I want to go back to Malacca (Part I)

Whee! I'm back after a month of slacking, chilling and holidaying! Finally shook off the lazy bones syndrome to get down to some serious blogging. Its been only a forthnight since I've returned from my short holiday and gosh... Send me back there again!!!!!

The fond memories that I have would always be remembered. Malacca is a quiet town with beautiful sights and sound. Not scenery wise, but culturally. The town is filled with quaint museums, beautiful shophouses, tastefully decorated cafes, glorious food, rock bottom prices, and most importantly very friendly people.

The tour starts at sleazy Golden mile when the princess and I caught a bus straight to our hotel in Malacca. With comfy seats and a driver who drives like he wanna reach Mongolia in a day, we were soon in Malacca before we knew it.


Our comfy and spacious coach. The bald headed guy in front looks like my csm. Oops.

Upon arrival we immediately checked into Hotel Equatorial, grabbed a map and its off to exploring!


But first, a view from our 18th floor hotel room

Since our hotel is only a stone's throw away from most major attractions, we were able to get where we wanted on foot. It's also pretty easy to navigate your way around with fool-proof maps and very tourist helpful locals. We went straight to Jalan Hang Jebat where shophouses and pretty cafes and restaurants lined the streets.


Jalan Hang Jebat aka Jonker Street by day

Hunger got the better of us. And what better to place than Malacca to try the famous Famosa chicken rice! We ordered a plate of chicken and roast pork rice, a platter of vege, 2 drinks and walla! The cost of the meal was only Rm17. A steal considering that it was a restuarant and the portions of the food was illegally large. Also, the rice were served in cute little rice balls!


And I say amen to good food...

After that it was back to shopping,



shopping,



and more shopping....



Jalan Hang Jebat offers also a lot of shops selling tons of antiques. There are also interesting buildings like clan buildings, press and even a tiny but homely library which was unfortunately closed when we were there.


The Hokkien huay Kuan looks more like a temple to me


A typical antique shop


An interesting shoe shop with a pair on display that might fit Shaquille O'neal


The Royal Press, without any hint of royalty

Then its back once again to more shopping,

hunting for cute items,



and buying some 'essentials'.



I got hungry again and this time we stopped by one of the many cute shophouse cafes that were pretty much all over.


I love the hanging decorative lamps


What more there's a help-yourself comic stand beside the table that facilitates the "chill out" process along with the grape lassi, hot chocolate and chicken pita bread that we just ordered


I wanted to kapo home one of those lovely pots behind me

After adequate shopping for the day, its now time for some sightseeing! We visited Bukit St.Paul, a lovely scenic hill with the remains of a portugese fort.


Well it's a long way up~ Walking through the church of St. Paul to the peak of the hill


After some walking it's still a long way up...


And guess what I saw along the way up?


Finally, a 360 degrees breathtaking view awaits us at the peak


There was also a 'room' for large stone memorials of a some famous Europeans

Then there was this old man who was painting at the peak. He chatted with us and told us lots of interesting stories. It's hard to believe that this man was once a Singaporean soldier who served under the British army. He even recalls the name of some of the army camps in Singapore. Residing now in a house at the foot of the hill, he says that he enjoys the laid back life of Malacca and now paints for a living. He offered me one of his painting that says it best describe my life at this point in time when I told him I was about to leave the army for studies.

I paid him anyway as I was very impressed with his watercolour pieces. They were really amazing. Never art savvy, I can only admire his masterful use of colours and brushes to portray his feelings. We exchanged address and he sent XinYi another of his own coloured post card just a few days back. Great momentos for our Malacca trip!


This piece if art is called "A road never ends"


More "olympus" moments at Bukit St. Paul


I just love visiting historical sites. There's so much to read about them

We wanted to visit some museums but it was too late so we took some shots and decide to return the next day instead.


The sacred animal of Malacca-the mousedeer- is now kissing me on the ear. Bwahahaha!


XinYi especially love the name of this red-coloured buildings...


This Dutch cannon from the 1700s is now a public dustbin if you peek into it. Eek. Irresponsible idiots...


Beautiful colonial achitecture makes Malacca definitely a place worth visiting


Another colourful aspect of the town is their love for flowers


Dutch influence of the town is visible throught the numerous windmills


The next possible poster girl for Dutch milk...

Our day ended with a visit to Makhota Square, the biggest shopping mall in Malacca and true to it's name, we were not able to finish walking through everything in a night. After that it's a short walk back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before another great day in Malacca.

I'll be back to blog more so stay tuned!