St. John Fort, Malacca

In 1760, the Dutch built a fortress on top of the hill to avoid assaults from the Achene's and Bugis who came from the south.

An army was stationed here to detect any possible attack.

Therefore, cannons facing the sea and land were placed around the fort.

LOVERS & MOUNTAINS; GARAJONAY PARK, LA GOMERA & MOUNT OPHIR, NEAR MALACCA

PARAJONAY PARK

Jeep owners in Egypt converged often in a cafe in Cairo along the Alexandria Highway near the Pyramids.

Jeep owners had trekked the Garajonay Park housing some of the world's oldest woodland, the laurisilva plant being at least 28 million years old and marked Christopher Columbus's stopover on the island in 1491.

La Gomera is just a short ferry trip from Tenerife and it is an unpredicable island, with the Jeep braving landslides, trade winds and ride floods.

La Gomera is the second smallest of the Canary Islands, with a plateau at its centre of a diameter of 23 miles. The demanding bends, the spirals of gradients, the gaping ravines is a good test for the Jeeps. For those who suffer vertigo, this is not the correct place although La Gomera is magical and beautiful.

Garajonay Park is a national park, declared a world heritage site by Unesco. Like the legend of the Princess of Mount Ledang, in Asahan, Malacca; the name Garajonay, so the legend has it, comes from 2 lovers called Gara and Jonay.

The couple threw themselves off the park's highest peak because their marriage was opposed.

The light changes with every bends, one moment you see the sun but the next it disperses, clouds appears there and then with sudden rain and stop abruptly. With strong winds, the sun, clouds, the rain and the fog teases you.

You will get worried one minute, happy the next and then worried again.

MOUNT OPHIR

Leave your luggages in your hotel in Malacca. Enjoy a countryside ride to Mount Ophir. Return to your hotel in the evening on the same day or if you prefer, stay a night at the foothill of Gunung Ledang and return to your hotel in Malacca the next day.

Mount Ophir or Gunung Ledang is near to Malacca with a driving distance of about 1 hour. The gateway to Mount Ophir or Gunung Ledang is  Duyong. Duyong is the home to the legendary Hang Tuah.

Turning left after completing the main road of Duyong, Tehel is a place for delicious durians. After Tehel, you will reach Benbam. From Benbam, you must continue your journey until you arrive at Jasin. When Jasin's roundabout appears, take the road on your right to proceed to Tangkak. Look far towards your left when you are at the first traffic-light junction at Tangkak and you will see Mount Ophir or Gunung Ledang.

The Chinese called Mount Ophir 'Kim Sua' in Hokkien dialect. The Malays called Mount Ophir 'Gunung Ledang' which means 'mount from afar'. Many know the 'Kim Sua' is magical. There are facts that lottery jackpots came from tickets of the 'Kim Sua' areas.

The Princess of Mount Ophir has set 7 conditions for the Sultan who love her. Eventually, the Princess married Ragam, whose boat was crushed during a raging storm and the debris of the wreck created Hanyut Island, Nangka Island, Undan Island, Serimbun Island, Burong Island while the Princess is today Pulau Besar. Pulau Besar has got the shape of a lady.

As I drove through Jonker Walk ...

From a sister blog, General About.

Ahead, two roads diverged into the city.

I steered right and an arch is above me when the statue of Mr. Asia at the other road on the left, stole a look from me. The road on the left is called Kubu Road. It is the statue of His Honourable Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong, the former Mr. Asia. Read more about the Malaysian Bodybuilding in the Blog, WAY OF LIFE !

Datuk Wira is a Malay titles honouring someone with outstanding achievements.

Immediately after passing the arch, the image of Queen Victoria's fountain pop-up in my mind, and knowing very well, her fountain is about 1 kilometer right in front, standing proudly with the Christ Church and the Stadhuy as backgrounds.

Queen Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Not forgetting the soft rest the foot against the accelerating pedal of the Malaysian made Proton Wira, the car was further slowed to the swaying of the many nationalists from many parts of the world, who are gazing on every inches of Jonker Walk.

