Malaysia - Singapore 2013: Walking Tour of Melaka

September 16, 2014
Melaka

After a tiring transfer from KL to Melaka (we arrived late the night before), we are ready with our day. Since our hotel is more like a homestay, we grabbed our breakfast at Voyage - a quirky, small vintage restaurant that makes you feel at home.

The weather during our visit is very much like what we have in summer in the Philippines. Scorching hot and very dry. Its maybe because it's near bodies of water. Anyway, we started our walking tour in Jonker Street. Amae wasn't able to join us for the night stroll the night before, so we decided that we stop first at what we were able to cover last night.

Museum 1

The Father of Body Builders in Malaysia

Cute bakery in Jonker

Beryl's House in Jonker

Our next stop was Melaka Sari. Since Melaka is just a small town, you can just walk around. After Jonker Street, we did make a left turn and made our way to Herren Street. There was a small museum and art center along Herren called Malaqa Museum where various Malaysian stuff and vintage items.

Malaqa (Malacca) House in Herren Street

Many cravings in Malaqa House

Native art and crafts in Malaqa House

Old Barber Chair and Antique Desk in Malaqa House

After a quick visit to the art center, we went along our stroll headed to several museums along Melaka river. One of the famous spot in Melaka is the waterwheel.

The Famous Melaka Waterwheel (still working)

A Fraction of the Old Melakan Fortress

Our next stops were Customs Museum and Marine and Navy Museum (with a huge ship replica in front of it). Here are some of the shots inside the museum.

Custom Museum houses some of the prohibited items in Malaysia. 

The Custom Service

Some of the artworks - particularly those of female inspirations are covered
with fabric. Malaysia is a Muslim country, so these kind of art are strictly
prohibited.

We walked back to our hotel passing by another famous Melaka landmark - the Stadthuys or the Red Brick House. At the side of it, there is Melaka Museum for Youth and the Arts. Walking further down the road, you can see St. Francis Xavier Church.

The Stadthuys or the Red Brick House. 

The Melaka River

Church of St. Francis Xavier

We had lunch at the famous Rice Ball House near Hard Rock. Mind you, this rice ball restaurant has a long line when we get there. About 50 meters when we get there, and a lot of people in line. :(

We went back to our hotel for a little rest since the sun was very terrible that time. We decided to go back by 5 in the afternoon. Melaka doesn't dim until 8:00 in the evening.

Our next stops were Fort de Santiago which was the center of the British government when Melaka was under them. The Independence Park is now the center of the Malaysian government in Melaka.

Old Church in Melaka

The Fortress

Independence Park

Some of the other museums in Independence Park. 

We decided to call the day early since we have to take the first bus to Johor Bahru the next day.

Malaysia - Singapore 2013: Day 3 in Central Market and Melaka

Part 3 of 10
September 15, 2013
Central Market and On Route to Melaka


Day 2 was a tiring day. We missed our bus in Putrajaya back to the train station, got lost, wandered for an hour in Putrajaya and got soaked in the rain. It was Day 3 and our last day in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Melaka.

Despite the late night arrival to our hotel, we got up early for our Central Market itinerary. We again took the train from Bukit Bintang station to Maharajelela, got off and walked towards Petaling Street. You won't miss it, it has this large arks with Chinese lanterns all over (though I am not sure if the lanterns are there all year round).

CENTRAL MARKET

Central Market is the famous market in Kuala Lumpur, where you can buy tourist-y stuff. Our travel souvenirs (for the last few travels we had) would always be keychains, t-shirts for the family and scarves for ourselves, aside from little knick knacks that our eyes laid on.

There are unique stores inside the Central Market - from wooden bookmarks and Malaysian made scarves.

Petaling Street aka Chinatown

One of the street foods along Petaling. It resembles what we got back in
the Philippines - puto bumbong. 

magnets and keychains along Petaling Street. 

The Famous Central Market (Yes, it was that old!)

Many decors outside Central Market.
If I am not mistaken, they have art contest during our visit. 

Shoes and slippers of various designs. 

Very cute Pens! 

Reminds us of Biblioarch back at home.
Products sold here are mostly made out of wood. 

Wooden bookmarks (which we got) and IPhone cases made of wood as well. 

OFF TO MELAKA

After a quick shopping trip to Central Market, we went back to our hotel, packed our bags and we were off to Melaka.

From Bukit Bintang, we took the train to Hang Tuah, change trains on Sri Petaling line to Bandar Tasik Selatan (South Bus Terminal).

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan at Bandar Tasik Selatan (TBS BTS) is the main terminal for buses bound for the cities on South of Malaysia - like Melaka, Penang and Johor Bahru. They also cater to tourists directly bound for Singapore. BTS is one of the best bus terminal we have been to. Very convenient, comfortable and resembles much like the airport. Honestly, I find this way better than NAIA Terminal 1.

We got our tickets for Melaka, and waited for our boarding time and before the sun sets, we were bound for Melaka.

TBS greeting the tourists!

Bus schedules. See? This is just a bus terminal. It exceeded my expectations. 

Bus ticket counters. 

Information Counter at the lobby. 

Bus schedule per bus line. 

The departure lobby. 

Our doors leading to the bus. 

ARRIVAL IN MELAKA

After three hours (and more, we got stuck in traffic in the Melaka Sentral Terminal), we were in Melaka. From the terminal, we took the bus no.17 - you need to be patient while waiting off to the Melaka Sentral Park or Red Brick House.

From the Red Brick House, we walked towards Jonker Walk, and checked in our hotel for the next 2 nights - Riverside Residence.

