After a smooth drive up from Singapore to Malacca, we rounded up Day 1 with a tummylicious meal and zonked out that night. On Day 2, we were very excited to visit a childhood character whom we grew up with! Read on to find out more!
Day 2: BREAKFAST – MAMEE at Jonker House – Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall – Holiday Inn Melaka (Wedding Dinner)
We woke up in excitement as one of the activities for the day was to visit my fave Mamee monster! Yes, this childhood character was born and bred in Malacca – bet you didn’t know! More on that later. We wanted to venture out for breakfast instead of settling for buffet breakfast at the hotel (our stay did not include breakfast, so it’s chargeable), so we drove out in search of local food near Jonker Walk.
Hello to wanton mee, kopi and Chinese rojak (wu xiang!) Food and drinks were rather mediocre and forgettable, I didn’t fancy the Chinese rojak at all – the fishcake seemed like vegetarian versions. Yes, it was all a blur that morning, so we didn’t have time to snap pictures of the stall front or signage either. Should have dined at the Mamee café instead :(
While the adults were tucking into sinful food, baby V had her homemade hearty brekkie which daddy woke up early to prepare for. Ever grateful to the hubs for being such a hands-on dad. We split parenting duties to get things done (he thinks i’m too slow), and i’m awesomely thankful for that. I guess it’s about communication and for both parties to understand that parenting starts the day a baby is conceived. Tasks should be shared (divide and conquer) – it’s not just the mother’s job. While mummy nurses baby throughout the night, surely daddy has to contribute during his waking hours, eh? :P
For parents who would like to know how baby’s food was prepared during our holiday, more info coming up:
The day before, we dropped by the supermarket to grab some fresh food. There weren’t much options as it was a pretty small one. Or maybe it was the way things were displayed – fresh chicken and fish didn’t look very appetizing so Vera ended up with a vegetarian dish of Shitake Mushrooms and Cherry Tomatoes porridge.
We brought along the electrical lunchbox (we’re using Yoei brand), and it’s really easy and fuss-free. The only setback is that it doesn’t have a timer nor an auto-cut-off, so you will need to monitor and check the boiling pot periodically. The bubbling water will splatter and overflow if too much was poured in, so chances of scalding is pretty high. Do be extra careful when dealing with this, and keep other appliances away, as well as baby! It takes typically 30minutes to cook so while the pot was working its way, daddy and I got ready for the day while baby V was still in dreamland. With parenthood, we learn to strategize and multi-task – definitely up several notches now!
And, since she was 13mo when we were in Malacca, she had also started eating off our meals at times when we’re out. So we do let her indulge here and there, however, desserts are still off limits. We are also stay off certain fruits or food that she has yet to try, thanks to stubborn skin issues.
After we were had a not-so-satisfying fuel guzzling, we made our way to the Mamee Jonker House where fun was waiting! Although it was located along the popular touristy Jonker street, it’s a surprise to know that not many folks (including Malaysians and local Malaccans alike!) know about this place. I actually learned about it after seeing an Instagram feed by Modgam (she blogs too!), who posted a pic of Mamee in Malacca and mentioned that they organized workshops too. I knew I HAD TO go there! So we enquired with the folks and they promptly got back to us about the workshops. We spoke to Steven and asked on behalf of the group as my hubs had colleagues and friends who were in Malacca for the wedding that night as well. After communicating via whatsapp, Steven rang us to share more information about the workshops and factory tour which we were interested in. The factory tour needed 40 pax before it could be arranged, so that was pretty tricky as there were no planned tours for the weekend, and neither could we round up 40 pax. For the workshops, there are 2 types: Noodle Doodle and Lil Monster Kitchen (90mins). As there were children within our party, we were also advised that kids had to be at least 72months before they could attend the hands-on Lil Monster Kitchen.
Here’s what greeted us when we reached our little discovery!
We opted for the Lil Monster Kitchen (RM$10/pax), which would allow us a hands-on experience on how Maemee noodles are made. Before the workshop started, we chatted with Steven to find out more about the story behind Mamee. He shared that Mamee monster was the brainchild of his boss and not many actually knew, but Mamee originated from Malacca itself! Their HQ used to be in KL, but they have recently moved back to its original hometown – Melaka! Mamee monster used to have a girlfriend (do you remember the pink furry monster???) – so I asked Steven about her lack of appearance in recent years. He jokingly said that she has since “ran away!”