All those nationalists are surely devoted to the interests and culture of one's nation, but each time on any other day, as I drove through Jonker Walk ... they gazed with love.

Learn more before you travel at Jonker Walk | Tourism Malaysia. Those nationalists are tourists.

99 feet stretch from the side mirror of the Proton Wira, is a row of very very old shops where the amazing home made Nyonya or some say, the Peranakan Pineapple Tart that can induce mouth watering condition and the tarts aroma would seduce you to melt them in your mouth.

Next to these tarts corners, is the Jonker Boutique Hotel, an old 3-storey concrete refurbished with modern amenities of 5-stars comfort. I sighed, "I must walk through Jonker Walk !". It is certainly to be only a normal discovery for a 3 hours walk best in daylight and better after dusk. To grab Jonker's heritage of old legends and tales, where not opt for a night long and check in at http://www.jonkerboutiquehotel.com/.

Enjoy the typical activities on street stage while you dine and fly them home in your captured video to quench your thirst on the unique legends and tales that kicked started from the past with the emergence of Paramewara, Admiral Cheng Ho, Saint Francis Xavier, Alfonso De Albuquerque, Ralph Ritch and the list does not stop here.

13 buses parked on side of the road leading to several fabulous clans buildings, nicely blocked the view of the Coffee Story. Before Malaya's independence, the little wooden shop adjourning Jonker Walk, sitting at the corner of Temple Street, amidst the rustic and quaint surroundings is a household name and the local-styled kopitiam, AIK CHEONG.

You will be lucky if you find out more legends and tales with their origin along Temple Street. That depends on who you ask.

Soon, the clans buildings appear in front the eyes and "Wow !", they are hand built and the acrchitecture as a whole, its intricate carvings, its designs, its signs and symbols, its beams and pillars, its doors and windows, project a very rich meaning modern power tools and machineries cannot copy.

Amidst the joy and the cheers, you can also feel the sentimental traditional customs and rites, the religious chanting and prayers on a unpredicted day.

On merchandise, they are of old values, some may no longer in use today in modern Malacca, some has become luxury items or items for the rich and famous.

On food, the internet carry a lot but one has got to truly know the gourmet, as a connoisseur of fine food, beverages and desserts await you.

On fun, pamper yourself from a kopitiam or a cafe to a princely Casa del Rio.

Soon, this place will hard rock more fun for you. Check Out ! the Yahoo News on HARD ROCK CAFE, MALACCA.

Malacca. Just another heritage site.

FOOTBALL PLAYER : SOH CHIN AUN

Dato' Soh Chin Aun made 252 appearances for his country.

He is the most capped Malaysian player of all time.


" I can still remember the stadium very well. Before the game, you are so nervous, you are so scared that you will loose. When you walked out of the tunnel, the whole crowd ... (see and listen more in the YouTube) ... "

Cross On Shells

Rare crab re-appears in Malacca

Saint Francis Xavier was buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca in 1553.

Before Saint Francis Xavier reached the shores in Malacca, there was a ragging storm and he dipped his crucifix into the sea and prayed to God to calm the storm. The crucifix slipped from his grip and fell into the sea and he prayed that it could be returned to him.

On arrival at the shores of Malacca, he saw the crucifix in between the claws of the crabs. He retrieved the crucifix and a sign of the Cross appeared on the crab's shell after he blessed it.

These crabs re-surfaced again in Malacca after half a century.

MELAKA: ST. PAUL'S CHURCH

St. Paul's Church


This church was originally a small chapel built by Portuguese captain called Duarto Coelho in 1521 A.D. and called "Nosa Senhora - Our Lady of the Hill".

The chapel was handed over to the "Society of Jesus" in 1548 and enlarged in 1556 with the addition of a second storey and renamed "Annunciation". A tower was added in 1950.


When the Dutch took over Malacca from the Portuguese, they changed its name to St. Paul's Church and used it for 112 years until their own church, the Christ Church was completed in 1753.

St. Paul's Church lost its tower when the British took over but had one new feature added to it - the lighthouse at the front of the church.

