The Sleepy Hollow Awakens ... (1)

Malacca, my hometown. I have been in Kedah for more years than I was in Malacca but I still acknowledge myself as "the Malaccan living in Kedah". As the saying goes - "you can take the girl out of Malacca but you cannot take the Malacca out of the girl" ... or something likewise. :-))  I love Malacca. And I still do.

Malacca was known as a sleepy hollow until development took a fast paced forward and made Malacca into what it is now. The second day day of Aidil Adha celebration was a working day for Malacca. So, together with Ikram, my partner in crime, we went on a "walking cruise" along Malacca river until Jonker street and this was what we saw ......

The map at the old market

We started from Jalan Bunga Raya. We parked the car on what used to be the old market. We walked towards the river and found this map. I was telling Ikram how I used to come to this market with Bapak, his grandfather. He would always drag me along to the market that I knew all his regular vendors and they knew me. Thus, later on, when he was down with the stroke, I did the marketing for the household... From here I walked along the river walkway ...

The old bridge behind the old market has been upgraded

The view across the much cleaner and well taken care of river - most buildings along the river has a mural painted on them

The view of the river, which I think leads towards Bandar Hilir

 From Kampung Jawa, we walked through the shops selling variety of things until we came to the famous satay campur food stall. I had fun recalling what these places were and some nostalgic tales .. He listened patiently and humoured his mother. We became tourists in my hometown ... with me as the tourist guide. :-))

Chan Koon Cheng bridge after the satay celup food stall - we went across and started our walking cruise towards Bandar Hilir

A riverboat cruise passing by to pick up passengers, I guess

 Then, we reached what used to be the "Riverside Bookstore". I wonder if any of you can still remember - a row of Mara shophouses. I think there was a restaurant and a clinic. That bookstore was well-known for its second hand books. I used to loiter around here with some friends just to find cheap second hand novels. Usually you were not disappointed. Now, it is a big enclave where they have found that underneath those buildings was a leftover of a fort or a bastion.

This enclave used to be where the riverside Mara shophouses were ...

St. Francis church - where Maureen and Peter got married .... it's opposite the Queen Victoria's Bastion / fort