First time travelling solo, and figured that Melaka was small enough to do on my own. Three things to do first for the trip: Fix the date and search for accommodation and transportation.
Once the date was fixed, then next was accommodation. Searched and booked the hotel through
Agoda . Decided on a relatively new hotel, The Explorer. Have heard that Equatorial Hotel is a popular hotel choice for visitors to Melaka but it's priced at about SGD150+ per night. Hence, for the same location, one can choose Hatten Hotel (also quite new) and The Explorer (opened in 2012). Cheapest was The Explorer at SGD56.50 per night. Hmm.. never tried a one star hotel before. Maybe they're gonna just provide the room (with attached bathroom) and nothing else? Anyway, booked the hotel and it was a breeze to use Agoda.
Next, transportation. Searched online and nearest drop-off point was Hatten but there wasn't any service to drop off there on the chosen date. Next best choice, was to drop at Equatorial Hotel. Booked through
Luxury Tours & Travel. Had travelled once with them to KL, so should be quite ok. Think the ticket price was about SGD34 for one way travel.
For Luxury Tours & Travel, one needs to arrive at the boarding place (Concorde Hotel at Orchard) at least thirty minutes earlier with the payment coupon. Why? Because on the date of travel, I found out that there was only one person manning their counter, so the check-in queue was moving rather slowly. And that one queue was servicing the check-in to KL as well as Melaka. Got my ticket just 10 minutes before departure though I was there at 730am. Phew!
At exactly 8am, the bus departed from Singapore. It travels via the second link, and made a pit stop at Yong Peng.
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| interior |
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| exterior |
The seat was comfortable, but the entertainment system wasn't started till after the Malaysian immigration. There's a built-in speakers in the yellow cover of the individual seats. Watched "Despicable Me". Nice.
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| pit stop |
The pit stop lasts for twenty minutes, so one can grab food or visit the washroom or just to stretch the legs. After that, was non-stop travel to Melaka.
Arrived at Melaka around 12pm on a Sunday, and the walk from Equatorial Hotel to The Explorer, was quite a long stretch of about 10 to 15 minutes. The hot scorching sun didn't help. So if you plan to walk, then it'd be wise to travel light.
The hotel's check-in time was 3pm, and tried to check-in at 1pm but that wasn't possible. So went exploring Plaza Mahkota's area for lunch.
Came across a porridge place, so had lunch there. The shop is called "Bunga Raya Porridge".
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| old school makan place |
Ordered a small bowl of mixed parts pork porridge. Actually, I asked for pork porridge and was asked if I eat mixed part. The outcome, was a bowl of mixed parts pork porridge. For drink, I had the sour plum.
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| mixed parts pork porridge (small intestines, minced pork, sliced pork and overcooked liver) |
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| sour plum |
Porridge was RM4, and the drink was RM1.50. After lunch, it was just slightly over 1:30pm. Still can't check-in, so decided to check out Nadeje Cafe. Time for desserts!
It's just at the other lane from the porridge place, and quite easy to locate. They welcomed lone diners, so ordered a slice of original mille crepe and a cup of Melaka latte. The mille crepe was very nice. Soft and creamy. But having this and coffee right after lunch, was a tad too much...Bloated for the rest of the day...
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| original mille crepe |
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| Melaka Latte |
Coffee and cake costs about RM17+. So in total, spent about SGD10 for lunch and desserts. Keke!
Went to the hotel at about 2:30pm, and was able to check-in. My room was at Level 4 (highest level!), and the lift to there was kind of tiny. Probably can fit max 3 to four adults in that lift (excluding any luggages).
The room was also tiny. But its bathroom was equipped adequately. Handheld shower, hairdryer, towels, toilet roll, toothbrush and toothpaste, 2-in-1 shampoo and body shower all have. In the room, bottled drinking water, kettle and 3-in-1 coffee, and green tea were also provided. But they didn't replenish any of this on Day 2. Neither was the room cleaned throughout my stay.
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| twin bed |
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| view from room window |
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| bathroom |
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| all hotels should have handheld shower |
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| outside of the room |
Jonker Street night market only happens on weekend, so wasted no time in exploring that area. Unfortunately, it started raining at about 4pm.
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| waiting for rain to stop |
Decided to walk in slight drizzle, and to familiarise with Jonker Street.
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| chicken rice balls, anyone? |
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| Chinese temple |
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| nice artwork |
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| Melaka river |
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| Melaka tree |
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| fruits of Melaka tree |
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| landmark |
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| clock tower |
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| Melaka Fort |
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| Giant Windmill of Melaka |
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| Casa Del Rio |
Got tired of wandering around, so headed back to Jonker Street but the night market doesn't start till after 6pm.
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| waiting for night market |
Wandered somemore and stumbled upon this stall. If you've watched "新不了情" or "C'est La Vie, Mon Cherie" starring Sean Lau (刘青云 or Lau Ching Wan) and Anita Yuen, you'd know this delicacy.
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| Hong Kong red bean cake |
It reminds me of the sad scene where the girl who was dying asked her boyfriend to go get her some of this. Then when he came back to the hospital with a bag of these, she had already passed away. *sobs*
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| red bean cake, RM1 for one |
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| 530pm |
Unfortunately, the rain started again before 6pm. Went to hide at a bubble tea shop called "Ochado".
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| aloe lychee drink |
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| interior |
Decided to give up on weekend market, and to head back to hotel as the sky still looked like it could rain again.
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| continue walking in this weather? No thanks |
Headed back to Mahkota Parade to have dinner. The foodcourt has some stalls, and the prices shown are excluding GST. So, the actual price was more than printed on the stalls' menu. Get a voucher from the stall, then pay at the food court cashier (not at the stall). Then, go back to the stall to get your food. Oh, and the utensils are at the cashier (not at the stall). Hahaa...
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| pan mee from food court (@RM5.85) |
The noodles was not bad. Soupy stuff on a cold weather, nice.
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| Christmas feels |
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| walking back to hotel from Mahkota Parade |
Day 1 ended at approximately 8pm. Feet was achy and tired from all the walking.
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