Didn't dive right into blogging about my Melaka trip because I was tired right after the trip. And then I got caught up with clearing my outstanding tasks at work.
The day has finally come and I am now a freed bird! Haha and I just returned from my solo Bangkok trip! Was 70% into this blog post before I left home to go Bangkok and I decided to finish it up before I dived into my blog post on my Bangkok trip.
U cannot imagine how much fun I had in Bangkok and how excited I am about my upcoming Taiwan trip. I am amazed how different a traveller I have become. From being paranoid and have to plan my every move overseas, to taking it easy and enjoy my trips without a fixed itinerary.. And now I hadn't even booked my lodging for my Taiwan trip!
Not scared? Of coz I am scared. I am worried I had to sleep on the Taipei streets or in the Alishan forest. But then, I knew that my travel mate this round is super adventurous and has the "Come what may" attitude. Hence, as much as I am scared of the unknown, I feel really thrilled about the excitement which awaits!
Let me finished up my Melaka trip blog post today ba! And I can share about my solo Bangkok trip!
This was my first time travelling with Qiushi and Sebaz. You can't guess how we actually got to know each other. We were on a tour package to Taiwan in year 2011 December when we met Qiushi and Sebaz who were on their pre-wedding honeymoon. They were such nice couple that we left our contact numbers after the trip. We had tried to arrange a common date to go tour together during the last 3+ years but in no avail. Our plans were interrupted by my 2nd pregnancy in 2012 and her first pregnancy in 2013.
The Melaka trip was actually really impromptu and I did my research only on tripadvisor. I must say tripadvisor is pretty good plus I got Abby who is a regular traveller to Melaka to share her travel tips with me. Though we didn't follow through our brief itinerary but it was somewhat a good "guideline".
Two states I really like a lot in Malaysia is Penang and Melaka. Somehow I can feel for this two states but not the others. Maybe it is because these two states have similar history as Singapore as they were too once British colonies. When I was at Melaka, I felt the similarities it has with Macau too. Maybe because they used to be Dutch and Portugese colonies. They had similar town planning layout, similar St Paul's ruins and the similar Portugese egg tarts! Haha!
Talking about Portuguese egg tarts. I think it's one of my only two regrets which didn't get to eat in Melaka. The other was not being able to eat their famous satay celup! I must eat it the next time I go to Melaka!
There are lots of things you can actually do in Melaka and most of the touristy spots are clustered at the town center or jonker street. Jonker street is not only famous to tourists, it's also famous to locals on wkends. And Melaka is not only about Jonker Street too. I initially was worried 2 nights at Melaka would be bored but I now feel that I can easily stay another 2 more nights in Melaka to just imerse in its rich culture and heritage.
Let me summarize the top 18 things you have to do in Melaka!
1. Staying in a boutique hotel (shop house) in Jonker Street
This is our 3rd time to Melaka but only our first time at the weekends night market because the first visit was a day trip and second visit was a 1 night trip and we stayed pretty far away from the Jonker street.
I knew I definitely don't want to miss out the night market this round after hearing about it from Abby. Influenced by Abby, I very much wish to stay in Jonker Street too. There were not many boutique hotels available in Jonker Street by the time I searched for one, because our trip was during the labour day long weekends. There were some looking authentic and cheap at S$60-S$80 but I had goosebumps just browsing the pictures of their furnishings. I decided to spare myself as this was meant to be a holiday and not a spiritual encounter venture.
Other than the need to feel "good" about the hotel at first look, I tried hard to shortlist only those which have private car parks. This will give us a peace of mind, compared to relying on a public car park. I was lucky to find one with private car park, include breakfast, just beside jonker street and has welcoming furnishing.
Okay, even I think it's funny but this is the first time I didn't take a picture of my hotel room interior nor of the hotel lobby. So I "borrowed" those uploaded by other travelers. I guess all photos will look similar anyway :P but I took this picture which I like a lot.
The superior room comprised of a queen size bed and standing shower. But the interesting part was, it did not have a built-in wardrobe but had this open-concept clothes rack by the bed. There was a big flat screen tv too and they had cable TV! All these including free parking and breakfast for only S$90/night. Oh yes, since we reached at 6am in the first day, we only needed to top up RM50 to check in earlier.
2. Visit to Weekends Night Market at Jonker Street (Every Friday and Saturday night)
Four of us loved the Taiwan night markets we visited during our previous trip together. We bought lots of things and tried different type of food back then. So it was a MUST for us to have a feel and look at the weekends night market in Melaka.
Seriously it was not impressive. Maybe because we were too in love with Taiwan's night markets. Melaka's was "no kick" at all. The street was also narrow and walking through was difficult. As the weather was hot and we were carrying our first day of loots, we did not wish to squeeze through the crowd.