The British however did not use the church for worship but used it for the storage of gunpowder. They also erected a tall flagpole and renamed the hill on which the church is sited to Flagstaff Hill (Bukit Bendera).

The name however did not last. The flagpole was later taken down and the church abandoned. Old tombstones found inside the ruins bear silent testimony to the final resting place of several Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

The reowned Spanish-born Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier was a regular visitor to this church from 1545 to 1552 and when he died, his body was interred here for nine months before being exhumed and taken to his final resting place in Goa, India.

A statue of St. Francis was built in 1952 to commerate his passing and internment here. The St. Paul's Church ruins were gazetted as an old monument and historical site under the Antiquities Act No 168/1976 on 12th May 1977.

MELAKA: SAINT LAWRENCE'S CHAPEL

These remnant of building structure were identified as the ruins of Rosary Chapel or 'Capela Ermida de Rosario' which was built in the year 1700.

This Catholic Chapel was built as a substitute to the Saint Lorenzo or Saint Lawrence's Chapel which was constructed on this site in the 16th century.

The Saint Lawrence's Chapel is an epitome of the Portugese chapels that were biult outside the Malacca Fort (Fortaleza de Malacca).

Apart from the chapels, the Portugese have also built convents, stronghold as well as residential buildings outside the city walls.

These buildings were built in Bukit China, Bukit Pipi (Bukit Senjuang or Saint John's Hill) as well as within the proximity of docking yards along the river of Malacca, such as this particular site.

The dimension and design of this chapel is believed to have been similar to Saint Francis's Chapel in Tranquera or Tengkera, and this Saint Francis's Chapel has also been evacuated.

The roles and functions of the Rosary Chapel started to decline following the completion of Saint Peter's Church in the year 1710 some hundred metres away from this site.

This was made more obvious with the declaration of Saint Peter's Church as the official main church in Malacca.

The Rosary Chapel was still in use, though not as much as it used to be, until the end of the 19th century when it was abandoned, left to decay and eventually crumbled.

It is such a sad fate for a building that houses the tombs of Portugese dignitaries such as Emerinci de Souza, whose tombstone still remain.

MELAKA: BASTION HOUSE

Bastion House was built around 1910 and its architecture was influenced by the British. 

It bear witnessed to the historic event to proclaim the date of independence for the Federation of the Malay States on 22nd February 1956.

It was used as offices by the various private sectors (Dunlop, for example). 

However, due to its location and and historic value, The State Government of Malacca had purchased the building and converted it into The Malay and Islamic World Museum which currently collects, stores and exhibits the history and the heritage of the Malays throughout the world for the benefit of the future generations.

Within walking distance, see Bastion House first hand when you are at Dataran Pahlawan.

MELAKA: THE ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CHURCH AND ITS VICINITIES

St Xavier Church, Malacca - This picture shows you how the church and its vicinity looks like a very long time ago, how time changes its vicinities and how the place looks like now.

It was built in 1856. The feast of St. Francis Xavier falls on 3rd December each year.

MELAKA: COCONUT SHAKE UP YOUR MOOD

Coconut water contains natural sugar, fibre, proteins, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, and provide an isotonic electrolyte balance. Coconut water is consumed as a refreshing drink is one of the popular beverages in Melaka.

Do you know what coconut can do in Modern Medicine ? Find out more at Coconut Research Center.

Mood up at Coconut Shake, Melaka

amazon bring to you great knowlege on coconut.

MELAKA: BUTTERFLY PARK

Malacca Butterfly Park

The butterflies and moths form one of the largest orders of insects numbering 100,000 species or more. The scientific name of the group is Lepidoptera. It comes from two Greek words meaning "scale" and "wing".

Crown Prince Naruhito (Kōtaishi Naruhito Shinnō), born 23 February 1960, had once visited the Malacca Butterfly Park.

 

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First Hang Tuah Festival begins on Friday in Bandar Hilir

First Hang Tuah Festival begins on Friday in Bandar Hilir

The above picture is a bridge named after the legendary warrior, Hang Tuah during the 15th Century. Hang Tuah, is a local word that cannot be seperated from the word, Malacca.

