We found ourselves with a few days to burn during the recent Diwali holidays. So, it was time to revisit Malacca which we last visited back in 2012. We're quite sure a lot has changed.
We started our journey on a Friday to avoid the infamous weekend holiday traffic jam. The journey was smooth due to it being a working day but since the children's school holiday has started it was a sure sign for us to start our vacation.
The leisurely ride there took 2 hours and we went for our first destination, Mini Malaysia and Asean Cultural Park. We missed this attraction 7 years ago as it was being renovated. The entrance fee is quite expensive at RM 15 for adult and RM 8 for children below 12 years and senior citizens. We were hesitant but decided to go for it.
The park is very big and once you enter, you'll see some buildings in a semi-circle arrangement on the right. These are the traditional houses of the states in Malaysia. Each one is adorned with a flag for the state it represents but sad to say some of these flags are in bad shape. So are some of the buildings especially the Sabah long house where some parts of the floor were rotting and not safe to step on. Most of the houses are a let down due to them not being utilized properly to showcase the wonderful characteristics of each of the states.
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| Perlis House |
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| Penang House |
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| Kedah House |
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| Selangor House |
It could be due to Friday prayer time as we do not see many visitors. The Malacca house was the most decorated and nice looking building. There was a small girl selling trinkets on the veranda.At the Johor house, there was a lady baking pineapple tarts, muffins and other delicacies. We decided to buy some as it is "hot from the oven" and tasted so good. We sat at the veranda to enjoy the food.
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| Malacca House |
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| Johor House |
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| The nice kuih-muih from Johor House |
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| Sale !! Sale !! |
The Sarawak longhouse is quite unique and different from the other traditional houses. There is a very interesting staircase for visitors to climb into the long house and there was also a musician playing an electric sape which is a traditional Dayak musical instrument.
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| Sarawak House |
We covered the rest of the traditional houses of Malaysia and made our way to the Asean area. On the way, we saw a theater for traditional performance. There was also a hanging bridge leading to a poolside restaurant. It was difficult to find the Asean area as it's more secluded and located in a different part of the park. What we saw when we reached there was even more disappointment. The buildings representing other Asean countries were either dilapidated or incomplete.. Some we cannot enter as there is no stairs leading up to the elevated building. Some buildings have rotting wood and not safe to approach. The Singapore building is not complete and looks abandoned.
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| The ghostly Singapore House |
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| There are no stairs to go up to the Laotian House |
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| Vietnam House looks a bit better though quite empty |
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| Cannot reach this house as it's too dilapidated and dangerous |
Based on our experience, we would advise visitors to Malacca to give this place a miss as it's not worth the ticket price.
As it was already late, we headed straight to the town center to check-in, But before that, we needed to have lunch. Most of the famous eateries have already closed at that hour so we went for Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant. It's not as famous as the other chicken rice ball restaurant but it'll do for now.
After satisfying our stomachs, we proceeded to check-in to Malacca Jonker House which is our homestay for the next 3 days. It is actually made up of 2 modest shophouses around the Jonker Walk area. One part of the homestay is above a 24 hour laundry shop. Wooden flooring was added to create an upper floor. The other part is in the next shophouse which is a single floor building. The homestay is a bit noisy as it's in a busy stretch of Jonker Walk and has a 24 hour laundry shop. One may find it difficult to get some rest at night.
With time ticking away, we decided to have some chendol at San Shu Gong which is essentially a multi-storey shop selling local food products targeting tourists. The chendol was not up to par and we could find better ones later on our trip.
Next, we took a walk around Jonker Walk area while we wait for a suitable time to go for Malacca River Cruise when it's not too hot. We brought the cruise tickets at a counter at the entrance to Jonker Walk..Unbeknownst to us, this is actually an agent and not the official cruise ticket counter. There is nothing wrong with that but we did not get to enter a contest held for customers which is eligible only to those buying tickets from the official counter at the cruise boarding area. The ticket price is RM 25 for adult and RM 15 for children below 12 years old. As we were in a large group of 12 people, we waited for the next boat so we can board together and get front row seats.
