Or as we spell in in Malay - Melaka. Nothing beats a short foodie trip to Melaka, which is only a 3 hours ride away from Singapore. Much like Penang, it is a food paradise - a smorgasboard of local fast food and scrumptious Baba-Nyonya cuisine. 
(From top left; clockwise): Famous chicken rice balls with so-so-tender chicken & fragrant rice; Peranakan-style nasi lemak, rojak with fish cake & special sweet sauce, laksa lemak with heart-stopping coconut-based curry. Yum.
Then comes the Peranakan-inspired cuisine. It is slightly different from the Penang variety but yummy nonetheless. We had our initiation at Nancy's Kitchen off Jonker Street. We could not stop ordering so we just ate our way through the night.
(from top left, clockwise): fish maw soup; pork belly stew; eggplant in sambal sauce; sayur lodeh, wild boar curry, chicken curry with candle nut.
It's belly-heartening to know that all this is only 3 hours away!