Above the bridge, there are four dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. Of historical value, the dagger of such is classified as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Hang Tuah was saod to have dug the Hang Tuah well and it has never dried-up in the most severe of droughts. Water from this well is said to be sacred and have healing properties. Locals believed that Hang Tuah's sould which takes on the apparition of a white crocodile, dwell in the well. The present of the Hang Tuah well also give rise to the notion that Hang Tuah was from Duyong. In East Sumatera, a similar well also exist.

MELAKA: STEAMBOAT CAN SPICE UP YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Steamboat.

The saying, "A picture is a thousand words." is used for this pot of ingredients. I tasted the tasty crabs, fish slices, mussels, oysters, scallops, clams, squids, fillets, fish balls, vegetables, sausages, and ... the great tea. It was just yesterday. Undeniable, once is not enough.

Steamboats in Melaka. Discover the places !

For Ringgit Malaysia 19 and cents 80, you go buffet style in Melaka and spice up your relationship with your loved ones in between each cooking.

Omega 3 Natural Fish Oil 1000mg

Tested for:

• Mercury.
• Pesticides.
• Heavy Metals.

Natural fish oil is a rich source of the long chain Omega 3 marine triglyceride fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). This product may help maintain normal healthy airways, nerve and myelin functions, prostaglandin metabolism, heart function, blood triglyceride (fat) levels, blood pressure and blood clotting.

It may temporarily improve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. It also assists in the relief of the symptoms of headache, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), eczema and allergies.

These are readable in the packaging.

At Blooms, we routinely test our Omega 3 Natural Fish Oil products for chemicals that find their way into the environment. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) requires a minimum amount of testing, which in itself is fairly rigorous.

Blooms have gone a few steps further and test for a total of 144 chemicals. In most cases, our results are ten times less than the TGA mandated limits and never over these requirements.

blooms
HEALH PRODUCTS

www.bloomshealth.com.au

Note: The writer of this blog is on a 2nd. 400 capsules pack. It works.

 

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MELAKA: BREEDING CHICKEN USING THE OLD METHOD

In neighboring developed countries like Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo, many childrens may not see for themselves how the breeding of chickens is done. Even if they do, they would have seen the breeding of chickens in a high-tech farm, probably using a mechanically activated feeding process linked to a computer system.

One sure look of the chickens, is the look on frozen chickens in their kitchen refrigerators, the common sights of chicken drumsticks, chicken wings and chicken breast.

Are children today experiencing feeding the chickens themselves with some corns or maize with their palms, in the yards of the homes of their parents ? Are they observing how chicken is slaughtered ? And how are the feathers removed ? Do they know that in old times, unfinished meals do not find their ways into the bins and there was no concept like Reduce, Reuse and Recycle ? Do they now still play shuttercocks made from feathers of the chickens ? Fun like these are getting rare.

On holidaying in Melaka the next time, allocate some days of stay to create the time opportunity to walk in the old and secluded areas of Old Melaka and discover the prevailing old ways.

Your children will love it ! Surprise your spouse ! Let kids get some real knowledge !

Here are some sources of paper knowledge.

 

There are tales on Promising & Swearing which involved chickens.

Let's see a Post on such tales in due time.

ABOVE IS AN IMAGE OF A CAGE TO HOUSE CHICKENS IN OLD WAYS. COME AND EXPLORE BEYOND THIS.

GET INTERNATIONAL CHICKEN COOKING RECIPES @ AMAZON

MELAKA GURDWARA SAHIB

Vasakhi is one of the most important event in the Sikh calendar. Under oppression by the Mughal Emperor, the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Rai gathered the Sikhs and among them baptised 5 courageous devotees who had proclaimed themself the Panj Pyare (the Five Beloved One). This served to instill the spirit of courage and strength to sacrifice. Guru Gobind Rai established the Khalsa Panth - the order of the Pure Ones. Furthermore, the Guru gave every Sikh the surname of ' Singh ' , which means ' lion ' and took the name for himself as well; from then on he was Guru Gobind Singh. Vasakhi is a three-days affair and devotees throng to the Gurdwaras (Sikh Temples) with flowers and offerings.

