A Short Trip To Melaka

I haven’t been to Melaka since January 2016 and after meeting up my Malaccan mate for our alma mater reunion dinner, I decided to visit her in her home state. She suggested we met up in the city instead of her hometown so after discussing a few dates, we settled on last Saturday, 10 November.

I left micasa at 08:30 that morning and walked to the MRT bus station. The plan was to get the feeder bus to MadValley and change for the Komuter to Bandar Tasik Selatan. However, no T817 bus was in sight after 25 minutes of waiting and CT arranged for Grab to bring me to TBS directly. For the record, I don’t like riding in a cab or Grab all by myself. My parents discouraged me and I don’t like to be stuck with a total stranger for long. The journey was smooth and we arrived at TBS after 20 minutes.

I went to queue for bus tickets and despite arriving at 09:40, all the 10:00-11:00 buses were already full. The earliest bus available was the Melor Interline Express at 11:15 so I bought the ticket for that. Yes, I could have bought the ticket earlier online but I didn’t want to pay the processing fee. Nevertheless, I thought about it and decided to buy the return ticket online as I didn’t want to risk arriving early at Melaka Sentral and waiting again. I had an hour plus to kill anyway so I browsed for the following morning’s buses back to KL. I was surprised to find a few buses had a few available seats left so quickly bought a ticket for a 10:30 Kejora Express bus. Then I read my book.

The bus left at 11:22 and there were quite a few tourists in the bus. There was heavy traffic along some stretches of the highway and the traffic got heavier as we exited the highway. We finally arrived at Melaka Sentral at 13:45. My mate informed she was running late (I suppose it was a good thing then that I couldn’t get an earlier bus!) so I went to perform prayers while waiting for her. She finally arrived at 14:55 and we drove on to Avillion Legacy Melaka. We were surprised to find the parking almost full and wondered if there was some event in Melaka taking place over the weekend.

After checking in, we went up to our room to rest. We ventured out again after 17:00. Believe it or not, both of us hadn’t had lunch yet (!) and it was too late for lunch anyway. We drove to the centre and parked at the public car park near Chan Koon Cheng Bridge. I told my mate that another mate parked there before when we went for an overnight trip back in October 2012 and her car was completely dirty from bird droppings the following day.

We walked to Jonker Walk and went to find Jonker 88 to find some halal laksa. There were a lot of people at Jonker Walk then: the hawkers either setting up their stalls or calling out to customers and the visitors walking around. We finally fond Jonker 88 and asked if we could a couple with a toddler if we could share their table. I then went to buy Baba laksa (jumbo size as the regular size is sold only until 13:00) and durian cendol. The Baba laksa was all right but the durian cendol was a major failure as they used instant coconut powder. What a waste of my RM9! Grr!!!

 At the hotel pool

 Painters painting Chan Koon Cheng Bridge

 At Jonker 88

 Baba laksa in jumbo size and the durian cendol that failed big time

One of the many colourful buildings in the centre 

We left and walked back along Jonker and wandered the streets. We dropped by the public prayer room at the Tourist Information Centre to perform prayers before continuing on to Upside Down House Gallery. I thought the ticket was steep at RM18. We spent a hilarious time there and had one of the staff take our pictures. After that we walked on to find Restoran 35 (it was closed) and decided to have a massage at a place near 707 Hotel Malacca Apple and opposite Asam Pedas Claypot 5 Beradik. The massage was a bargain at RM55/person/hour but what we didn’t bargain for was getting two ladies with traditional healing background (bidan) as our masseuses! Mine started my massage in reverse to what I usually experience: instead of lying on my tummy where the masseuse starts with my upper back, I was told to lie on my back and she proceeded to massage my left foot first before going up to the calf. Oh my, it was ever so painful and I was grimacing in pain before long that it prompted her to ask if I had never had a massage before. I said yes, of course I had. Maybe the ones I had before were mild and maybe because I’m weakly but it was a painful hour for me and my mate. After finishing with my feet and calves, I was told to lie on my tummy and she started massaging the thigh area, and again, without mercy. I was getting worried if she would be climbing on my back after that because I’d once had a masseuse climb on my back and started pounding on it like a sumo wrestler. Thank God she didn’t. We chatted a bit, she was curious about my marital status.