But I did manage to buy a selfie stick that has a remote control button attached to the stick. I got it at only RM35! Not super cheap, nevertheless a good buy and very useful. I had fun using it on the next day.
3. Chill Out in Eleven Bistro and try its famous Gula Melaka Chicken Wings
Staying in Jonker street means we can chill out till past midnight and still within safe walking distance from our hotel.
After escaping from the night market's crowd and feeling really hungry and hot, we headed to this pub called Eleven Bistro for our late dinner and some chilled beer.
The beer wasn't that cheap coz its RM100 for a tower and I noticed the tower only held about 2 litres beer, unlike Singapore's tower that could hold 3 litres of beer. There were also no live band on that day, unlike what was described by the tripadvisor.
But what I was really delighted to have tried, was their Famous Gula Melaka Chicken Wings!!! They were not too sweet and I finished most of them!!! Yummy! You MUST try the Gula Melaka wings if you dropped by the Bistro!
And not sure why but their fried rice tasted really good!!!
There was a free magic show by the bistro staff (or was he the owner?!) and I got my lucky 3 spade! Hope my wish comes true with this lucky card!
4. Visit the Peranakan Museum
This was my second visit to the museum but during my first visit with a friend many years back, we did not managed to sign up for the guided tour. We ended up not knowing much about the museum and the Peranakan culture. The guided tour was only RM16 per pax and was very informative. I really enjoyed it a lot and now I am looking forward to watch <Little Nyonya> all over again!
It was a pity we cannot take any picture in the museum. So we took one outside the museum after our guided tour.
5. Try Peranakan Food!
If you should visit the Peranakan Museum then trying Peranakan Food in Melaka is a MUST!
We were hoping to try Peranakan food but didn't know which restaurant is good. We were lucky to bump into a restaurant that not only serve very good Peranakan food, the pricing was also very affordable! It was so good that we had it on the second night then went back to it for lunch before we left Melaka!
Sambas fried 臭豆, prawns and sotong
Assam Fish
Otah
Shrimp paste omelete
Chilli Fried Chicken
The next day we went back because we wanted to try the Ayam Redang! It's yummy!
And you can forget about queuing up under the hot sun for the so-called famous Chendol at Jonker Street because I seriously think that this restaurant serve better Chendol in just the "right size bowl".
The Thick Coconut and Gula Melaka in it is 甜而不腻! The thought of it now makes me salivate!
6. Try the Coconut Delicacies
If you had never tried coconut shake, coconut ice cream and coconut jelly before, then you got to try them when you go to Melaka!
Qiushi and me were slurping our coconut shake as we queued up at 和记. The weather was killing!
Yummy!!!
You haven't tried coconut jelly before? This is definitely my first time seeing it and eating it! Yummy!!!
7. Having Low Yong Moh for Breakfast
When we reached Melaka at 6am on day one, we didn't know where we should have our first meal. Lucky for us, we had Malaysia simcards and we could easily look up in tripsdvisor for good breakfast recommendation.
The dim sum served was hot and yummy. Payment was calculated according to size and number of the plates like sushi conveyor belt system!
Not sure if we were too hungry or the food was really that good, but we just kept finishing one plate after another!
Super love the Otah and this 流沙包！ Yum! And this super big 包! 很有料的哦！
Best thing about this place is you can take very lovely morning picture as you strolled to have your breakfast :)
8. Singing 3hrs KTV for only RM 55 with tidbits and drinks included
Most friends know that I am a big KTV fan and I would not miss the chance to sing KTV wherever I am, even when I am overseas! Hehehe!
Qiushi and Sebaz are big KTV fans too and we sang two nights in a row in the hotel KTV rooms when we were in Taiwan back then.
How could we miss out this KTV which was just above the Peranakan restaurant?
3hrs of KTV for only RM55 and comes with a jug of drinks! Where to find such lobang in Singapore?!
The sound system is very good somemore! Qiushi and Sebaz sang really well too! Oh gosh! I am so looking forward to sing with them again!!
9. Playing Bowling at RM7.50 a game and renting shoes at RM2 per pair
Seriously, our two travel mates are so full of surprises! They are not only 歌神歌后, they also play bowling super well! Especially Sebaz!!! Oh gosh! Almost strike all the way! Cool~~~
Laogong is a super fast learner and picked up bowling so fast. Unlike me kept sweeping the drain! Haha!
But it was fun and cheap too! RM7.50 per game! RM2.50 for shoe rental. Ehh but seriously I don't know how much it costs to play in Singapore these days! Haha! See my action action only Lolz!
