A quick trip to Melaka
 

I’m sure many members are already quite familiar with Melaka (Malacca) but I’ve never managed to fit in a trip to this important heritage city.

The introduction (about a year ago) of a daily flight from Penang by Malindo makes the trip an easy option for Penangites but there are virtually no other flights to Malindo airport so others will have to get there by road.

We stayed 2 nights at the Majestic which is a fabulous and very reasonably priced heritage hotel. It’s a bit north of centre so more walking or taxiing is required but a 2-night stay here gave us plenty of time to see the top 10 TripAdvisor attractions.

Melaka is like a much smaller version of Penang but with the advantage of a river bisecting the town. This results in many beautiful photo opportunities especially as nearly all the buildings have been restored to their former glory.

Mid week is probably the best time to go since at the weekend there is a big influx of visitors from KL and SIN making for traffic and pedestrian congestion as well as higher room rates.

Visitors from Penang are not likely to be overly impressed with the cuisine on offer but it does have quite a Portuguese influence which makes an interesting change.

There are a few minor inconveniences to be borne in mind:-

Many attractions close between noon and 3pm.
The river walk and the river itself can be quite stinky so the river boat trip might be best avoided.
There appears to be no MM2H discounts on offer.

++IVV

PS Anyone taking the flight from Penang should note that it is at 10:05AM so allow extra time to get to the airport!

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Did you cross the river from The Majestic and look around Kampong Morten. There's an official museum there which is quite interesting but all the house owners will invite you in to show you around their house if you look interested.

The weekends are especially busy because of tourists who visit the Pasar Malam along Jonkers, which is better than Batu Feringghi and also the Clan houses along Jonkers which always have something interesting going on inside and are welcoming.

Lots of 'antique' shops but you have to know what you are buying.

Titi's art shop has some very nice stuff and we've bought half a dozen paintings there as well as some batique ish paintings from GM Choo's further up the same street.

There is a Portuguese settlement about 5 km southof the center andthat has a lot of Portuguese influenced food although we don't go there any more as they see tourists as easy pickings, imo.

Loads of very interesting museums in Malacca if you like that sort of thing, which we do.

As you say the food is a disappointment. I think we've been to all the Peranakan restaurants there at least twice hoping to find a good one and have always been disappointed.
The Singaporeans love queuing for the Chicken rice balls in the shop at the bridge over the river next to Hard Rock.
They will queue for an hour under the hot sun at noon and eulogise about the food but admit only in private that it was so so and not better than the chicken rice you can buy anywhere in Singapore. Strange lot.

We used to drive up to Malacca 2 or 3 times a year and it's a great change but haven't been up there for a year or so now.

We use the Puri Hotel.
Malacca people are as friendly as any in Malaysia.

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Interesting post about Malacca IVV. Thanks.

Instead of fretting in a traffic jam, the trick is to get to Penang airport before 7.30am and enjoy a leisurely breakfast there in a 'secret' cafe. See more in my post in the Flights & Flying thread.