At the Upside Down House

Both my mate and I emerged feeling worse for the wear and after thanking our masseuses, we left. It was getting late and we weren’t that hungry after our meal but we decided to stop for some asam pedas. I asked the owner if it was spicy and he gave me a look before I realised the irony of my question. I laughed and said yes, I wanted a non-spicy asam pedas! He brought out a small bowl for me to sample and I decided it was not that spicy so we ordered and shared the fish roe asam pedas.

 The walk along the river is pleasant in the evening (too hot during the day!)

We trudged back to the car park and found that the birds have had their fun pooping on it. My mate was good-natured about it. We reached our room about 23:30 and I was already dozing off by midnight.

On Sunday, we woke up for prayers and my mate had a short kip after prayers. We left the room at 08:30 and brought our bags to the car before going down for breakfast. The breakfast spread was quite generous but I didn’t eat much.

Breakfast at the Coffee House

We left at 09:50 and drove to Melaka Sentral and waited for the bus before bidding each other farewell and promising to keep in touch. The bus left at 10:40 but stopped outside the complex for 5 minutes before continuing. Then the driver stopped at a pump station along the highway to fill up (I took the opportunity to use the facilities) and we only arrived at TBS at 13:05. I had another wait for the Komuter. I went down at MadValley and stopped there for an hour before taking the bus back to micasa. I reached micasa at 15:30, swept the porch and unpacked. It started pouring when I was performing prayers with such deafening and frightening thunders and I was so thankful I managed to reach home when I did. Alhamdulillah.

That was a good weekend albeit painful at times. I think it would be a regular event from now, insyaAllah.

Pantai Klebang, Melaka

Here are some pictures of Pantai Klebang.

 You get a view of the Straits of Malacca from the top of the sand dunes

Thaipusam Weekend

I had a busy Saturday. Left home early in the morning and drove with the Indonesian painter I had asked way back in March 2015 to paint the porch and back walls at micasa. Yes, way back in March as I wanted him to buy the paint before GST came into effect (probably didn’t make a difference as almost every seller had increased their prices even in January 2015). We had agreed on his rate also back in March. Anyway, I finally couldn’t stand it any longer and asked Abah to tell him to do the job over Thaipusam weekend.

I sent him a text to come pick me up at 07:30 (he doesn’t know the way around KL. Like seriously) and we reached micasa just after 08:00. I showed him the areas needing painting and showed him the keys to access the back door and the balcony. I also showed him the bathrooms and where he was supposed to sleep that night. After sweeping the porch and washing my bathroom, I left. I had a 09:30 appointment at Optimax (six months post-LASIK eye check). The eye check ended just after 10 as I had to wait to be ‘discharged’ – the next check-up would be after January 2017 and it would be annual check-up subsequently.

After checking out the nearby pharmacies (I preferred shopping at Guardian over Watson’s but recently discovered that Caring Pharmacy - and sometimes Constant Pharmacy too – offers better value for my hard-earned money), we went to the Gardens Mall as I needed to pick up something.

We didn’t stay long at the Gardens and left at 12:01 (yes, I checked). We drove to the highway and exited it at Simpang Ampat at 12:58 and began the crawl along Lebuh AMJ. There were so many cars and so many traffic lights that we had to endure. We finally reached Muar town at 13:51 and searched for parking. Then we walked to Mee Bandung Abu Bakar Hanipah restaurant at Jalan Abdullah. We were last here exactly 52 Saturdays prior. This time though, the mee bandung was somewhat lacking and I felt the portion was smaller.

After our lunch, we walked to the market and bought some guava. We then drove to Jalan Sayang, parked there and walked to Muar Soup House. I had soto Muar there. We left Muar just before 5 p.m. and drove to The Settlement Hotel in Melaka. It’s a lovely charming new hotel close to the Portuguese Settlement (hence the name, I suppose). We were given a cold towel to freshen ourselves up and a cup of chilled drink during the check-in process. How refreshing after the long humid sweaty uncomfortable unbearable day! I went to check out the grounds; it didn’t take long as the hotel grounds are compact and the size is just nice.