10. Shopping at Brands Outlet
I hadn't been shopping for a while. Intended to do some shopping in Melaka but didn't expect us to buy so many things!!! Wow! I think I met my whole year shopping quota le! Hahaha! Am so satisfied with my loots of new hot pants! Happily worn them to Bangkok and will wear them to Taiwan too!
It's really a MUST shop place! Coz you can find surf pants and denim shorts for less than S$15 and good quality t-shirts for less than S$10! Long sleeve shirts and knee-length khaki shorts for less than S$20.
11. Eating Secret Recipe
Seriously, I had never eaten Secret Recipe in Singapore. But I always hear my friends telling me that I must eat it in Msia because it costs 50% cheaper to eat in Msia.
We saw a branch in the shopping mall and decided to have lunch there...
Yummy!
Really love this Durian Cheese cake! Super Yumz!
See our happy satisfied look! Hahaha!
12. Trying Durian Millie Cake
Before the trip, I read in Tripadvisor that Durian Millie Cake a IN thing and a MUST try in Melaka. There are so many branches available that I didn't know which to try it from.
Lucky me! The famous Durian Cottage was just opposite our boutique hotel!
Just before we headed back to Singapore, we popped into the shop to buy its famous freshly made Durian Milkie Cake, Durian Pancake and some Durian Products.
13. Buying local food at local bakers
The morning before we left Melaka, we also headed towards Jonker Street to buy local products. Unlike my previous times when I bought all my local products from the famous 三叔公, I decided to try out the local bakery instead. The freshly baked Salted Egg Tau Sau Pia was really really good! Yummy! 马蹄酥 had always been my favorite too!!!
14. Trying the super shiok full body massage at RM70 for 60min or RM100 for 90min
Massage!!! I never miss a chance to have massage whenever I go overseas! Firstly, it's so much cheaper to do massage overseas. Secondly, I enjoy trying out different types of massage these days. I used to do a lot of Swedish and Javanese massages, then I started Chinese TCM alike massages. They are very different type of massages because one helps you to relax and the other loosen up your pressure points or unblock your 经络. By unblocking your 经络, it will improve your health overtime. But overall, I love hard and firm strokes more than the gentle relaxing strokes.
Hehe.. Yes, I have become a massage "guru" overtime :P hehehe...
Anyway I really like hard stroke massages!!! And this one in Melaka from our boutique hotel only costs RM100 for 90min. Nice!
15. Eating A&W!!!
I won't say we need to sacrifice the yummy street food to eat A&W as we can easily eat A&W these days at JB. However, we spotted an A&W and decided to have their chilli dogs and root beer float after our hours of shopping!
16. Taking nice pictures at St Paul and Christ Church
Melaka is not just about food and night market. You can visit the St Paul Ruins and Christ Church for lovely photo shoots too. I especially like going up the St Paul Ruins. Somehow I could feel the sad atmosphere surrounding it. It reminded me of the St Paul Ruins we visited in Macau last year. It's also a good spot for some windy on a hot day due to its high grounds.
See how useful is my new selfie stick! Hehehe...
St Paul Ruins
Christ Church
17. Trying 和记鸡饭
There are two famous chicken rice stalls in Jonker Street and I had tried both before. Maybe coz I am not particular about food so I don't feel any real big deal about either stall.
BUT you definitely need to try either stall if you come to Jonker Street.
The one at the entrance of Jonker Street closed quite early and it does not have any shelter for the long queue under the hot sun. I still remember my friend had heat stroke after queuing for close to 2hrs. I would advise you not to wait under the sun. That day we wanted to try that stall but the long queue we caught a glimpse of from far turned us off.
So we decided to go for 和记 instead. It has shelter outside the shop and there is even strong ceiling fan to cool us off. Ness especially impressed with this boy who seemed to be not older than 13 years old helping to take orders. He acted very mature and memorized all the dishes very well. He could even gave us recommendation and suggestion too. He was really cool! I guess it is impossible to see such mature children in Singapore.
Though there is nothing super special about chicken rice balls but you really have to try it at least once since it is the speciality in Melaka.
The chicken was very tender and the Assam fish was really yummy!
18. Taking a ride on the musical Trishaw at night
We had been bio-ing the theme-decorated Trishaws which played various themed music since day 1. And it was a pity we didn't tried on any of them during our stay. Never mind, we would not miss taking a Trishaw ride the next time we go to Melaka ^^
These were just 18 things I did during my 3D2N in Melaka. There are many more places to be explored in the new Malacca town and there is the Maritime museum in the old Melaka too.
And of coz my satay celup!!! And the famous satay stall! I heard seafood is good too in Melaka!
Haha I think it's okay Lah, at least I know I got more new things to look forwards to the next time I go to Melaka!
Do let me know if this blog post is useful to u! ^^