blast from the past

I came back from my short getaway to Malacca last night and if I had to summarise the whole experience in one sentence, I'd say it wasn't anything spectacular.

The place itself is neither cosmopolitan nor very traditional, and there was a whole lot of construction going on almost everywhere. I know UNESCO has marked Malacca a World Heritage Site but... I'm really not sure.

This trip was planned by Mama's long-time friend, Aunty Julia, and I travelled with 5 other people including Chermyn, Aunty Pat, Aunty Alice, and Uncle Bastian.

Anyway, bear with me as I'm about to recollect my 3 days spent there!

Day #1:

On this day, I woke up half past 5AM because Mama said we had to leave house by 6:15 to catch the coach at 8. Surprisingly managed to prep myself in less than 20 minutes so I ended up waiting for Mama, who after that decided she should go down to withdraw some cash.

My outfit for the day?

Top & Bottom: MDS

Shoes: Reebok Skyscape

Picked out the comfiest outfit I could put together since I was in for a 5-hour bus ride. Also had to nurse my ankle that day because it moved out of place again.

We left house about 6:30, got onto a cab and proceeded to our meeting point at Kramat Lane. Safe to say we were to earliest to reach (before 7!) and Mama had to get her morning coffee fix so we sat down at a nearby coffee shop when Aunty Alice and Uncle Bastian arrived. Shortly after, Aunty Julia arrived too but she was taken aback to see me because she thought I wasn't going anymore so she cancelled my ticket months ago.

I was prepared to go home right then but Mama and Aunty Julia went to consult the coach captain and there was a vacant seat! I sure was lucky. :')

Before we boarded the bus, we dropped by 7/11 to stock up on snacks since our next stop was about an hour and a half away.

Us on the bus

Along the way, I noticed the outskirts of Singapore had a whole lot more greenery. It was such a pleasant feeling watching all the trees as we drove past.

Actually felt quite out-of-the-world.

We stopped by Yong Peng for a half an hour break before taking off again. The journey was actually much shorter (say, 3 hours?) but because we had stopovers and customs and all, it took slightly longer.

Anyway! We reached Hotel Puri at about 1:30PM? Did all our check-in and everything but Aunty Julia wasn't feeling well so she decided to stay behind in the hotel room while the rest of us went ahead with lunch.

We ended up at a nearby Peranakan Restaurant called Baba House but the food was mediocre. It was quite affordable but didn't really taste authentic. Total bill came up to 121 ringgit for 7 dishes and rice plus one drink so each of us paid 20 ringgit.

Sambal Kangkong

Toufu Peranakan

Sambal Bendih

Tom Yam Soup

Ayam Ponteh

Sambal Sotong

Most of the food tasted alright but it wasn't fantastic. I'm pretty sure you can find better Peranakan food especially in a place like Malacca.

After lunch, we decided to go shopping, which wasn't my intention to begin with, but I went along anyway. There really isn't many shopping malls in the area we were in but the mall we patronized is supposedly the newer one - Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall. It sure is a mega mall but there was nothing that attracted me very much. There is a huge outlet store and a nicely sized Nicchii store, both of which I did not enter but the others did manage to find decent buys.

On our way there, we stopped along to take some photos of the buildings.

Just had to because most of the trishaw riders decorated their trishaws so fancily!

Kind of reminded me of a bubble bee

The police station was interesting, Idk why

At the mall, we split into pairs. I walked around a couple of stores trying to find contact lens solution but all of them did not carry the brand I was looking for (Renu). Mama and I ended up buying lingerie from Minoshe and safe to say, even lingerie is so much cheaper there. I also walked into Hush Puppy because when I met SJ days ago, she told me Hush Puppy's undies are super comfy so I thought I give them a try.

Shortly after, Mama and I left the mall to go back and rest. By this time, we had lost contact with everyone else but it wasn't anything bad. This trip was meant to be free and easy. 

We went for dinner quite early since the night market was starting up. It was... barely 7PM and the streets were crowded. Not as packed as I imagined since we still managed to walk but still relatively crowed for a night market that spanned across really long streets.

Found an empty table, ordered from the store just behind us and.... that was it.

