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Photo: The Peranakan Museum entrance
This is the best place to
learn about the Peranakan culture in Melaka. 'Straits Chinese' or the
Baba and Nyonya, are Chinese of noble descendants who have adopted much of
the Malay culture. The public can now view this unique
Baba Nyonya heritage at the private museum, called the Peranakan
Museum, run by the Babas and
Nyonyas of Malacca. This traditional 19th century
Peranakan townhouse which is located along Jalan Tun Tan
Cheng Lock has become one of Melaka's famous tourist
attractions. The structure of this unique building is a
longish residence with an interior that opens into a
courtyard which allows sun and rain. This type of design
is a typical rich Chinese Baroque and Chinese Palladian
style homes.
Some exhibits that can be
admire here include the heavily embellished hardwood
furniture which is made from Chinese rosewood with a
combination of Chinese, Victorian and Dutch design
whereby rich mother-of-pearl inlay showing cherry
blossoms and birds can be seen on certain pieces. Hard
to find Nyonya-ware from Jiangxi and Guangdong can also
be seen here together with interesting Nyonya ceramics
and tilework. Visitors too come here for the
unique food whereby the nyonya cuisine, a combination of
Chinese and Malay cooking, has become tremendously
popular and among the favorites are acar, crabmeat
cooked in coconut sauce (ketam lemak), duck soup with
salted vegetables, jantung pisang (banana shoots) and
sambal.
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