Melaka! :D

sounds like eureka. heheh... that's actually how the locals of malacca spell the name of their country :)

lui and i headed to malacca last may 2 for a two nights stay. my australian boss raved about the place that i couldn't help but be curious.

we took the grasslands bus to malacca. the bus was great. it was comfortable and a lot of leg space. you can even recline your seats to make it seem like a bed. only thing is the bus we got heading back to singapore was less fabulous than the bus going to malacca. tickets cost $110 for two return tickets. (including taxes)

we booked the hotel through the internet. my boss recommended the place where they stayed in so i just took her word for it... hotel puri is a small but cute hotel. the location is amazing! just 5 mins walk to jonker street and around 15 mins walk to the nearest tourist attraction :) the room was nice, clean but a bit small. but there's no stuffy or old smell. the staff were super nice and efficient! the breakfast was so-so. the 2nd breakfast we had, tasted like a recycle of the previous day's. the spa was great!!! amazing. hehe... the overall ambience of the hotel is awesome... it gives you a vibe of the old houses in malacca... you can read the history of the building in the website :) overall, i'd still stay at the hotel if i go back to malacca. it costs only $80 per night.

our first day in malacca, right after checking in and settling our stuff, we didnt waste a single minute and so, with our trusty map, we started exploring malacca :)

our first stop: famosa chicken rice balls!

my friend told me that this is a must try... and it is... hehe it's a different version of the chicken rice here in singapore. instead of rice, you get this squid ball look-alike that tastes like salted flour hehehe but very addicting. (we went back the next day) hehehe

after lunch, we walked around jonker street to look at the antique stores and souvenirs stores and went straight to the famous Stadthuys museum. (we paid 2RM each) the museum basically tells you the history of malacca (melaka was ruled by dutch, portugese and british... that's why they have a very rich culture)

after stadthuys, we visited christ church. according to the tour guide we had the following day, all the materials inside the church are all orginal from 18 something something :) cool...

basically, we were following the map of must sees in malacca. hehehe our next stop was supposed to be the youth museum but sadly it was closed. so we headed to st. francis xavier's church. it was closed so we just took pics from outside.

on our way back to the hotel (we decided to head back as it was really scorching hot outside!) we saw this little dutch restaurant. since we never tried dutch food before, we gave it a try. our verdict? the cassava fries was too oily. but the drink was refreshing enough :)

actually, we didnt go straight to the hotel. we were side-tracked by all the things in jonker street - all the stores and what nots. really a cool place. so we actually reached the hotel around 5pm na din lol...

we had dinner at this little restaurant that we saw in jonker street. it looked so cozy. we ordered a sandwich and lasagna... the sandwich is huge!! lasagna was amaaaazing :) after the sumptuous dinner, we went around jonker street again, but this time to enjoy the night market that they usually have on fri, sat and sun nights only :)

day2 saw us taking a guided tour :) it was great because we at least didnt have to walk. but would you believe that we walked from the mall back to the hotel? it's like walking from glorietta to rcbc tower in hot hot hot weather! init sa malacca grabe. my feet now have tan lines from may havs hahaha.

after the tour, we went back to the hotel for some r&r. since the day's activity was too tiring, we decided to try the spa at the hotel (sweet!) we paid around 250RM for two for back massage. very very very nice... i went straight to bed right after. hehehe

third day... we made some last minute shopping and decided to try the geographer's cafe... it's just around the corner from the hotel and we always see a lot of caucasians eating there so we just wanted to try it out. try their chicken nonya. sarap :D

ayun lang... by noon, we had to go back to singapore na :( all in all it was a great trip... i would recommend it for people who has the patience to walk far in scorching heat and those who are interested in culture.... malacca is a mix of cebu and davao. very urban. so unlike singapore.

im so glad that i have the best travel buddy ever.... no great place will be as good without an amazing companion :D

yun lang... visit malacca. its a great get away from the busy hustle and bustle of singapoe.

will post pics soon! will do some slight editing first :D hehehe