.

To avoid disappointment, it is best to make reservation via 03-32414690 or else the restaurant owner will not let you be seated without any reservation before hand. Otherwise, just arrive at the restaurant early and make the reservation by leaving your contact number.

It is shame the restaurant did not sell beer which will augur well with the food and the atmosphere around here. There are quite limited choices of drinks available here such as sweet and sour drink, tea, 100 Plus and Cola only.

Stir fried sweet potato leaves which is pretty standard and nothing out of the ordinary.

This is basically pan-fried shark. It tastes OK but not the best way to enjoy a shark dish. I would recommend it to be fried with pig's intestine with spicy sauce or cooked in a soup.

Fish Maw with vegetables is a decent dish cooked with onion, spring onion, carrot and cauliflower.

The shark fin soup porridge is really a must try dish. It is simply out of this world and the broth is one of the best I ever tried. It has a unique taste that soothe my taste buds.  It is cooked with shark, fish balls and lots of ginger.

The bill came out RM 56 (excluding drinks) for all the 4 dishes which feed 3 person. I must say it is very reasonable by any standard. Some of the other dishes worth ordering is the hot & spicy prawn, fried mantis shrimp and steamed fish head.

Sekinchan

Sekinchan is a small town located about 120km from Putrajaya which is translated to roughly about 1 hour and 30 minutes drive.

Sekinchan means 'village suitable for plantation' in Chinese and is well known as one of the major rice supplier in Malaysia. This is clearly evident as vast paddy fields can seen along both side of the roads leading to the town.

The paddy field is dotted with many customized building structures that are homes of the swiftlets. The bird's nest is another famous product of this town.

The town itself is small enough to be explore by foot. It is more developed than I initially anticipated with basic facilities readily available such as banks, post office, mini markets, hotels, vehicle repair shops and etc. I also notice there are at least 5 reflexology centres for such a small town.

Hotel Harbour View is probably the best hotel to stay while in town due to its size and strategic location but there are other options too within the town itself.

I'm impressed with the number of religious houses here as I never thought it can boasts such a number for a small town like Sekinchan.

Before paddy plantation became popular, residents of Sekinchan were active in fishing activities and this is still ongoing until today. The fishing village is called Bagan and is just a stone throw away from the town.

The Bagan fishing village itself has new shop houses now which mainly house the seafood restaurants.

The best seafood restaurants in town can be found in the Bagan areas. Most of the restaurant here opened from 8am until 3pm only while a handful open at night. Advance booking is highly recommended during weekend and public holidays. Another interesting thing is most of these restaurants serve rice and seafood as breakfast where most of the city folks might have some trouble getting used to.

 The fishing village also serve as a perfect area to buy the local snacks to bring home. I highly recommend their keropok for their size, crispiness and taste.

I reckon this is the earliest fire station in town. I guess it is no longer functional today.

Sekinchan is a living and thriving fishing village. The stretch of fishing villages is the one of the many reasons why people call this town "a photographer's haven".

I was surprised to see the village also happen to produce their own fishing boat in what appear to be a make shift dock yard.

Sekinchan is definitely a perfect place for a short retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. I definitely fancy another trip here for the cheap and fresh seafood.