After soaking in the tub, I performed prayers and then went for a complimentary neck and back massage at The Spa Library (a covered building by the small pool which houses both the library and spa area). The masseuse was very good but the prices were a bit beyond what I was prepared to pay for.

We drove out to Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sungai Duyung. I read that it was better that Umbai and as it was quite close to the hotel, we decided to try it out. Well, I don’t know if we were unlucky or it was a Saturday evening but we queued 45 minutes for a table and a further 40 minutes just to place our order. [And what’s with Malaysian stalls and restaurants anyway? I don’t like it when they immediately ask for your drink orders. First off, I don’t drink right before or during a meal. Secondly, if you ordered iced drinks (I don’t because I don’t like icy drinks), the ice would have long melted by the time you finish your meal presuming you drink at the end of your meal as you should.] Then it was another wait for our food. It started pouring while we were still queuing to place our food order and those who were queuing for tables rushed in. Soon we had people who had yet to assigned seats/tables wandering around and had our tables bumped into by the passing patrons, spilling drinks that came too soon. And to make it worse? Our food just tasted ok. Nothing great at all. So much for all the waiting! The time wasted, the drinks spilled... that was definitely my first and last time there.

We returned to the hotel and retired for the day.

On Sunday, we went out for a morning walk around the area. We climbed up St John’s Fort (which I just discovered on Google Maps that very morning heh) and then went to the Portuguese Settlement. We then returned to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, we took turns packing up and showering. We checked out before 11 as we decided to watch The Big Short at GSC AEON Bandaraya Melaka at 11:30. It was either that or Star Wars but I favoured the former seeing it has more Academy Awards nominations. We entered the theatre late as we had problems locating GSC but the movie hadn’t started yet so we didn’t miss anything, maybe just some trailers.

The movie ended after 1 p.m. and after an unplanned purchase, we decided to leave. I suggested heading over to Pantai Klebang (I saw some pictures of it from another guest at The Library Spa the evening before) but first we had to battle our way out of AEON’s car-park. We inched our way out of the car-park literally. Man, I think half of Malaccans were there doing their Chinese New Year shopping or grocery shopping!

We drove to Pantai Klebang and followed some cars to the sand dunes. We parked and walked about 700 metres to the sand dunes. There were a lot of those dunes. I ignored the nearby dunes and walked to those slightly further and began to climb. It was amazing. It felt like being in the Jordanian desert at Wadi Rum all over again except that the sand this time was white and it was beach sand instead of the red desert sand. You get a view of the Straits of Malacca from the top of the sand dunes and I sighted a small enclosure of water which looked like a small oasis in the middle of a white desert. Subhanallah. Again, it was amazing.

We finally left the sand dunes and drove to Casa del Rio where we would be spending the night. Again, we were given a scented cold towel to refresh ourselves during the check-in and this time, instead of a cup of cold drink, we got a small cup of sorbet. Fantastic when the humidity was 95% and the temperature soaring at 37C.

We were then ushered to our rooms and given a brief tour of the facilities in the room: the charging outlets; the bathrobes in the drawers of the wardrobe and the laundry bag in another drawer of the same wardrobe; the luggage area next to the wardrobe; the balcony... there were also little touches like the rubber duck by the bathtub, the 555 notebook, the containers of ground coffee and English Breakfast tea in addition to the tea bags (and the hot chocolate sachets when they came for the turndown service), the mosquito repellent in the wardrobe, the toiletries in terracotta jars and all these just off the top of my head.

We then went for a walk around the hotel grounds. You get an amazing view of the river and surrounding area from the rooftop where the swimming pool is. The gym is small but manages to have a bar for towels, water and green apples.

We walked out after evening prayers and had claypot asam pedas fish for dinner. We then went to Jonker Walk and then crossed over to Medan Samudera. As the stall I wanted to visit was already closed, we hurried over to Mr DIY at Dataran Pahlawan. I just about managed to grab a rice paddle and ladle and paid for it before the store closed.

