Melaka Trip 29-31 Dec

This was a backpack trip to Melaka.

I meet my friend at Kranji MRT and took a bus across the border to the Larkin bus terminal. We reach Larkin about 9:40am and went around looking for a coach to Melaka. The price of the coach ticket to Melaka were all RM19. However different bus companies had different departure times. We bought one which departed at 10am.

The coach was quite new and it was pretty comfortable. It departed on bus and only stopped briefly at a rest stop for a toilet break. We reached Melaka Sentral station at 1pm.

From the Sentral bus station, we took the Panaroma bus (RM1) to Chinatown.


Jalan-Jalan Guesthouse

I had booked guesthouse which was right in the middle of Chinatown. It was a relatively new guesthouse called Jalan-jalan along Jalan Tukang Emas,just a stone's throw away from the Kiling Mosque (see pic). The manager Sam had converted it from a tradition shophouse that was in ruins into a guesthouse just a few months ago.

I paid RM35 per night for a twin private room. For that kind of price, you really can't expect much. It was a small room with a double-decked bed and a fan (no air-con of course). There is a common toilet and bathroom and there is hot water shower. You get free use of internet service as well, but as there is only one computer, you have to wait if someone is using.

It's basic, but the house has a nice character. However, my friend did not sleep very well because the bed was rather creaky. I liked the location as it was convenient to wander around Chinatown.



Chinatown

Jonker street was the tourist belt in Chinatown. The place is being invaded by tourists with the award of UNESCO heritage status to the old town. Tourist souvenir shops, galleries and eateries are over taking the houses.

However, if you wander beyond the tourist belt (not many tourists do), you will discover the charming part of Chinatown. There are many distributors still plying their trades there (I saw dried food, cigerates, plastic wares, coconut milk, metal ware). There were also many craftsmen still working their crafts there. I saw a metal smith smelting a cleaver, an old man making wooden buckets, rattan weavers, a lady making popiah skins. There are interesting things to see, if you have the interest to look for them.




Baba Nonya Heritage Museum

I visited the Baba Nonya Heritage Museum. It is a private museum. The entrance fee of RM8 comes with a guided tour.

It is well worth the money and I would strongly recommend any one visiting Melaka to drop by.

The museum was owned by a third generation baba family. The collection were actual items used by the previous generations. Obviously, the family was very rich.

The guide told me that she was seeing a sudden spike in Singaporean tourists, obviously thanks to the Media Corp TV serial Little Nonya. According to her, previously, most Singaporean visitors were students. But recently, she was seeing a lot more Singapore tour groups and visitors.


Dutch Square

I guess a visit to Melaka would not be complete without a visit to the Dutch Square and St Paul's Church. It's a nice visit, but nothing particularly special.







A walk through the cemetry

Bukit Cina is the Chinese cemetry ground. There is a small temple at the foot of the temple. I thought the temple was supposed to be dedicated to the Admiral Cheng Ho of Ming dynasty, but the statue of the admiral was at a corner outside the shrine hall.

It was quite pleasant walk through the cemetry grounds to the top of the hill.





Cendol

I lost count of how many bowls of cendol I ate over the 3 days in Melaka.

Cendol in Melaka is good. Rich cococut cream, thick and sticky gula-melaka (palm suger) makes this unforgetable. You just don't get the same thing in Singapore!