Some lesser known facts: Mamee snacks sells 1,000,000 packets every day. And the top country? You probably won’t get this right, but it’s Australia! They are also the owners of Mister Potato and Mamee brand has also branched out into offering instant noodles, not just ready-to-eat ones! My fond memories of Mamee includes the tattoos that came with each pack! Anyone else remembers this??
And since we were in Mamee-land, hubs and I couldn’t resist the Mamee merchandise that caught our eyes during our research back in SG. We’re just a year apart and share similar childhood faves too. He told me that there was once, he bought tons of Mamee only to rip the packets apart to collect some game tickets. Upon accumulating X number of them, he managed to redeem a Mamee radio!! I would soooooooo LOVEEEEE to have that Mamee radio, but I cannot fathom swallowing so much Mamee over a short period. Well, apparently some of those packets were either given to his friends or to his mother to cook. I think my mother would have been petrified and imagined that I’ve worms breeding in my stomach or something. Anyhoots, boys have their own childhood thrills I suppose!
Okay, let’s get to our class! Before that, we get a sneak peek at the manufacturing process with little Mamee monsters – too cute!!
Time to get cookin’! During the workshop, there were around 16pax for our session. We were seated in the clean arena and watched a video for an understanding on how the whole process would be – in cartoon-fied version though. Then, it was our turn to get busy!
After the workshop, we went to the Mamee café at level one to meet with hub’s friends and colleagues who were in town for the wedding later that night. One of them suggested lunch at Nancy’s Kitchen, a stone’s throw (travel by foot) from where we were. Apparently, Nancy’s Kitchen serves up one of the best Peranakan food in Malacca, and a must-try. When we got there, this was what greeted us:
Yup. That’s just the crowd on that side of the road. There was a crowd at where we were standing too. Haha, so we had to skip this and ended by returning to Bei Zhan, the restaurant where we had our dinner the night before :P Understood from one of his colleagues that Nancy’s Kitchen has limited seating capacity, hence the crowd as well, in addition to the fact that it’s a popular spot, makes it tough to get in. And with our big group (>10 adults + 3 kids in tow), Bei Zhan has ample seating and big round tables that are great for large groups too. No food pictures for that meal cos too paiseh to whip out camera and snapsnapsnap. LOL.
After the good lunch, we practically had food coma and needed kopi, like NAO! Caffeine addicts we are! So we headed to Pacific Coffee at Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall (again!?) to rejuvenate our souls.
After our coffee attack and some shopping (we really just wanted to hide indoors cos the weather was real sunny!), we went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the wedding dinner that night.
Note to self and fellow mamas: Remember to bring baby food scissors when out! We had to keep borrowing from my hub’s friend who has 2 kids. So paiseh… Baby V ate off our meals during the wedding dinner – basically, we requested for a bowl of hot water to soak them a little before offering her. She was happily chowing down steamed fish, celery, some duck and other food, along with her cheese stringers. But in our hurry to pack the next morning, those cheese stringers were left in the mini fridge at our hotel :(
The wedding dinner was fun and happening, as with how good company and drinkers usually bring life to parties! Heh! Wedding dinner grub at Holiday Inn Melaka was pretty good too, I’d say! Even their carbs dish of Lotus Leaf Rice was fragrant and not jerlat at all – deserves thumbs up!
Since our hotel room was just upstairs, it was really convenient to simply head back up and prepare for bedtime. Little Vera was such a sport and a very good girl during the dinner too, allowing many unknown uncles and aunties to carry her. LOL! Guess she was in a jolly good mood with the whole celebration going on!
That was the 2nd day of our short getaway. How time flies when we have leisure time to ourselves…. The next day was a short one, as we finally sunk our teeth into the highly-recommended Nancy’s Kitchen!! And we had time to check out Malacca’s local café scene before driving back home to Singers. There was another place that I added to my to-visit place, but we hadn’t enough time to do so (a must-see for Hello Kitty fans!!) – will be sharing in the next article! Keep your eyes peeled for Day 3 of our roadtrip!