On Monday morning, we went for a walk along the river and back again. We returned some 6.3 km later and had breakfast. I then hurried over to Medan Samudera and purchased two food covers. Then I hurried back to the hotel, showered and finished packing. We checked out at five minutes past noon. It was a great stay although I wasn’t happy to be charged GST on the 10% service charge.

We drove back and I was shocked when I reached micasa for the Indonesian painter left it in such a state. I immediately changed and proceeded to sweep and mop micasa.

Well, that was my Thaipusam weekend. Hope you had a good one too!

Eid ul Adha Trip

My mate, W, and I briefly discussed and quickly agreed upon this trip a mere nine days prior to it. I quickly checked the hotels available online and finally (after missing out on a Baba-style accommodation by minutes) managed to book a room in a guesthouse by the river (note: there are LOADS of guesthouses by the river and around Jonker Street area).

We agreed to meet at Ampang Point on Friday afternoon and set off just before 3 pm. Traffic was quite smooth all the way - that was until we entered the crazy narrow one-way streets of the historical city of Melaka. We found ourselves stuck at Jalan Portugis - it didn’t help at all that the street hawkers were already setting up their stalls as early as 5 pm - and finally, mercifully, we got through and crawled our way along Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker Street) before turning off a side street, entering Jalan Kampung Pantai, driving across the bridge and turning into the car-park at Jalan Laksamana, across St Francis Xavier Church. The guesthouse had told me there were some public parking lots along Lorong Hang Jebat where the guesthouse is but I didn’t want to risk being caught in a crawl again. And besides, it costs RM0.60/hour whereas the public car-park only costs RM2/day. We finally checked in at close to 6 pm and half an hour after the guesthouse called to find out where we were.

We left shortly after and set off to explore Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock and then a bit of Jalan Hang Jebat before turning into Jalan Tukang Emas and Jalan Tukang Besi and back to the night market at Jalan Hang Jebat.

There wasn’t much option in terms of halal dining so we walked to Medan Samudera to find dinner. Alas, the food court was closed, it being Eid and all. We then walked to Mahkota Parade and had dinner at the food court. Even then, not many stalls were operating and those that were, were either closing for the day or running out of food/ingredients.

We then checked out some stores and W ended up shopping. I didn’t spend as much as nothing much caught my fancy. We walked back to the car - got a shock when we saw the car as there was a lot of many bird poop on it - and walked along the river up to past Kampung Air.

I got up for no reason after 5 am on Saturday. Sleep refused to return. Anyway, we wanted to leave early this morning.

We left just before 7 and walked to Dutch Square. There was a small group of tourists there already. Then we walked up to Stadthuys and up to St Paul’s before going down to Fort Santiago. Then we turned back and went to the restaurant at Yellow Mansion Guesthouse. It had only gone past 9 but already very hot, humid and sweltering. We attempted to retrace our steps along the river bank like last night but it was just too hot.

We went back to the Jonker Street area and walked around before returning to the guesthouse shortly after 11 - and not before W had bought a pair of Fipper, some pineapple tarts and a painting.

We checked out just after 12 and went to deposit our things in the car. We then walked to Medan Samudera where more spending was done. Lunch was had at the food court on the first floor. We both had the local speciality - fish asam pedas. I had some edible snails too. I bought my lunch from the same stall as on my last visit but the food didn’t taste as good somehow. In fact I had a tummy upset later that day.

We left Melaka just after 2 pm. I had some kip and vaguely realised the heavy rain along the highway. I was too knackered to struggle to get up so W drove alone. We reached KL after 4.30 pm - there was heavy rain as we entered Klang Valley which petered out only as we approached the city.

That was my fourth trip to Melaka this year (I went to Singers four times last year. Wonder where I’ll be visiting next year?). Sadly I don’t have any travel plans for November as yet. Early December will be busy work-wise so a long trip would not be possible. A usual weekend trip 3D 2N might be doable though I have no destination as yet. Would welcome ideas. (But it’s school hols and I hate travelling during school hols as I hate the school hols crowds).

