family Firdausi

The coastal city Melaka was our last stop in Malaysia. Together with Shasha, who took us in her car from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived at her parents' house in the evening. Since it was a bit difficult to find a guest house for the weekend, family Firdausi invited us to their home. We were really looking forward to live in a local family and were excited about the invitation.
As we have already reported it was just Ramadan, the fasting month. For this reason, family Firdausi has not eaten or drunk during the day. It was so nice, that mom Firdausi has specially prepared a tasty breakfast, only for us.. We should feel just like home.
In the afternoon, Shasha and Aqila showed us the surrounding. After a walk in the park, with monkeys in, we went to the “Mini Malaysia & Asean Cultural Park” Park. There you can see traditional houses of the various Malaysian states. During a cultural performance we also had to go on the stage: Shasha and I should shoot with a blowpipe on a balloon and we even hit it both! Seppel and Aqila were ask to join for a Malaysian dance, which looked pretty funny.
Just in time for sunset, we broke the fasting together with family Firdausi and we had a very delicious dinner: “Chicken Rice”, which is rice with fried chicken, which was marinated with garlic and various spices. After dinner we to the hustle and bustle of “Jonker Street” .. In Melaka's most famous street is always a lot going on weekends: Stalls selling snacks, Souvenirs and clothes, a stage with karaoke and all around there are plenty of restaurants and pubs. It is not boring at all.

As a small gift we had given Aqila and Shasha a typical Malaysian Game. It turned out, that they always played it in their childhood. It's called “Batu Seremban” and you play it with 5 small sand-filled fabric stones. There are different levels in the game, but the target is actually, to throw a stone into the air, pick up another stone in the meantime and then to catch the high stone again. In any case a quick response is required. The morning we used to practice the game and we got better and better. In the afternoon Shasha took us out into the town and we visited the “Selat Melaka” Mosque. It is also named as floating mosque, since it is built on stilts by the sea. Of course we could enter the mosque with appropriate clothing only.
Then we climbed up to a small hill, to the “Fort St. Johns”, a small fort with cannons. From here we had a beautiful view over Melaka. Mom Firdausi cooked for dinner the traditional dish “Laksa” and it was again very delicious. The Laksa was made of spaghetti with a thick gravy made of cooked fish, coconut milk and many spices.

After the beautiful weekend with family Firdausi we moved on Monday to the 1511 Guesthouse, an old mansion.
Melaka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there are many of these historic buildings, which have been restored lovingly. In the afternoon we walked through Melaka's city center and admired the houses in Portuguese, Dutch and Malay-Chinese architecture. We also discovered another culinary specialty: Swallow's Bird Nest Soup. But we have not tried it.
The next day we did a city tour again. Along the Melaka river we went to the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia, the “Cheng Hoon Teng Temple”. The Jonker Street war who leergefegt, because during weekdays nothing is going on here.
For dinner we invited family Firdausi in a Pakistani restaurant for tandoori chicken food. Mr. Firdausi invited us for the next afternoon to a trip. We were curious, what he wanted to show us.

In the next afternoon Mr.. Firdausi picked us up and showed us a mango farm, his golf club and the chicken farm of his cousin. Then we could enjoy one last time mom Firdausi cuisine. We had Nasi Lemak and ate this time with our “natural” spoon and fork, namely our right hand. That was a bit unfamiliar, but works well. Our last evening in Melaka and in Malaysia came to an end and the next day we head to Singapore.