The view from the cruise boat was magnificent especially since we had seats at the front. The cruise took 40 minutes as it made it's way from Muara jetty where we boarded to Taman Rempah jetty and then back to Muara jetty again. The view of the beautifully painted buildings, alfresco restaurants and cafes were magnificent. Along the way, we can see joggers along the Malacca River Walk. It's such a nice place for some exercise. We also passed by Kampung Morten with some nicely refurbished Malay kampung houses. This place is worth a visit in itself.
After the cruise, it was time for a nice walk to our chosen restaurant for dinner. It took us about 40 minutes to get there. Along the way, we saw a Museum for Stamps, Proclamation of Independence Memorial, A Famosa, Dataran Pahlawan and the abandoned Hotel Equatorial.
Finally, we reached Baba Ang Restaurant. It's located in a bungalow. We did not make any reservation but since it was already late, they were able to accommodate us and we were given a private room upstairs. We ordered quickly and the food came fast as well. Despite the speed, the food was delicious. It was authentic Nyonya fare. We also had some chendol which was better than the first one we had earlier in the day though not the best.
With dinner done and everyone tired but happy, we decided to take Grab rides back to our homestay. No one wanted to take the long walk back. Back at Jonker Walk, we toured the night market with it's long rows of stalls. It was an exciting and noisy atmosphere with many types of food and products on sale. Since it's not the weekend yet, we could still walk freely among the stalls. As we've not been in Malacca for a while, we wanted to see what was new and exciting but what we found was nothing out of the ordinary.
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| Karaoke at Hokkien Association |
On the second day, we woke up early so we could get in line for the famous Chung Hwa Chickent Rice Ball Restaurant. This restaurant is always filled with a long queue waiting to get inside. There is limited supply of chicken rice and it's normally finished by early lunch time. As we were early, the queue was short and we got to sit inside soon enough. We put in our order quickly but the food took some time to arrive due to the full house. The chicken rice balls tasted better than Famosa but the chicken is chopped into quite a messy bundle. Anyway, it was a good brunch.
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| This is considered a short queue outside Chung Hwa |
We moved on to a dessert place called East and West Rendezvous. We wanted to try out their Nyonya Chang and chendol. The Chang was full of minced meat and quite filling. The chendol was nice too. As it started to rain, we decided to stay in the shop a while longer.
When the rain stopped, we made our move to Stadhuys where the History and Ethnography Museum is located. Tickets are priced at RM 5 for adult and RM 2 for children. The museum is a must visit for history enthusiasts as it's full of interesting information on the state's history from the Malacca Sultanate era all the way to the time of Japanese occupation. There is also a section dedicated to Cheng Ho, the famous sea explorer that traveled from China all the way to Africa. His contribution to this region is enormous to say the least. We spent a few hours in the museum.
Our next destination was Christ Church. The iconic red building with a cross in front complements Stadhuys perfectly. The entrance is at the side of the building where there's a souvenir store setup. A sense of peace and tranquillity greets the visitors once they step into the church. We stayed for a while and admired the marvelous architecture.
As it was time for lunch, we made our way back to Jonker Walk. We had some more Nyonya fare at Peranakan Place. It's a nicely renovated restaurant which preserved the open courtyard in the middle of the building. At this point in time, the crowd has not built up yet in this historic city yet. We took a stroll along the Jonker Walk, visited Mamee Jonker House and also visited some temples nearby.
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| Cheng Hoon Teng Temple |
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| Xiang Lin Si Temple |
It started to rain again so we ran back towards the Stadhuys area as we wanted to get to the Malacca Chocolate House. This building is also painted in red. Once inside we checked out the chocolates on sale. It's mostly locally made chocolates and are priced for tourists so we did not make any purchase.
Once the rain subsided, we made our way towards Samudera Square which we saw the day before on our way to dinner. This is a big 2 storey building filled with stalls selling local products like dodol, cakes and biscuits. The price here is reasonable and you can find so much variety to satisfy your shopping requirements here. After making our rounds, some of us decided to go back to the homestay while the rest decided to check out the Maritime Museum across the road.
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| Samudera Square from Maritime Museum |
The Maritime Museum is housed in a replica ship in the shape of Flor de la Mars which is the ship that sank in the Indian Ocean while on its way back to Portugal. It's not that big but the replica ship itself is very interesting and inviting. We toured the ship's bowel to extract the historical information stored within. We spent some time taking photos inside the ship, on its deck and also on a platform outside where we can have a good view of the whole ship.
