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: A night walk at Jonker Street

Part 4 of 10
September 15, 2014
Jonker Street, Melaka


We settled in our nice, cozy hotel that night but my feet are itching to see what is in store in Melaka. We passed by the crazy street bazaar on route to our hotel, so the two of us (we left our Atei at the hotel since the day has been so heavy for her) went back and explored the area.

JONKER STREET

Known as the famous night market in Melaka, Jonker Street was an array of bright lights, cute and artsy souvenirs, food and tourists. The famous bike ride - the uber-colorful and eye-striking trishaws captured our attention (and cameras as well). We opted not to ride them (ahem, 40 RM for a ride) so we decided to just walk around Jonker Street.

Below are the ones we found along the way.

Welcome to Jonker Walk!

Paper Arts - pop-up greeting cards

Metal Art - wired robots 

Chopsticks

Ceramic dogs (nakaw na kuha 1)

Painted tin cans coin bank (nakaw na kuha 2)

Creepy voodoo doll (nakaw na kuha 3)

Ceramic earrings

Decorative owls  (nakaw na kuha 4)

Glow in the dark keychains

Kuih Lobak - I still do not understand this food. Texture is like a hard tofu.
Stir-fried in very hot oil and pan. Add spices and sauce.
Its reminds me of tofu sisig but with less flavor on the tofu. 

After the nightly stroll, we decided to go back and relax for the night. Tomorrow is another day, and the three of us will explore what Melaka has to offer.

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.

Malaysia- Singapore 2013: Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur

Part 2 of 10
September 14, 2013
Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur

After good night sleep in our hotel, we woke up early for our day 2 in Kuala Lumpur. Our two stops for the day - Batu Caves and Putrajaya.

BATU CAVES

Our hotel in located about 7 minutes walk from Bukit Bintang station and we used the train off KL Sentral. It is a quick ride to the station - and quite a 3 minute walk to the main KL Sentral station - which we realized, it is where we got off from the airport the day earlier. And the fare - 2.1 RM.

Moving on, from KL Sentral station, we took the train directly to Batu Caves - the newest addition to the main train line of Kuala Lumpur. It transfers the tourist directly and conveniently.

Upon reaching the Batu Caves station, the temples and monuments are just outside the station. Few minutes walk upon the exit and we were right in front of Hanuman - the Monkey God. Batu Caves is the limestone hill with various temples and with two main towering monuments - Hanuman at 50 feet and Lord Murungan - a golden statue at the feet of the main cave at 140 feet tall.

The main cave - where three of the main temples are located is a good 272 step climb with monkeys all around. The monkeys are the main caretakers of the stairs, frolicking around and grabbing food from the visitors. Be careful of these food snatchers.

Hanuman - The Monkey God. 

One of the many temples and the garden. 

Lord Murungan and the 272-step climb behind. 

The food snatchers. They can open anything - from bottles to canned chips. 

A little baby monkey with his/her mom. A coconut was opened and they went down
to drink the juice. 

Atop the cave. 

A cute little Malaysian-Hindu girl.
Head/hair is covered of white clay.

One of the many Hindu Gods carvings in the temples and stairs.

PUTRAJAYA COMPLEX

After a scorching hot visit to Batu Caves, we went off to our next stop - Putrajaya complex. We traveled back to KL Sentral using the same line we took to Batu Caves, grabbed a quick lunch in McDo and we were off to Putrajaya using the KLIA Express. Quite a hefty cash out for the train fare, but is a quick ride to Putrajaya.

We got off the Putrajaya complex station, and went down to the Bus Complesx and rode Bus no. 11 off to Putrajaya complex.

The Putrajaya Complex is composed of the Malaysia's Prime Minister's Residence, the Pink Mosque and administrative and commercial buildings of Malaysia.It seems to be a fusion of old Malaysia and modern ones - reflective on the facades of the buildings.

The Pink domed Putra Mosque is the main attraction in the complex. Open from 5 in the afternoon onwards, all tourists should wear what we compare to Hogwarts robes as sign of respect to the religion and its beliefs. There are many guides inside, which explains every single bit of the mosque.

We were not able to catch Bus no.11 by the time we went out the mosque, so we walked around for the nearest bus stop. Passing by the PM's residence, lost tourists like us, walk straight ahead passing by a food complex. On the highway, there is a bus stop and you can take Bus no.6 back to the KLIA-Putrajaya station.

We had the bus to ourselves!

Putrajaya bridge. 

The Pink domed Putra Mosque. 

The dome's details.

The Prime Minister Residence

"Hogwarts" robe. Tourists are required to wear these robes inside the mosque.

My friend on the tiled floors of the mosque.

The Putra Bridge at night.

The Putra Mosque at night.

TIPS:

1. Leave early if you want to take our itinerary. You can spend the morning at Batu Caves and afternoon at Putrajaya.

2. Do not hesitate to ask for directions. Helpful policemen and guards are around. Though they do not speak good English, they are helpful as to draw where to go.

3. In foreign countries, use simple English. :)

4. In Batu Caves, do not climb the cave WITH FOOD, even with bottled water. Monkeys will grab them. They are used to grabbing things from the hands of the tourist. Do not do what the Korean tourist did, but behind us as she protects her food from the monkeys - making us her wall. If I am as bitch as her, I would push her down to the stairs. Hahahaha!!!