Gurdwara Sahib Malacca, built in 1925, serves the local Sikh families and prayers are held on every Sunday morning. Yearly barsi held for Saint Sohan Singh Ji, on or around 24th May attracts ten of thousands of Sikhs from all over the world. The original building was based on portugese architecture and now there are separate buildings housing Saint Sohan Singh complex and Dharmik Vidyala. Located in the centre of Malacca town, it is one of the significant tourist attractions. A member of this blog who is a lawyer and an ex-student of Malacca High School is active with this temple.

MELAKA: READ WHAT 3 PERSONS SAID.

Men cannot estimate the worth of Malaqa, on account of its greatness and profit . Malaqa is a city that was made for merchandise , fitter than any other in the world ; the end of monsoons and the beginning of others . Malaqa is surrounded and lies in the middle , and the trade and commerce between the different nations for a thousand leagues on every hand must come to Malaqa . . . . Whoever is lord of Malaqa has his hand on the throat of Venice .

Cortesao , 1944

On the ruins of Melaka Fort

We build the spirit of freedom

Burhanuddin al-Helmy

During the past, Malacca had been given the name of "Sleepy Hollow". This was because for many decades, there was hardly any progressive development in Malacca which had nothing tangible to offer other than a few well-knowns ruins and monuments. While at one stage of its history, the nomenclature of "Sleepy Hollow" was quite a compliment, it is no longer so at present for time had changed. - said The Honourable Tan Sri Datuk Tan Cheng Swee on April 6, 1973.

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Weaving Rattan Baskets in Melaka.

Handmade Rattan Baskets is symbolic and the basket represent the weaving of your strands of appreciation. The weaving of rattan baskets is an on-going affair since a long time ago.

The next time you are in Melaka, you can find rattan basket along the street where the film, The Little Nyonya was directed.

Rattan baskets were created centuries ago and in Melaka, it was used as a container for holding and carrying goods and gifts. With the invention of plastics, rattan baskets have evolved into a folk art in the comtemporary era. With the fabulous eco-green future plan, rattan baskets rekindle old tales.

In recent years, rattan baskets are gaining wider popularity again as a way to a eco-friendly lifestyle.
High in aesthetic value, a rattan basket is also a symbol of Nature and as the provider of human needs.
Give your loved ones a basket of love.

 

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Hang Li Poh's Well, MELAKA

King's Well or the Perigi Raja is also known as the Hang Li Poh Well. The Hang Li Poh Well was dug by an order of the Sultan Mansor Shah of Melaka during the period 1458 AD to 1477 AD. The Hang Li Poh Well is constructed specially for his wife, Hang Li Poh, a princess of an emperor in China. Melaka's relationship with China is very close since Admiral Zheng He voyages.

The water from this well was used for the daily needs of the Princess and has never gone dry even during long periods of drought.

Legend has it that if one were to drink the water of Hang Li Poh's well, then he or she will surely return to Melaka again. To return to Melaka again is a great fortune.

 

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Malacca Green Carnival

Organised by Green Tech Malaysia, the Malacca State Government and the Kementerian Tenaga, Teknoloji Hijau dan Air, the Green Community Carnival took off in Malacca on, 12 June, 2011.

Save The Earth And Make The Different You've probably noticed that GREEN is everywhere these days-in the news, politics, fashion, and even technology.As globalization makes the world become smaller, it becomes increasingly easy to see how the lives of people (and plants and animals and ecosystems) everywhere are closely synced up with one another. So toys made in Asia can affect the quality of life in Europe, pesticides used in Argentina can affect the health of people in the United States, and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia can affect a diminishing rainforest in Brazil. The truth is that evey single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet, good or bad. The good news is that as an individual, you have the power to control most of your choices and therefore, the impact you create. From where you live to where you buy, eat and use to light your home. To where and how you go on vacation, to how you shop or vote, you can have a role on the global impact. So, why wouldn't you want to GREEN .......................................?

AT DATARAN SUNGAI MELAKA. THE COMMUNITY PROJECT COME TRUE UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MOHD. ALI RUSTAM.

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