Next we walked back to the homestay to gather the rest of the group for dinner. On the way back we saw a music man performing some nice tunes and had the opportunity to take a photo with him.
Our dinner that night was at Bei Zhan Restaurant in Kota Laksamana. This is a Chinese restaurant. It took us about 30 minutes to reach and upon our arrival we saw that the ground floor was completely empty. We thought it was closed. We found out that all the diners were on the first floor instead. It was full of people and we made our orders quickly. We went for the Assam fish. Our dishes took some time to arrive and we were very hungry by then. Going by the taste I would say that the fare here is just acceptable. The fish was a bit cold as it is not continuously heated up.
Once we completed our dinner, we book Grab rides back to Jonker Walk. Unfortunately we met a bad Grab driver which we reported to the company. However there is no harm done. We spent the rest of the night exploring the Jonker Walk night market which by then was choking with people. The walk was not as pleasant as the night before. We decided to retire for the night.
On the last day of our trip, we woke up to find that all the eateries nearby are full. We expected this to happen due to the long weekend. We had to walk the side roads to find places to eat. Along the way we took the opportunity to take photographs of the beautiful morning. Luckily we found an eatery which was quite empty. It could be due to its location which is a bit further from the main roads.
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| One pose, two pose, everybody pose... |
Kappan House specialises in Hakka Yong Tau Fu and chendol. We put in our orders and while waiting for the food we explored an antique shop across the road. The shop was packed with stuff from yesteryears. When our food arrived, we had our fill. In my humble opinion, the chendol in this shop is the best I've had during my 3 days stay. Their chendol has earned mentions in
hungrygowhere.com and other travel sites.
After breakfast we checked out the antique shop again as I was interested in some Fok Lok Sau figures made of white marble and about 10 inches in height. These were wrapped nicely and in good condition. I got to practice my bargaining skills and was able to secure the figures at a reasonable price. It was a happy purchase for me as I've been looking for such an item that I like for quite a while. I forgot to take a photograph of the antique shop but it is just opposite Kappan House and the lady proprietor is nice and welcoming to all visitors. Give the shop a visit if you are shopping for antiques in Malacca.
As we have not had any coffee yet, we went to a nice and cozy cafe nearby. It had a retro and jazzy feel. The sitting place is limited but we did find a comfortable corner to relax. There were songs being played from cassettes and it was great to see that "old" technology still have a place in our lives.
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| Coffee bean processing machine |
After having our morning coffee, we proceeded to check out of the homestay and to bring our luggage to our cars which were parked some distance away.
Once we stored our luggage securely in our cars, we went back to Jonker Walk for some last minute shopping. It was very crowded and we had to walk slowly along road. It did not take long for us to get tired of the crowd and the heat so we entered some shops with air-conditioning just to cool down. With souvenir shopping coming to an end, we decided to look for a place for lunch. It was even more difficult to find a place compared to our earlier breakfast hunt so we decided to leave the city center and move on to our last destination which is Besfomec Industries Sdn. Bhd. in Alor Gajah.
It took a while for us to get there due to the heavy traffic. It's a strange destination for a holiday but it's worth a visit. This company produces bird nest products including concentrated bird nest, health tonic and chicken essence. They have a showroom at the factory which mainly caters for group tours. We wanted to check out the factory price. It was indeed much cheaper.
For example, a bottle of concentrated bird nest which goes for RM 220 online is being priced at RM 180. If you buy 2 bottles, you can get it at RM 160 per bottle. The same goes for the other products which are heavily discounted at the factory. The sales people there also served delicious chilled bird nest drink for us to sample.
A group of tourists joined us later at the showroom and many of them bought health products as well. It was a good choice for us to stop at the factory. After making our purchases, it was time for an early dinner as we've skipped lunch. We ended up at Xian Yuan Restaurant. The food was surprisingly very nice and to cap it all a rainbow greeted us in the horizon at the end of our dinner. What a way to end our holiday !!
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| Photo taken from Google Maps |
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| A rainbow greeting |
The journey back to KL was smooth as most tourists were not travelling back until the day after. It was a nice and relaxing holiday for the whole family.