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Arsenal overcame a difficult week of back-to-back defeats with a late, late win over QPR. There were still murmurs of discontent because it was only QPR who are rooted at the foot of the table (FFS. They did draw with Chelshit earlier. And their goalie is pretty good. Really, there’s no pleasing everyone). Really, there’s simply no pleasing people. The ref had a bad day, not awarding us calls when we were fouled. He did get the red card call correct. And anything that makes Sparky unhappy makes me very happy indeed. What’s not to enjoy? We won, three points and climbed up the table. Sheesh.

 

12 Hours In Melaka

I had discussed with Akak to go on a trip to Melaka before I left for Europe. We had settled on last weekend as it’s currently school hols and it was also Abah’s birthday on Sunday. However, as Abah wanted to have some small ceremony done for his birthday on Saturday evening at the local mini mosque, we had to rearrange the trip to a day earlier.

Before braving the nasty Friday evening jam, we went for dinner at De Palma Hotel. Abah decided not to go to Melaka as my brother was coming from Johore so he drove separately to the hotel. We finally left the hotel at almost 10 and took the Ampang-Hulu Langat route before joining LEKAS highway. The traffic was heavy, I dare say it rivalled the festive season traffic. We finally reached Melaka at close to 1 am but spent considerable time locating our hotel in Little India – blame the one-way streets! My bro-in-law parked the vehicle at a nearby car-park and we immediately checked in for the evening.

After morning prayers on Saturday, I went for a morning walk. My nephew, el niño, came along and we walked along the river to the nearby Dutch Square, up the hill to St Paul’s and then back to the hotel. It was still deserted at 7.30 am and if you want to take pictures at the Dutch Square, this is the best time to do so. We went to search for breakfast after 8 am and then returned to the hotel to check out.

After checking out and loading the vehicle with our luggage, we walked by the river to the Maritime Museum. We wanted to go on a boat ride and the ticket counter is near the museum. The fare is RM10 for adults with MyKad and RM5 for children below 12. Foreigners pay RM15 per adult. The boat ride lasted around 45 minutes and we passed villages and the buildings at the waterfront. Some of the buildings have been painted to resemble the colours of Malaysia – and by this I mean the fruit, the local dessert, the different cultures… I enjoyed the boat ride.

It had gotten quite hot and humid by the time we finished the boat ride. We walked to Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Heeren Street) and then turn to Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker Walk). By then there were already a lot of people descending on the little narrow streets of the city. I do wonder how the city copes with its visitors and I do hope that the environmental impact of these visitors (including myself) is minimal. Or that the city and its good people are at least prepared to deal with it.

We sought advice from some tourist police on where to get the best asam pedas dish and walked to nearby Medan Samudera. There are some stalls at the food court on the first floor from which you can enjoy the local Malaccan cuisine.

We then walked back to the car-park and left. There was a long almighty traffic stretching all the way to the highway on the opposite side of the road, all trying to enter the city! I had in fact made one such trip myself during the March school hols (big mistake as I spent an additional hour on the highway to Melaka) so I know it’s not a good idea to go to Melaka during the day on a school hols weekend. I mean we left late at night and still encountered heavy traffic ourselves but nowhere anywhere as bad as that Saturday afternoon.

I can still see myself doing another trip to Melaka.

The Cats In The Heat

I must confess I’ve only just realised what great photo subjects cats make. They act naturally and are usually very confident in their own skin (even in the intense summer heat!). Here are some photos of cats that I’ve managed to capture on some of my trips. Enjoy!

