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Friday, October 30, 2009

Melaka Excursion

Melaka Excursion 25.Apr.2009

My sister and I arrived a day earlier in KL than Nelly. Nothing much to do in KL... and I've been wanting to go to Melaka for the longest time. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to go there.
Going to Melaka was like an amazing race adventure...
Melaka Snapshots

From a KL Sentral we asked a couple of people on what bus are we going to take to get to Puduraya Bus Station. After getting 2 different directions from locals, we hopped on a bus and told the driver to drop us Puduraya. The driver was speaking to us in Bahasa, I can only understand bits and pieces of what we was saying. A few minutes had passed a kind lady standing beside the driver told us that we could get off now and just walk straight ahead, pointing to a building at the end of the road. we obliged and got off the bus not knowing which building is she talking about.

Jaichey (my sister) and I continued walking to the direction the lady pointed. As we were walking, I heard 2 women talking in a language I easily recognize as Filipino. Without hesitation, I asked them how to get to the bus station. They pointed in the same direction as the previous girl did but we still can't figure out what building are they talking about. The 2 filipinas were kind enough to accompany us until we were just a block away from Puduraya.(God bless their hearts!) so, we finally found the bus station!

Inside...there are endless rows of ticket booth offering seats to Singapore, Johor Bahru, and other domestic routes. We managed to catch a 1 pm bus to Melaka. It was a 2 hr drive without traffic. at 3 pm we arrived at Melaka Sentral.



result of 2 hrs travel


I thought the tourist spots such as Stadthuys, Melaka Church and others are just nearby the station. I was wrong! Then I realized I forgot my walking tour map at the hotel. (ugh! so much for preparation!). Thanfully, there was a tourist information counter at Melaka Sentral but the girl manning the counter is not that friendly. We asked a couple of questions on how to get to the tourist spots, she just said to wait at platform number 17. We've read from the brochure that there's a hop-on hop-off tourist bus. We asked the girl about this and she told us that we can't take the bus from there.





flag on the bus
so we just took her advice and waited at platform 17...we waited..and waited...and waited for a good 30 minutes, watching every bus on other platforms come and go every 5 mins. I was getting ready annoyed and frustrated as minutes passed by. I was about to give up, told my sister (jaichey) that we will have go back to KL. Just as my hope starts to fade, I saw a red bus. The hop-on hop-off bus dropping off passengers across platform 8. I immediately ran towards the bus (they must've have thought I'm a deranged woman!). I showed the driver the pictures of the stadthuys and he nodded and said 15mins. Anxious to get to the bus, after 10 minutes I asked the man seated infront if we could board. he said, we can board.



A 10-minute ride and we we're in the city. we were so excited to explore the city. Finally!


Melaka Heritage City

Melaka is very laid back compared to KL. Traces of Dutch and Portugese occupation are still very much visible, i.e. Stadthuys. Stadthuy is the official residence of the Dutch Governor but now it houses a History and Ethnography Museum.

Stadthuys from afar


Christ Church


The Dutch built several buildings including this as a place of worship as they did not have any church for themselves. This church is one of the most attractive heritage in Melaka.


Melaka Church

Gailie and Jaichey






Melaka Side Streets
We also went into the side streets and found some interesting shops. Its nice to see a fusion of Malaysian Chinese and European Architecture.









We lost track of time, its 6pm. We need to catch the 7pm bus to KL because we're meeting Nelly around 9pm at KLIA. We managed to get on the bus at 630pm and didn't realize that since its a hop-on hop-off bus, it circles around the tourist spots before going back to Melaka Station. So instead of a 10 minute ride, it would take atleast 20-30 minutes to reach the station. to add to our anxiety, the driver stopped by a gas station and refuelled. he took his sweet time and cleaned the bus, wiping the front and the side exterior. at 7pm, we reached Melaka Sentral.


we spotted the Eye of Malaysia on our way home.
Next trip, we will alot 1 whole day to explore Melaka. :)

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