Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Melaka VS. Georgetown
Welcome to the final Malaysia based instalment of our blog. Our last stop was Melaka, hailed as the other culinary contender, we just had to put them up against each other. Of course the competition doesn't just end at food. These two areas are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Both have a heavy Peranakan influence and you can't move for pimped out trishaws in the city centres. So which one gets our vote?
The Babas and Nyonyas:
The Straits Chinese settled in three areas. The third is Singapore, which has the least obvious indications today. Penang has the Peranakan Mansion, a gorgeous old building owned by one of the most powerful Chinese businessmen of the time. It has it's own temple and an extra building for entertaining particularly important guests. Within you will find a lot of the original furnishings, but also collections painstakingly put together from around Penang.
Melaka is home to the Baba Nyonya Museum. This is still owned by the forth generation of the original family. The building is actually three houses knocked together and everything within is from the home itself. The highlight is an ornate staircase with a lockable gate and roof, which was used to stop husbands sneaking off in the night. There is much more charm to this set of buildings. The story is far more engrossing because every artefact relates to the house. Rather than telling you an average Peranakan life, you are given an insight into generations of one family.
First point Melaka.
Heritage Buildings:
The main thing UNESCO does in both places, is designate an area as a 'core heritage zone.' This means that there are heavy restrictions on what can be done to the interior and exterior of the buildings within the zone. In Melaka the heritage zone is made obvious because everything is painted red. As I understand it this was a big up yours from the Dutch to the British, and a very striking one at that. This makes the town centre exciting, but also means that you see one big blob of history instead of many individual pieces. They also have the ruins of Old St. Paul's which are well worth pottering about and the remains of A Famosa, the Portuguese fort, are fairly interesting.
In comparison Georgetown is so full of heritage that the 'core zone' is surrounded by a 'buffer zone.' This means that Penang has so many important buildings that they had to class some as 'slightly less significant, but still awesome.'
Fort Cornwallis is a far more interesting out of the two forts. It mainly wins because it has a massive canon. The buildings in the core zone are beautiful. There is a heavy Chinese influence, particularly in the doorways. There is also a wide array of vibrant colours, which means whole rows of houses are stunning and individual homes constantly stop you in your tracks to take a lingering look.
There are also the Clan Jetties, where you can visit families that have lived out over the water for generations.
I should also mention the hilarious iron tableaux's hidden around the town. Each one depicts a comical version of some part of Georgetown's history. There should be some in the Penang album, so take a look.
You may have guessed, this round goes to Georgetown. 1-1
Trishaws:
Nice short one here. Occasionally there'd be an awesome trishaw in Georgetown. My favourites were a badass guy in gold-rimmed aviators, with speakers blasting out pop tunes whilst massive flowers span round on the front of the carriage, and a Malaysian Hulk Hogan.
Melaka had hundreds of trishaws which had clearly been done up by Xzibit. One had a giant paper mâché scorpion on it's roof. Nuff said.
2-1 Melaka
Art and culture:
When we got to Melaka they were just starting a three day dance festival. It was all free and the main stage was amongst the ruins of St. Paul's. Couldn't fault the location or the free buffet set up after the opening ceremony. However the first night of performances was a little less inspiring. The opening ceremony had an impromptu performance from 3 artists from different disciplines. This was rather good. You could see the different styles, but they all worked well together to produce some great moments. After that it was all a bit of a physical theatre starter kit. There was a lot of walking slowly behind someone, whilst they had an aneurysm. In equal measure there was picking someone up whilst they looked pensive. If it was being played for laughs then some of it was genius, however my cynical side suggests not.
There are nice galleries, especially one down a Jonker's side street run by the most helpful guy in Melaka. He makes his own prints on sight with his own carvings. In terms of supporting other artists, he stocks various works by the indigenous people of Sabah, Sarawak et al.
So to Penang. Here we found both great art and performances so bad they were amazing. The gallery stores focused around Armenian street were thoroughly interesting. The best for us was Studio Howard. Run by a photographer obsessed with Georgetown, there was an abundance of art here both by the man himself and by other local artists.
Performance wise we got to see Chinese Opera and puppetry down back alleys during the Ghost Festival and some truly hilarious country and western covers at Red Garden.
Penang pulls it back. 2 all
Food:
Yes it comes down to our favourite subject. The local fodder did make it tough. Both places deserve all the hype they get. Melaka's strength lies in it's Nyonya cuisine. There is far more of it here than in Penang. The Nyonya Pineapple tarts are a must, as are most of the pastries. The Portuguese Egg tarts were another delight, the European influence in Melaka again adding another layer.
I'm sorry to say that Melaka also wins in the Laksa stakes. Laksa is a fish broth with noodles and usually prawns. Penang Laksa is one of the State's most revered offerings, but it just wasn't for me. Also known as Assam Laksa, the dish here fuses fish paste, sour Assam paste and mint. My palette was overloaded and all I could think was that someone had puréed a sardine into my lemon toothpaste. To be fair I didn't try it from the number one stall, so maybe I need to try again in the future. Melaka on the other hand, is home to Nyonya Laksa. Here they use coconut milk, go easy on the salty fish and leave out the mint and Assam. It is a much gentler fusion, allowing you to focus on the textures and the spices.
Melaka also has some terrific Banana Leaf restaurants. This is some of the best Indian food I've ever tasted. However Georgetown has a Little India which is home to the very best. There are several places which specialise is exquisite tandoori chicken, claypot dishes and succulent Briyani rice dishes. They also hammered breakfast with roti canai and eggs cooked in front of you and fresh masala tea or almond milk to wash it down. Then there is Woodlands, a vegetarian Indian restaurant with far too much good food to choose from. Chickpea massalas, cashew nut rice, Seasoned Paneer slices and Huge masala dosas (savoury Indian crepes filled with spicy potato) are just a few of the tantalising options. Then you can pick up some great Indian sweets from the counter on the way out.
When it comes to Chinese offerings, Melaka has good dim sum.
Georgetown is home to Waterdrop Cafe and Little Angels. Both do great bao (Chinese buns often filled with BBQ pork - Siew bao), but it is Waterdrop's Sesame bao that will steal your heart. One of those with a signature coffee makes for a great afternoon. Waterdrop is another veggie place, with different delicacies each day, especially good soups. Little Angels has some great fried noodles and marvellous rice porridge options. Must also mention Tek Sen, a place we were lucky to get a seat in. We snagged the last available table and from that moment on there was a queue 10 strong for the whole time we were there. Incredible fresh prawns and the crispy chicken in plum sauce is a work of art.
The street food at the Jonker Street nightmarket is Melaka's best option. Had a great lavender shake and some lovely otak otak (fish grilled in banana leaf). Once again though Penang trumps that by turning every street into a gastronomic gauntlet. See Chulia Street for fresh juices and Prawn Hokkien Mee, Penang Road for noodles and Laksas and any side street around Little India for Nasi Kandar (Indian buffet food). That's before we get to the plethora of open air food courts.
I feel like I've done Melaka a disservice. The food here is wonderful and varied. You could spend weeks here and still not run out of things to massage your taste buds. However I spent three weeks in Penang, and the only reason I ever ate the same thing twice was because it was just that damn good.
So congratulations Georgetown. A 3-2 victory well deserved. Of course if you have time, you really have to do both places. And if you find yourself in Melaka, stay at Traveller's Planet.
That's all for now. Next up will be the home of temples, Siem Reap.
Cheers,
Mike
- comments