A furry Thai cat - but not a Siamese, mind you. Krabi, March 2009 (most cats we saw in Krabi were very furry btw)
A Cypriot cat. Larnaca, Cyprus, May 2009 Merry Marrakesh cats. Medina of Marrakesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, May 2010 Hotel resident cat. Casablanca, May 2010
Sporting kitty, posing for me! Casablanca, May 2010 Looking out at The Hassan II Mosque. the largest mosque in Morocco and the seventh largest in the world. Casablanca, May 2010 Indian cat, Jama Mosque, New Delhi, January 2011 Alley cats, Tunis medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. May 2011 More alley cats, Tunis medina. Tunis, Tunisia, May 2011 ‘Frankly, I don’t give a meow!’ Tunis medina, Tunisia, May 2011 Cat in Sousse medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sousse, Tunisia, May 2011Sleeping on the job, Mostar. Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 2011

Cats at the old town of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kotor, Montenegro, May 2011

Another one caught sleeping on the job! Miri market, Miri, Sarawak. July 2011

The real cat in the cat city, Kuching, August 2011

Ginger cat at Maninjau village. Lake Maninjau, Sumatera, January 2012

Zoom up of a kitten at St Paul’s Church, St Paul’s Hill, Melaka. February 2012

Another cat at St Paul’s Church, St Paul’s Hill, Melaka. February 2012

Cats near A Famosa, Melaka, February 2012

Black cat, Melaka, February 2012

Terrified cat on a motorbike in a small village, Melaka, February 2012

I’ll definitely be taking more cat pictures after this!

Malacca Day Trip

I don’t know why I never considered going on a day trip to Malacca before. Well, actually I had, back in 2010 but I was trying to find the best Saturday to visit and somehow the plan never materialised. It had been simply ages since I was last in Malacca, I was definitely in primary school when I last visited. It’s been too long, much too long.

So last Saturday, I finally thought the time had come to put this right. After the usual weekend exercise around the house, I left and made my way to the South Integrated Terminal at Bandar Tasik Selatan. I arrived at 10.20 am (for once, the komuter train behaved itself and was on time that day) and immediately went to the ticket counter. There was a bus out at 10.25 but it was full and two buses out at 10.30 am. I chose Mayang Sari because it had single seating on the left and bought the last seat for RM10 (seats on the other bus cost RM9.80). You can’t buy a return ticket here though.

I went down to the boarding area at the second floor and waited to board the bus. The bus came at 10.35 but as it was an executive coach seating only 27 passengers, we were already moving by 10.40 am. I read most of the way until I got sleepy and took a short nap.

We arrived at Melaka Sentral at a quarter to 12 noon and upon arrival, I went to buy the ticket back to KL as I feared the tickets would be sold out. To my surprise, I found the tickets back to KL varied from RM10 to RM12; there was even one bus bound for KL Sentral costing RM22++ (if I heard correctly). I bought a ticket from the Mayang Sari counter for the last bus at 7.30 pm.

I had read that bus no.17 goes from Melaka Sentral to the city centre so went to find it at the local bus terminal. I was quite shocked to see that the bus was old, dilapidated and not air-conditioned. Thank God it was an overcast day so it wasn’t that humid otherwise the ride would be a torture indeed. One seat’s cushion had disappeared leaving behind the steel frame. Such an eye-sore and I felt angry, annoyed and ashamed that we couldn’t even maintain the standard of our public transportation; that bus operators couldn’t afford to offer a more comfortable ride to passengers who have to rely on bus services; that in the city recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the public transportation falls short. And just because the fare was RM1 doesn’t mean that the operator has to cut corners and sacrifice on passengers’ comfort. I really don’t know why we have to put up with sub-standard products and services and think everything is all right and let all these unscrupulous providers get away with it. I don’t think it’s right for us to just grin and bear with it when we are inconvenienced such that we feel like gritting our teeth instead.

Anyway, I digress.

The ride took about 15 minutes and I got down at Dutch Square. I walked back along Jalan Laksamana to the row of shops I sighted while hanging on for dear life on the bus before returning to the Dutch Square aka Red Square. No, nothing like the Red Square in Moscow but so named because of the buildings in the square are painted red. There’s the Christ Church, the oldest Protestant church in Malaysia; the Youth Museum & Art Gallery (built in 1784 as Dutch Administrative Complex before being turned into a school (Malacca Free School). It was then renovated to be double-storey building in 1920s and later used as a post office before converted into a museum); Queen Victoria’s Fountain (built in 1901 by British to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee); the Clock Tower; and up a flight of stairs, the Stadthuys (State House in Dutch). There were many people at the square, hardly surprising as the area is one of the most picturesque spot for photo-taking. There were also the trishaws with their tacky and tasteless decorations.

