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Saturday 10 December 2011

216: Weekend Getaway To Malacca

We attended a cousin's wedding in Malacca last weekend. It was Ezal's cousin, Amin; Mariah's brother (hi Mariah, wave hand). So this is him with the newly wed sweet looking wife :)

Since it was Saturday, and we already in Ayer Keroh, we decided to spend a little more time in town where we stayed in Seri Costa Hotel, very near to Menara Taming Sari and not so far from the A'Famosa fort. But it's not the whole family trip. It's only us and my sister in law with her family who prolonged our stay in Malacca. The rest went the other way to Penang to attend another cousin's wedding. (Haih, it's a wedding galore month again)

Even though Ayer Keroh and town is in fact not that really far, it took us about half an hour to reach there and that was because of the series of traffic lights which each of them we have to wait around 120sec.whenever the light turns red. Yep, in Malacca they have this countdown at every traffic light. Red light runs approx. 120sec while the green light at 94sec. And when we saw the red painted (historical) building, that was when we started to face the crawling traffic. So many cars yet so narrow road regardless it's Saturday or Sunday. Well, what do you expect at the tourist spot town? a clear hassle free traffic? pfft... 

Alhamdullillah..
We managed to check-in at 3.00pm. Our temporary crib for the night and  the next half day was at Room 283. Had a quick rest, then we went out again to Menara Taming Sari, a 360 degree viewing tower to enjoy the sight seeing of Malacca from the bird's eye view. Beautiful scenery! but I was not able to capture those views as the revolving 'UFO' thing didn't allow my camera to shoot nicely. It will cost an adult RM 10.00 per ride. But then, the queue was quite long, and the man selling the ticket told us it would take almost 45 minutes to stand the queue. As he saw us hesitating to go for the ride, he then offered us the fast lane ticket, no queuing, straight away  for the  7-minutes ride. At RM 20 per head, the fast lane really worth it plus you'll get a souvenir goodie bag.

Immediately after we pay for the ticket, another staff escort us to the revolving tower and seated as at the section right in front of the entrance. As the 'UFO' thing touch the ground, both of us were the first to enter *bliss. At one time, it could travel 66 passengers to the sky :p.
After that, we experienced the night life by riding trishaw or rather well known as 'beca'. Nowadays, the beca are all fancily decorated with flowers, lights and loud speaker! We have to agree that it's far way different from the past 8 years when I visited Malacca during my study trip. Casa-Del-Rio hotel is there now on the riverside which last time I saw the site, there's nothing but the old fishermen's boat and the aged buildings.

Per ride they'll charge RM20. This boy, Shafiq took us to few places with his beca from the Menara Taming Sari to A Famosa fort and ended at River cruise. He kept telling some history of Malacca, so it's kind of interesting ride ;)

If you ever saw the gigantic ship by the roadside, that is Muzium Samudera. Fee per entry is RM3 for adult. Be sure not to come later than 8.15pm as they're closing at 8.30pm.
Then comes the next day, sunny Sunday. The weather being kind to us, so we continue with our plan to walk along Jonker Street and climb uphill to St Paul's Church before we back to the hotel again. Jonker Street  literally translated as "Second Class Gentlemen" in Dutch. That statement was extracted from a piece of paper that I had in one of the souvenir packaging bought at Jonker Gallery. Further as mentioned, the street has been renamed a number of times from Jonker Street to Jalan Hang Jebat, then Jalan Gelanggang and finally to Jalan Hang Jebat (again?). In the past, it was the residence of servants servicing the houses of the upper class families in Heeren Street (located parallel to Jonker st). These days, there are no longer upper or second class community in the street. All we can see today is rows of heritage building converted to a boutique, shops selling antiques, restaurants, museum etc.
This is 'pokok Melaka', the tree of which Parameswara was leaning on when he witnessed a small mousedeer outwitting his hunting dog. Remember?We learnt that in school;)

Owh, before I forgot, if by any chance you drop by to this town, don't miss Asam Pedas Melaka. It's a must try dish! I would recommend Asam Pedas Selera Kampung, located at the shop lots next to Pahlawan Walk Market. But price wise, please expect as if you're eating in KL. We had Asam Pedas Ikan Merah-RM6.00 per bowl, deep fried ayam kampung- RM 8.00, a portion of cencaluk, nasi and some sayur2 to complete the meal. 

That's all about the weekend getaway to historical places in Malacca. I bet there are many more places that I did not cover during this short trip, especially eating places. Maybe another few years, we shall go back there  for another good holidays with Pae/ Ezal jr.? (eyes sparkling).

P/s: Thanks to my colleague, AJ for introducing Seri Costa Hotel to us. Very strategic location for tourist who'd like to walk around the town. Overall, it was a nice stay!

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