(You have been warned, this post is long and contains lots of pictures)
A week ago, while my extended family were having coffee & drinks at Old Town Cafe in East Coast Park, my dad asked if we want to go Melaka the following week. We asked for the occasion and he said his supplier invited him to officiate the factory's cafe. We jumped at the idea, and asked if accomodation will be provided. He said it would be. Immediately, I shouted “I want three rooms!!” My third sister continued, “I need two.” Followed by my youngest sister, “One for me will do.” And so, the trip was considered confirmed.
The following day, my hubby asked me to check the expiry of the passports of my children. I checked and let out “ ARRRGGGGH! They are less than six months before expiry!” Without hesitation, I quickly took out the camera, took many shots, did some cropping and resizing, then immediately went to renew their passports online quickly. The next two days, I was very anxious that the passports might not be ready in time. I called them to enquire about the status of their application on Wednesdasy and they told me it will be ready for collection on Friday! What a close shave! Had I applied a day later, I will miss this wonderful outing with my family!!
Finally, Saturday came. We set out early, met my sisters and parents and set off. My dad's staff were also invited to the ceremony. For my extended family alone, there were 10 adults and five children travelling in three cars. My dad's staff travelled in another two cars. We took a break in Machap, then drove all the way to Ayer Keroh to meet a friend who brought us directly to the factory.
When we reached the factory, the owner (we shall call him Mr. Su), his spouse and his staff were there to greet us. They have also engaged lion-dance to welcome us. We felt like VIPs. We were then lead to a conference for a short presentation ceremony for my dad and his staff, followed by the official opening of the cafe. The occasion was very grand! After the opening ceremony, we had our lunch from the buffet spread in the cafe. It was almost like a business lunch, I should say. After lunch, they ordered durians for us straight from the plantation. Yum yum!
After our durian treats, we proceed to get “dressed” for a factory tour. The children were excited, and so were we. The had to wear hair cover, mask, over coat and shoe protector in order to enter into the factory. It was a hygiene requirement imposed for all staff and visitors. We toured the premise starting from how raw materials were mixed, to the baking of the biscuits and finally to the packing and cartoning. Then we were lead to a conference room where they did a company brief for us. After that, we hang around in the cafe while waiting for the rest of the sales staff to finish their sales meeting. We went to take pictures around the (external) factory premise. The children were getting restless, running around in the compound. Finally, the sales meeting ended, and we left the place in the late afternoon.
My dad's staff went back to Singapore while all of us (his precious daughters and family) stayed in Melaka. We were lead to our accomodation, which were managed by the same owner of the factory. It's called One Residence in Padang Temu. We were given two big units. Each unit has four big rooms. It was just right for us as we needed eight rooms! It was very spacious, bright and clean.
In the early evening, Mr Su and family came over to our place and help to direct us to the place for our dinner. It was at Restoran Keng Dom. And opposite the restaurant is Restoran Ole Sayang, which I had very fond memories of!
The food at Keng Dom was simply awesome! Each and every dish was very fresh, portion was big enough for us, and the quality of the food was truly good!
After dinner, I told them we wanted to go Jonker Street for a walk. We had insisted that we will go ourselves as it was nearly 10pm. However, a few of them insisted to bring us there, making us feel like we're bothersome. Eventually, we agreed. It was rather difficult to find parking along the roads as they were very narrow. They managed to direct us to a paid parking area and paid for us.
Night scene of Jonker Street
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As I was concentrating on holding on to my girl, I didn't have another hand to bring out my camera to take pictures. It was very crowded on a Saturday night. From the way I see it, seemed like mostly are locals, not tourists. We didn't really buy anything from there.
Then, it was time to leave as it was getting late, and we were dead tired from the day's event! Again, they lead us back to our residences. By the time we retired, it was already past mid-night.
The following day, they came to meet us again and brought us to the Geographer Cafe in Jonker Walk. The foods are very interesting. For example, instead of the Bak Ku Teh, they have Sukuteh which is like vegetarian. It's very much like a cafe for the health conscious people. The taro rice was actually brown rice. The food is truly yummy without compromising the taste! We ordered curry tempeh, chocolate banana cake and apple pie to share after our main course of breakfast!
Day Scene of Jonker Street
After a hearty breakfast, we were lead to the newly opened shopping centre- AEON Bandaraya Melaka Shopping Centre at No.2 Jalan Legenda, Taman 1 - Legenda. We ventured separately when we were there. My dad's friends left us finally. We felt so bad to have imposed on them for two days. They were really kind to have brought us all over the place, and accompanied us all the way.
I didn't manage to buy my baking stuff even though I brought a list along! Hahaha... However, I did buy some clothes for my children. After walking around for two hours, we were hungry and tired again. We decided it was time for lunch. We went to a steamboat restaurant. The prices were a real steal! Besides ordering a set each, we also ordered from the a-la-carte menu to share. 15 of us racked up a bill of RM250 only! (That was the only time we paid for our own meals! :p)
After our sumptuous lunch, it was time to go. We pumped up our petrol before we hit the NS highway back to Singapore. On the way, we stopped at one of the rest area to buy "tao sa pian" and fruits. Then it was all the way to Tuas Checkpoint. By the time we reached Singapore, it was already 7pm. We took our dinner at Yuhua market before going home separately.
Even though it was a short trip, it was a significant trip for all of us, especially for my dad! After slogging hard for the family and company, he was given the due recognition over the weekend. We were truly happy for him, and that we formed part of this fond memories that he will cherish. :))