JC3

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Ahh Yes the Downtown food leaves a bit to be desired.
Western food is pretty terrible in Melaka but I am told for Peranakan food head to the Estadia Hotel (Hidden behind the Hatton) Its a specialty Peranakan based Hotel apparently.
Mrs Poolie and her friends had the high tea and were well impressed
1/2 price for the over 55s usually as well.
Sri Nonya in the Equatorial is quite acceptable too.
For Chinese food we head well out of Melaka town to a large(ish) village where the likes of Wild Boar and Pork in Guinness Claypot abound. Our Pork Supplier also resides there with his beast on display every evening form around 5pm.
Chicken rice..........go to Singapore!
Chicken rice balls........best left to the Singaporeans who do seem to like them. After all its just rice cooked in chicken stock rolled into golf balls.
Avoid School Holidays both Malaysian and Singaporean and yes stay well away a the weekend if you can.
For good Indian Food Restaurant Selvam is pretty good. BUT beware it moved form the location marked on Google Maps. Should be well known by the general populace though and is between The Renaissance Hotel and the 'Red Square'
The Museums in the Square are really good value and well worth the entry fee as you can roam the whole 'hilltop'
MM2H may as well not exist as far as Melaka is concerned. But as mentioned look out for the seniors offers in many Hotel High Teas ( weekends only sadly) and Buffets. Groupons are freely available too just need to be cautions which ones to go for.
We still have a few new places to try out. Melaka has grown Skywards recently and the traffic is only going to get worse.
Public transport.........I did see a bus the other week, rare as hen's teeth!
Yes Plenty come and go to KL and Singapore but then your dead in Melaka Sentral bus station which does not live up to its name..
taxis..........well they sadly only abound like double yoke eggs and re infamous for charging a lot for not much.. Once in town though you can walk most of the tourist places
Better make a trip of it and drive down staying overnight maybe on the way. Hotels should give you parking for free and in town its either free or quite reasonable around the parish 60 cents per hour on the street using coupons 2 or 3 RM per entry per day 9 am to 6 pm or so.

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Now I know where to eat, I am much more interested in visiting Malacca . Great job Poolie. Thanks!

JC3

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Thanks ex reg and Poolie for fleshing out this thread. I expect to visit again so it will be good to follow your tips. The Melaka folk are incredibly friendly - we asked in a restaurant what another table were eating whereupon they insisted on sharing the dish with us. We also did find one honest taxi driver who used his meter and didn't add any extras, he is Manaf Yusof, H/P 0129 402595. Some of the other taxis did not look at all roadworthy!

Finally, I do wonder how long Melaka airport can operate with just 2 small aircraft per day, they must be losing a fortune.

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

No worries happy to share the bits we know of Melaka. We don't hit downtown too often and prefer the outer parts. But we do like some good grub!
Good to get a honest taxi number and will keep that on file.
Melaka Airport has a huge number of landings every year as its used as a training school with numerous single and twin prop aircraft based here.
If we are to believe the rumours China is going to invest big time here and build all sorts of edifices including a cruise terminal..........Yeah well we shall see.
Anyway there was also rumours of China Southern I think it was coming in from Guangzhou a few times a week......
Ryannyi Air was supposed to come too....................they have yet to appear.
Has to be the best airport to arrive and take off from with almost zero passengers and I think 5 or 6 flights a week.
Still I hope you all enjoy future visits to a quite interesting Historical city.
There are literally buckets of museums around the base of St Paul's Church 'hill'

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Some photos:-

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Nice photos.

If you stand close to the river and look at St Xavier's Church from the front elevation you'll note that it's leaning to the right at nearly the same angle as that tower in Piza

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

And I thought it was my phone ;)

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Your phone's leaning to the right ?

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

I have to say, that what I enjoyed most in Melaka and I remember most is the wonderful food.

Melakas Signature dish is the Satay Hotpot, just impossible to resist. Don´t know how many years Capitol Satay is a legend already, but i know it for more than 15 years. But if you come around and the waiting time is too long, the Satays around are also very good, don´t wait for hours just to have been there.

But also the Peranakan / Nonya restaurants rock! Just the Laksa in Melaka is a little bit too spicy for me. And always when I am there it is hot as hell, but that´s maybe just bad luck.

Re: A quick trip to Melaka
 

Great photos! I like the canal one the best with St Xaviers in the background. I've been going to Malacca since the early 90s - since before they began the land reclamation projects and when the canal was just like an open sewer. My most recent trip was last month and I was impressed how in just a couple of years (my previous trip) they've cleaned up the canal markedly. The stretch that I saw (pretty much where the photo was taken) was relatively fresh and clean. And all those canalside houses. They used to be almost like slums - they're trendy prime property now. I love walking down those side streets around Jonker St. So much character in the buildings around those parts :thumbup:

On the negative side, traffic jams are bonkers in Malacca. Saying that the same applies for pretty much every major Malaysian centre.