I walked across to the Tourist Information Centre to ask for some directions before making my way up St Paul’s Hill to the remains of the St Paul’s Church. It started drizzling and there were quite a few tourists up there seeking shelter. Good thing I came armed with my brolly. I didn’t mind the rain as it would be unbearably hot, humid and sweltering otherwise. I spent some time at the remains of the church before making my way down to Porta de Santiago, the only part of the fortress A Famosa which still stands today. The Proclamation of Independence Memorial is just across the gate house.

After some time there, I decided to seek shelter at Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall and to perform prayers. Lunch was had at Mahkota Parade where the dining options exceeded that at the Megamall.

After all that, I walked over to Chinatown. First, I took a walk along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. I love old buildings, colonial buildings and ruins so I was in my elements there. I love that old buildings are cared for and preserved there instead of being torn down all in the name of development. I love that the old and the new can coexist side by side. Unfortunately the small one-way street (it isn’t a road by size, only by name) is a busy street so we had to walk either in the corridors (and risked encroaching on the occupants’ privacy) or on the road where we had to walk very close to the cars parked on either side of the road. I walked to where the street meets Jalan Kubu before turning back. I then took a side road to Jalan Hang Jebat or more famously known as Jonker Walk then took another side road to Kampong Kling Mosque and Cheng Hoon Temple, the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia. I also sighted a lovely example of a traditional Malaccan Malay house with its colourful stairs nearby. Really, Malacca city centre really does offer fantastic photo opportunities.

I returned back to Jonker Walk and joined the evening crowd. It was not yet 6 pm so there will still vehicles on the road. I also took some other side roads and another before coming upon Hang Jebat’s tomb. This part was quieter with hardly any tourist and I was surprised when someone called out to me, ‘1Malaysia’. I gave him a weak smile before moving on.

Back at Jonker Street, I gazed into a shop selling nyonya kebaya tops and sarong and my, the prices advertised! I walked on and came upon another store. I went in and twenty minutes later found myself with not one, but two nyonya kebaya tops (!) and a brooch set. They are all hand-embroidered so they don’t come cheap. Now I had barely enough money to buy a pair of wooden clogs let alone the expensive Chinese tiffin set. By the way, in case you don’t know, nyonya kebaya are made of sheer kasa rubiah material (cotton and linen). I had worn it once before, a friend’s actually, and had the wardrobe malfunction moment. It had slipped my mind that the nyonya kebaya doesn’t have buttons and is only held in place by a set of three brooches...

Before leaving the area, I had durian cendol. I had observed that this seemed to be a specialty there (some shops had only this while other had various other types of cendol), besides Nyonya fare.

I finally left Jonker Walk and decided to check out the shops along Jalan Laksamana, entering one of the shops. To my dismay, I found that the shop that sold nyonya kebaya top at a much lower price compared to what I paid. I also discovered that the return bus ride to Melaka Sentral would take anywhere between 45-60 minutes as it would pass other parts of the city. Oh no! It was already 6.30 pm and my bus would leave in an hour.

I hurried back to the Dutch Square and asked a lady there who was also waiting for the bus. She told me the bus service is not regular, that the bus ride would take an hour and I would not be able to make my bus and suggested I asked a taxi driver across the street how much it would cost me to get to Melaka Sentral.

The bus finally came and the driver confirmed what the others had told me: the bus would take an hour before it’d reach Melaka Sentral so I had no choice but to run across the street again and take the cab. It cost RM13 after haggling.

And guess what? My bus didn’t leave on time. It only left at 7.45 pm and even then, it stopped at a Petronas station. It was a while before the driver returned – I think he went to perform prayers first. Well, I would have liked to perform prayers too had I known he would stop that long. We only finally moved at 8 and reached the South Integrated Terminal at 9.40 pm. I performed prayers there before hurrying to catch my train.

And that was my barely-half-day trip to Malacca. I have a good mind to return again although the thought of the return bus ride and riding the bus no.17 doesn’t exactly thrill me.