Thursday 23 December 2010

Road trip to Melaka

A couple of weeks ago I went on a road trip to Malacca, Malaysia’s most historical city. I’m not much of a history buff, but I was still excited as I’ve only been to Malacca once when I was a kid.
We plan to hit Malacca by noon latest and spend the whole day exploring before going back at night. We had our itinerary all printed out and couldn’t wait to get started. It was a little cloudy when we got to Malacca but thank god it didn’t rain. Below are some of the places we covered.

Stadthuys
Stadthuys means town hall in Dutch and is situated in the heart of Malacca Town. It’s also known as the Red Square because of its red exterior. It’s not a very wide spread area so you will find a few other stuff here like the Victoria Water Fountain and the Tan Beng Seng Clock Tower. Something you might miss actually as it’s not a very big clock tower. Also, you can’t help but notice all the beca’s as they take up half the street. Gone are the age old beca’s you read and see in books. The ones you come across now are all decorated with flowers, lights and with loud music coming from their jukebox, gaudy and annoying in my opinion. We didn’t go on the beca though as we felt bad having an old uncle cart us around.
Beca:Trishaw


               Stadthuys


Museum of History and Ethnography
The old building located at Stadthuys used to be the office of the Dutch Governor and Deputy Governor back in 1650. That building is now called the Museum of History and Ethnography. As boring as it sounds, we actually found it really interesting. The museum houses traditional costumes and artifacts such as ancient porcelain, musical instruments, ancient weapons, stamps, currencies and many more. It also has a section depicting the lifestyles and cultures of the various communities of Malacca. 
Admission: RM 2.00 (Adults) RM0.50 (Children/Students)
Opens from 9am-6.00pm
Closed on Monday

                                                                                  
Christ Church
This church was built by the Dutch in 1743 but was only completed in 1753. Unfortunately we didn’t really explore within the church. The moment we stepped in there were little stalls on both sides of the aisle selling some church merchandise such as books, key chains, t-shirts so we just took a quick look around and made our way out.
Christ Church is an 18th century Protestant church in the city of Malacca, Malaysia. It is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia. (Wikipedia)

                                     Christ Church

Melaka Sultanate Palace
This building is a replica of the Sultan of Malacca’s palace during the Melaka Sultanate period. Located at the foot of St. Paul’s Hill, it was constructed using only wooden pegs, meaning no nails! We were quite taken in looking at the wax and plastic figurines that were used to depict the history of Malacca. We liked how the story of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were depicted. The place also exhibits artifacts pertaining to the customs and traditions of various royal households that ruled Malacca.
The museum, also known as the Istana (Sultanate Palace), is a replica of Sultan Mansur Shah's palace, the famous Sultan who ruled Melaka from 1456 to 1477. (www.virtualmalaysia.com)
Admission: RM 2.00 (Adults) RM0.50 (Children/Students)
Opens from 9am-6.00pm
Closed on Monday

 Inside the Melaka Sultanate Palace

Forbidden garden
This is located outside of the Melaka Sultanate Palace. It’s the play area for the royal princesses during the era of the Malacca Sultanate. The garden was neatly kept but nothing to shout about. It was really big though and I like the little waterfalls they had in the corners. 

                                        The Forbidden Garden
Porta de Santiago
The remains of the Old Portuguese fort, A Famosa. Anyone who visits Malacca will definitely make it a point to visit this place. It is one of the four main gates of the A Famosa fortress and was built by the Portuguese in 1512. Its pretty much damaged and run down but still something you should visit. Inside the fort you will find one or two buskers singing or playing a guitar. 

 A Famosa

St Paul’s Church
Located on a hill, the church has an excellent view of Malacca City. At the front is a statue of St. Francis Zavier. At first we were curious as to why there was one hand missing from the statue. So I did my research. Nope, St Francis did not get his hand cut off; instead a tree fell and broke off the right hand of the statue. The church was a former chapel for the Portuguese before the Dutch took over and turned it into a burial ground, hence all the tombstones placed against the walls.