Greetings from Melaka! :) 

Lane 17 - where to wait for bus no. 17.

Melaka bus station waiting area. 

Tips:
1. HAGGLE! Just like many of the flea markets, haggle on the prices. Unless the shop has tag prices on their items already. But it never hurts to ask for lower price.

2. If you can, depart early for Melaka, so you will get the chance to see how on route to Melaka looks like. We love to look outside our window, and see the nature.

3. If you arrive in late in the evening in Melaka, expect that you'll wait for a long time for you bus bound for Jonker. But do not take the taxis as much as possible. We tried to ask them, but they asked for 25 RM to Jonker, the bus costs only 1.50 RM.

Indochina trip updates: Accommodations and Itinerary

So finally, after several months and 2 months before we leave for our Indochina trip, I am posting our 8d/7n trip's itinerary and confirmed hotel accommodations. Since my blog is more of 'anything-under-the-sun', I may not have continuous entries on our trip, but I'll make sure that I properly label each of the entries (just like Twitter's hashtags).

Anyways, to refresh you (and myself too), during the start of the year, me and my 2 female college buddies were able to grab some flights from various seat sales  of the airlines here in the Philippines. We booked dead eye flight to Ho Chi Minh City via Cebu Pacific and a return flight from Bangkok to Clark via Tiger Airways. Our trip will begin on August 19, as we are expected to land to Vietnam and will end on August 26 as we fly out of Bangkok. Luckily, we have to be absent on our respective day jobs for 4 days only, as we have a holiday on the 21st and 4 weekends to use.

This is our rough itinerary for the trip:

18 (pm- mn): Flight to HCMC
19 (mn): Hotel check in
19 (wd): HCMC walking tour
20 (am): travel to Phnom Penh
     (pm): hotel check in in Phnom Penh
21 (wd): Phnom Penh walking tour
22 (am): travel to Siam Reap
     (pm): hotel check in Siam Reap
23 (wd): Angkor Wat tour
24 (wd): travel to Bangkok and hotel check in
25 (wd): Bangkok tours
26 (am): weekend market
     (pm): Flight back to Manila


After reading very helpful posts in PinoyExchange and searching at Agoda, Hostelbookers, Hostelworld, Roomorama and TripAdvisor, we have come into these hostels for our accommodations. The best thing about our reservations is that they do not need reservation fees, thus, this will not make any charges on our credit cards and more so, we can keep track of how much are we spending.

Since we are three persons travelling, our choices of hostels are very limited due to availability of triple rooms. Saying this, the prices indicated are for triple, air-con rooms.


Our accommodations:

1. Ho Chi Minh City: SEVENTY HOSTEL (http://www.seventyhotel.com/home/html/homepage.html)

Location: 10-15 mins away from major sites in HCMC. Located in District 1.

Contact email: sales@seventyhotel.com

Rooms price: 35 USD per night = 70 USD
Inclusives: Breakfast, Internet free, welcome drink, wifi in the room also.

They are very fast to respond on your email. I emailed them in the morning, and after two hours, they sent me the room prices and finally booked one for us. Since we will be arriving to HCMC in the midnight, we decided to book 2 nights to cover for the first night.


2. Phnom Penh: VELKOMMEN GUESTHOUSE (http://www.velkommenguesthouse.com/)

Location: very near to tourist spots and near the riverside. 10-15mins walk from major temples.

Contact email: reservations@velkommenguesthouse.com

Room price (Twin room with double size beds): 24 USD per night = 48 USD
Inclusives: Ensuite, AC and Fan, Fridge/ Mini Bar, Cable TV with 70 channels

Similar to Seventy Hotel, they are fast to respond. After 2 emails to each other, we finally booked the room.


3. Siam Reap: PHROM ROTH GUESTHOUSE (http://www.prohmrothguesthouse.com/)

Location: 5 mins away from the Central Market. 15 minutes away from Angkor Wat (via tuktuk)

Contact email: phromroth_guesthouse@yahoo.com

Room price: 25 USD per night = 50 USD
Inclusives: Breakfast, wi-fi, AC and fan

Phromroth is a family owned business and Mr. Meang, the guesthouse owner, stayed in the Philippines for 10 years before going back to Cambodia, so he knows Tagalog. :) One thing that made me fall in love with the place is that Mr. Meang greeted me in Tagalog (a plus point for me) and they have internal tour packages for Angkor Wat. I do not need to go and find a travel agency to provide the Angkor Wat tour. And according to his website, Filipinos have discounts on the tours and accommodations in celebration of the Friendship day. :)


4. Bangkok: ERAWAN GUESTHOUSE (www.erawanhouse.net)

Location: near to the Central Weekend Market, along Khao San road (backpacker's area)

Contact email: erawanhouse@gmail.com

Room price: 35 USD per night = 70 USD
Inclusives: wi-fi. hot water and A/C

Erawan house was one of the few guesthouses in Khao San road that offer triple rooms. I was able to email them our reservations, however, nobody confirmed them. I sent them another email as I write this entry and hopefully, will be hearing from them soon. Or else, I have to look for another guesthouse in Bangkok.


I shall be updating this entry once we have our final itinerary (where exactly to go) and final Bangkok Guesthouse to stay in. I would be glad if I'll be hearing for you about my entry. :)

I would like to thank every blog writers who posted their Bangkok, Vietnam and Cambodia trips at PinoyExchange. It really helped me a lot in deciding which hostels to book and to finalize the itinerary.

Happy travelling to you! :)