Hang Tuah Mausoleum

The Hang Tuah Mausoleum is located in Tanjung Kling, Melaka. It is about 30 minutes drive from downtown Melaka. This mausoleum is situated right by the road and visitors have to walk past a Muslim cemetery as the tomb of Hang Tuah is right at the back.

Hang Tuah was the famous warrior every Malaysian student studied about in Malaysian history. He was a legend during the Melaka Sultanate in the 15th Century (1400 - 1511 AD).  He served in the court of Mansur Shah. He was the Sultan's Admiral and a favorite aide in the royal household. Hang Tuah, together with his 4 bestfriends, namely Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu, Hang Lekir, did everything together and fought together in battles. Their story ended when Hang Tuah had to fight Hang Jebat as the latter betrayed the Sultan. When the Portugis took over Melaka, Hang Tuah was said to have disappeared.

 At the entrance to the tomb

Posters were nicely arranged around the tomb just to inform visitors of various activities that happened during the time of Hang Tuah in Melaka.

"Tak Melayu Hilang di Dunia" was sworn by Hang Tuah back in the olden days, which meant, Never will the Malays vanish from the face of the earth.

So, is Hang Tuah fiction or fact?
This debate has been going on for the past few years. Some academicians from the Malay Literature and History fields confirmed that Hang Tuah existed, based on artifacts found during that time. However, where did Hang Tuah actually die? Some said he died in Palembang. How what about the tomb in Melaka?

Nevertheless, the legend of Hang Tuah, to me, has always spoken about loyalty and friendship. Today, Hang Tuah is portrayed differently in the history books in schools. Myth or fact, Hang Tuah and his friends have been deeply ingrained in my mind since school days, and I believe in many others as well.

Ulu Yam

This is my 3rd time to Ulu Yam, specifically to take my sister in law to the World of Phalaenopsis. This little town never fail to surprise me. This time with super delicious herbal soup noodles and super fragrant yam noodles.

 Herbal soup noodles

 Ulu Yam is famous for its Loh Mee but I personally think other noodles are yummier!

 Yam noodles

 Look at the herbal root they used in the herbal soup. Huge.

The World of Phalaenopsis is just a beautiful place to be. My sister in law went bonkers visiting this place. She was just so excited to purchase orchids that she didn't currently have in her garden.

Hehe...I patiently waited for them here in this air conditioned cafe with my latte. Thank God for coffee!

 The Dancing Lady Orchid

 Looking from inside the cafe

 These beauties were to be packed and brought home to Kuching, Sarawak. Yayyyyy!

 Carefully packed in with cotton

Before driving back to KL, gotta enjoy more of Ulu Yam's delicious cooking. Above is a plate of stir fried wild mushrooms with ginger.

 Salted egg bittergourd

The ever-famous Coconut Prawn. This is just a fabulous dish. It somewhat tastes like Tom Yum but on a sweeter note. Most appetizing with fragrant white rice.

I don't think I will ever get bored with Ulu Yam!

Machap Baru Melaka

Welcome to Kampung Machap Baru, Melaka!

First of all, there are 2 Machaps. The other is located in Johor. I was hunting for Lei Cha @ Thunder Tea Rice and so Machap Melaka came up on my screen.

We were starving upon arrival. I read that Thye Lai serves a unique dish; bittergourd noodles in soup! Gotta try them.

This restaurant is very small. There are only 5-6 tables inside and by the side. When we went inside, the locals were sitting comfortably, chatting with each other while munching homemade kuehs.

View from inside the restaurant.

Freshly cut bittergourd and fresh cuts of pork for every bowl.

We ordered some buns to take away after brunch.

We decided to walk around the town after eating. It was scorching hot and the locals were just zipping by on their motorcycles. I noticed that almost every other house has a business signboard on top of their front door. They all must be in some form of business, mostly operating in other places and the home is for preparation, while others actually have a stall out on their garage with 1-2 tables set up for customers to dine in.

A typical Hakka house

Restaurant famous for exotic animal dishes!

Red noodles

Found the Lei Cha house. Their stall is right outside their front door and there were 2 tables set up on their garage for customers. We ordered 2 sets of Lei Cha and sat on one of the tables.

Most locals walked in and ordered to take away.

This is my first time having Lei Cha @ Thunder Tea Rice with Rice Crispies. Yummy!

The soup was wonderfully prepared. Authentic taste. We loved it!

Kulixin - an important ingredient in the making of the Lei Cha soup. Bitter but nice!

This bread factory has been running for 4 generations. They specialized in making Roti Kok @ Crunchy Bread Pieces. They dunk very well in hot coffee. I always thought Roti Kok was only made from leftover bread. Never realized they are freshly made. We walked into the shop and was greeted by a lady. She brought us to the back where the "workshop" was and there were some people making the Roti Kok. They welcomed us in to watch them and happily explained how they make this bread on a daily basis.

Waiting for these rolls to rise

Their oven! Huge enough to bake humans in them!!

Ready-to-be-eaten Roti Kok

The container of Roti Kok samples are there for anyone who wants to try them, yupp, for free!

Machap Baru is a quiet town but people here are hardworking. I have read about the Machap Walk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings but wondered who would want to drive into Machap just for the walk. I guess I have to give it a try one of these weekends and see what they have to offer.