                                Statue of St. Francis Xavier @ St.Paul's Church
                       Tombstones @ St. Paul's Church

Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Balls @ Jonker Street
After all that walking it was time to break for lunch. We decided to try the famous chicken rice ball at Jonker Street, Malacca’s signature dish. Its basically chicken rice rolled and shaped into ping-pong size balls and served with the chicken on the side and the usual dark soy sauce and blended chilli. Simple yet delicious.
Hoe Kee Hainam Chicken Rice Ball
4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200, Melaka

                                                                      

Maritime Museum Phase 1 (Flor De La Mar)
A museum in a ship! This museum is a replica of the ‘Flor de La Mar’, a Portuguese ship that sank off the coast of Melaka. We thought it was a little weird that we were given plastic bags upon paying but than realized that it was so we could put our shoes in and not dirty the place. Inside the ship, we saw tons of artifacts, miniature ships and paintings with narrations revealing the importance of Malacca as a regional and international business centre from the period of the Malacca Sultanate, right through the Portuguese, Dutch and British era. We also saw statues of the prisoners taken in during war.  
Maritime is primarily an adjective that describes objects or activities related to the sea (Wikipedia)
Admission: RM2.00 (Adults) RM0.50 (Children and students)
Opens 9am-6pm daily except Mondays

      Flor De La Mar
 Prisoners of War

Maritime Museum Phase 2
This is just next to the Flor de La Mar. This museum focuses on a variety of maritime themes such as maritime life, exploration of the oceans and seas, treasures from the sea and many more. You will also see all kinds of treasures and gadgets salvaged from the old days.

Menara Taming Sari
The best way to take in the view of Malacca is when your 80meters up in the sky. Don’t you think so? This rotating tower was designed based on the legendary Taming Sari Keris. It can accommodate 66 people. It’s a little surreal as your going up, no seat belts to hold you down. But we were put off by the bunch we were stuck with. They were so loud that it was worst than a pasar malam!
The Keris Taming Sari is a very famous kris in Malay culture and was supposedly owned by the legendary Malay warrior Hang Tuah. It is said to possess magical powers. The keris was a prize from the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit to Hang Tuah after he fought and killed their supposedly invincible warrior named Taming Sari. The keris derives its name from the original owner. (Wikipedia)

Jalan Merdeka, Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka.
 06-2881100/06- 2813366.
Operating hours: 10 am to 10 pm
Admission: RM10 (with Mykad)-RM20


                                                                

Malacca River Cruise
I bet this is one river all Malaysians will remember, unless of course you skipped your entire history education. Dubbed as the ‘Venice of the East’, this river was an important port where traders of East and West met. It’s also a good way to take in the city although in my opinion the river should be better maintained. We managed to endure the funky smell by concentrating on the view. We loved how some of the building had these murals painted on like of Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat and other interesting designs. The 45 minute cruise was informational as the pre-recorded voice-over gave a brief history of Malacca back in its heyday. 
Melaka River is a river which flows through the middle of Malacca Town in the Malaysian state of Malacca. It was once an important trade route during the heyday of Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century. (Wikipedia)
Admission: RM10


Jonker Walk
My favourite part of the day, shopping! Jonker Street is a shopping haven that caters for everyone. Food, toys, clothes, memorabilia, artifacts, antiques, household items and decorations, shoes, and the list goes on. It took us about two and a half hours just to walk back and forth through this market, stopping along the way to buy some knick knacks and eating the street food. If you’re not interested in going to any of the historical places than just wait for nightfall and hit this exciting night market.

Toy Museum
Now this was a real interesting find as we didn’t even know it existed. I was looking at some of the shops from across the street, checking out the clothes when I saw this toy museum sign. It located at the end of Jonker Walk, opposite the stage and you have to go through another shop to enter. Now whether or not you like toys, this is one museum you have to visit. The place is filled with toys, dolls, figurines, Disney characters, Star Wars, cartoon memorabilia, limited edition toys and so much more! There are old toys and new ones and even a small section made to look like a mini ghost house which was really freaky. Words cannot describe how awesome this place is, you just have to see it for yourself. It’s beyond impressive! 
129, Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka
Admission: RM5.00
Opens Friday-Sunday, 2pm-10pm

                        Map to the Toy Museum
                      Look out for this poster

Capitol Satay Celup
Its dinner time! Another must try food here in Malacca is satay celup. There are many satay celup restaurants around but Capitol is apparently the best to go to as it’s the pioneer in satay celup. So do expect to stand in a long queue. Don’t know what satay celup is? Ok you know how when you eat steamboat, you dip sticks laden with fish balls, sausages, shrimps and such into boiling water? Well this is the same concept except your dipping your food into a boiling pot of spicy peanut sauce. Trust me, this is a must try for all who visit Malacca.
Capitol Satay Celup, 41, Lorong Bukit Cina, Melaka
Opens from 5pm till late, except on Mondays


And that rounded up our trip to Malacca. It was a successful trip as we did manage to cover quite a bit. And it was fun walking around looking at all these places instead of just driving around. And the weather was kind to us as well, not too hot, with a slight breeze and not a drop of rain.

Malacca may seem like a boring destination for one to visit if you’re not a history buff, but trust me learning about Malacca in school and experiencing the city are two different things. If you have a day to spare than do make your way down there. It’s an economical way to have fun, especially if you’re dying to go on a road trip.



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