Procastinating in April

Qing Ming aka Tomb sweeping day or All Souls Day falls on the 4th of April this year according to the Chinese calendar. We have a period of 2 weeks before and after  to pay our respects to the dead. In my case, I don't decide on the date, I was told Sunday 3rd and we just packed for my MIL's home. This year SIL being the DIL of the elder son, MIL gives her the authority to prep things needed, while I am just happy to be the sidekick. It was a day of mini gathering of  immediate family only.

The following weekend had me headed down to our Historical City of Malacca.   I have mentioned about this city before in my previous post when we did a little more of a touristy stuff. You can looked it up at my side bar if this interest you. Our purpose of this trip is to visit the orthopedic where MIL had her knee surgery in 2007. It has been a twice yearly trip ever since and the last of her two visits for the year. Glad to get that done with or I'll be constantly reminded.

While in Malacca, we had to savour this Chicken Rice Ball which is one of its kind. I mean who would thought of rice made into balls for consumption ? The best Chicken rice balls to our liking is a little out of town and out of the  tourist area, located at Batu Berendam  known as  Huang Chang Chicken Rice Restaurant.

What we like about here is the rice balls unlike those from the tourist area. The chicken is much more succulent and tastier too, more to our liking actually, but by looking at it's crowds, we are  not alone.

 My favourite Durian puff from Jonker Street.

Located at a pre-war building and they are very proud of one mouthful per puff that pops in your mouth.

I have yet to finish anything small from my UFO stash this month nor have I started on anything from my WIP that I had intended to work on since the beginning of the year. Can you believed the first quarter of the year has already gone by? My procrastinating mode is still on and instead I went on to work on 1/2" hexagons for a an unspoken SAL with the ladies from the WSG group, a result from out recent meetup.

It's unspoken because we never agreed to SAL on this actually but somehow got enticed when someone started on it, posted it on FB and that kinda put us or rather me scrambling for it. Talking about kiasu. Will see how it goes, caused the applique part is a bit of a struggle to work on.  I had to stitch the words twice too because I wasn't happy with the result the first time.

I have since put together the required 25 pieces of hexagons

I made some extra hexagons in various fabric so I could play with the colors a bit. Then I sort of position and laid out the hexagons in it's required order just to visualized as how it would be. More progress coming up next.

My  apology to some of you who have not receive my little "Thank Yous" for your comments. Actually, I did sent an email but something is not working and functioning properly as I was prompted with a returned message that reads, "Mail Delivery Notification for  Delivery Status Failure" . I can't find what's wrong with my pc at this moment, so until then please do accept my thank you for your visits and sweet comments that I so appreciate.

A note on our weather here, it has gone haywire for some months now. Today it's 97F and feels like 105F and that is scorching hot for us although we are so used to the hot weather. This weather is drying up our land and water reserve. The sky may be cloudy but there is no rain or the little rain that falls is insufficient to replenish what the sun has dried up...sadly

Till my next post, take time to smell some flowers from wherever you may be.

A trip in history

down Malacca, a state in the south, less than 2 hours drive from home. Its MIL's medical check-up on her knee ops some 4 years back at a hospital here. Malacca is known as the historical town, founded in 1396 and became a great trading empire in the 15th century. Arabs, Indians, South Americans, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English came to trade or exchange in gold, silk, tea, opium, tobacco, spices, perfumes and countless other items and natural resources.

First rule by the Portuguese in 1511, followed by the Dutch in 1641 and British in 1824.

The three towers, each for one race, the Indian, Chinese and Malay (L > R). When this come to sight, it means we are entering the state of Malacca , the arch partially captured.

A stop at a traffic light into the town, I spotted this unique shaped roof. Its the oldest mosque in Malaysia, built in 1728. Its unique architectural style is not traceable to any others in the country. I think it carries the influence of the three races.

The Stadthuys, built in 1650 as the official residence of the Dutch Governors and their officers. Still preserved in its original structure and form, it now houses the History Museum and Ethnography Museum.
In front of the building, lots of mini shops selling souvenirs and rickshaws or trishaws we called them.
Decorated trishaws before taxis and buses that took over the human transportation throughout the country, its another form of trasportation for the locals but tourist are their source of incomes now. I heard they even charged you RM1.00 for a photo shot of their trishaw but since I took this quite a distance away...well...
Christ Church, stood at the same site since 1753, a testimony to the Dutch architectural. Inside Brass Bible, tombstone written in Armenian and 'Last Supper' in glazed tiles.
Top^ Baba & Nonya ceramic wares and below, Japanese ceramicsScene of a O.C. Dutch Company household?? No description on this whatsoever, its me guessing Don't you just loved this Portuguese cabinet? Imagine the amount of stash in it? LOL
Scene depicting the arrival of the Chinese Princess Hang Li Poh for her marriage to the Malacca Sultan to strengthen ties between China and Malacca and thus, the evolution of cultures..the Baba and Nonya
The ancient sultanate courtyard , and the wedding of Paramesware, the first ruler of Malacca with the Princess of Prusian and thru this bond, the spreading of Islam into the country.
Malay bridal chamber
and a patchwork cover over the bed ?
Baba & Nonya's bridal chamberembroideries pieces


Mini teapots in brass and copper...I just loved these

Look! the Chinese made these, in the 15th century or so and Chinese buttons are used.

Below, you get to see lots of ship models from those ruling countries inside. Afterawhile, I get tired of it....well, all the ships looked the same to me anyaway except the size and lengthJonker street or Antique Street, a place to get your souvenirs. Its turned into a night market (street market) every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. The shops closes early and a better source for handcrafted items. At the night market, its a mixture of stuff that one can get at any night market locally, so its not that

intresting to me...gosh...what am I looking for ???

Maritime Museum, is a replica of Flor De La Mar, the Portuguese battle ship that sails to conquer Malacca is able to carry 600 crews and 500 tons in weight, the largest in its time but said to have been built with a flaw that no Captain is bold enough to sail the ship except Alfonso de Albuquerque . It sailed successfully into the Straits of Malacca.But sank somewhere on its return voyage to Goa on 26th Jun 1512 in the Straits of Malacca. More ships models inside on display. Told ya!
DD going on board? Lots of such artworks depicting scenes of yesteryear's.
The foodDurian Cendol, a crushed or shaved iced dessert in coconut sugar and milkMalacca is famous for its Nonya food, picture here are pai tee and popiah , this trip we did not go for the famous chicken rice and rice balls taht Malacca is so famous for, anyway, we are not very fond of the rice ballsAmbience's of the nonya restaurant. We found this restaurant by chance, because we didn't know it existed.Its next to the Baba & Nonya Heritage Museum that DD so wanted to visit. It is housed in the old shops and the floor tiles are typical of a nonya house. At the Museum, photos are not allowed and one had to pay RM8.00 for adult and RM4.00 for a child. To me, its not worth it, you see lots of mother of pearl furniture and some embroidered wall hanging, the 100 birds scene. The ceramic wares not impressive, maybe because I have seen better ones, inclduing in the museum!! and the beaded shoes which are only 2 pairs, in my humble opinion don't do justice to a nonya craft heritage. The clothing is nothing to 'wow' , maybe I was expecting more elaborate, equisite pieces. The kitchen of a nonya..well MIL was using the same kind of cemented squared stove with the extremly large black wok (a common thing among the Chinese folks before the invention of gas stove and especially if one is an extended family underone roof) some 15 years ago until she moved into the current house, and when I was growing up during my visits to my Tua Kor's whose kitchen looked exactly the same model and the utensils, well, it was about the same ones that my grandma had in her kitchen when I was a kid. So, it did not impressed me !

The set lunch menu from the Nonya restaurant.

~ Spicy coconut prawns, fried egg, Chicken pongteh, sambal belacan kangkong

River cruise on Sungai Melaka (Malacca river). A mixture of old and new can be seen on both river banks.Villa Sentosa, build during the first quarter of the century and in the style fashionable during that era has now been converted by its owner into a private museum.Flor de la mar in the far back

Monitor lizard basking in the sun? these were plenty along with turtles
The boat and the cruise is about 45mins.

We took the old coastal road home instead of the highway so that we could stop at Port Dickson, famous for its beach. DD has never been here, so we thought she should see for herself how it looks like when she had heard so much of it from her peers.

Its the holiday school season, the beach is truly multiracial and crowded, the time is about 4 plus when I took the photos.

By passing the King's palace, it means we are entering the city from the south and its home sweet home. But not yet, we need to sent MIL home first.

and into the citygot home and came down with a fever, so am home today. Next posting about stitching stuff.

8 Thanks for coming by and leaving me your comments.

l Barbara its great bonding time to read to the kids when they are young, mine are too old now...LOL

l Mylene, I agrees totally that sometimes its beyond our control, there's always peers' influence isn't it?

I hoped everyone had a great weekend and I hope I don't bored anyone on this trip...now I need to get lunch ready...LOL
2 Edited on 6. June 2008