I had asam laksa and Mama had dry noodles (whatever this means) and we ordered a plate of fruit rojak. Everything tasted rather flavorful except for the fruit rojak. I've never tasted rojak this cold and hard.

Dry noodles

Thumbs up for my delicious asam laksa

Fruit rojak

I was, however, pleasantly taken aback by my asam laksa. Despite being a small bowl, it was way more filling than it looks. Those fish cakes didn't taste very nice though but it was definitely worth the 4 ringgit. Mama, on the other hand, didn't seem very satisfied with her dry noodles.

We explored the night market a little more after dinner and I saw so many interesting items! Only didn't take pictures because I was busy trying not to lose Mama in the crowd but I did take this one (see below).

I believe they are iced syrups shaped into these cute shapes. I never got to try them. I suppose I still have this wall against night market food when I'm overseas and I hope my concern about food safety is not uncalled for. 

Our first night ended pretty early. While the rest went for drinks, Mama and I stayed back in the hotel room watching our Korean drama. Mama knocked out after that and I struggled to keep awake a while more. Thought if I slept early it'd be a waste but truth is, there was nothing to do. I fell asleep but kept waking up throughout because the air-conditioning was tooooooooooooo cold. I went to pee while gritting my teeth at 2AM in the morning.

Luckily Aunty Julia, who came back from drinks slightly past midnight, was struggling to sleep for the very same reason I kept waking up to. Upon her suggestion, I adjusted the temperature (but this was 5AM) and managed to sleep peacefully after that!

Day #2:

The day began early. Got ready one by one and we went down for breakfast. Breakfast was really the best part of our hotel. It was delicious, especially the scramble eggs. I stuck to my home-styled breakfast - white bread, butter and eggs. Absolutely lovely. :-) I did wake up with a very, very stuffy nose and terribly sore throat. I reckon it was due to the air-conditioning but nothing stopped me from having a blast.

After breakfast, I did stay back with Aunty Pat and Chermyn to take pictures because Aunty Julia and Mama went to Color Beads again.

Introducing Chermyn! She's the only girl I got along real well with partly because I had some age gap with the rest but Chermyn's only 24! Same age as my teeter but she's the baby of her family so I felt like I was... more independent in a sense. I think it's also due to the difference in our upbringing but I enjoyed talking to her anyway.

Also had her help me take my #ootd - pulled on my mesh panel top by Ohvola and a pair of jeans. The big bag is explained by environmental reasons. I normally carry a shopping bag when I go out so that I don't end up with tons of plastic/paper bags and I get to do my part for the environment too.

Before taking off, we visited the history room that opened my eyes to another side of a Malacca. It's really amazing how mutli-racial Malacca is. She was ruled by the Dutch, the British, the Japanese and the Chinese also often traded with Malacca. When we talk about trade, it really isn't just about commodities or food items but also culture and tradition. I also learnt about the birth of the Peranakan.

A water well (every house used to have one)

Then Mama started looking for me so I headed to Color Beads with a lot more self-control this time. (Thank goodness.) We were well on our way to queuing up for some famous chicken rice but the insane queue plus ridiculous heat spelt a no-no.

Took more photos along the way:

Under the scorching sun

The UMNO Museum (didn't seem like anyone visited it)

We visited a different mall today - Makhota Parade - and it was much better than the previous mall. Chermyn was looking for facial products but she didn't get anything. We walked on further and Aunty Pat suggested doing a foot massage!

Well, me in my jeans definitely not a good idea for a foot massage but I did a half an hour one anyway. It hurt but it was enjoyable. The rest did some treatment for their feet plus a massage hence the entire thing lasted an hour.

The young guy attending to Aunty Pat was really weird though. He kept... flirting? It was just awkward but Aunty Pat and Mama entertained him. I was just glad my pain was over in 30 minutes. :-)

My massage cost 35 ringgit and Mama's one was... 138? She was really happy with her smooth feet after that. (The dead/dry skin on her feet are INSANE. I can't even begin to describe them.)

We were in Watson for a while when Mama went to change some more ringgit and it was there I got my contact lens solution - 3 bottles for 36.60 ringgit! Such a steal. Now that I think about it I should've gotten more but I was being careful with my spending. 

We left the mall after that. I noticed this there but the individual store staff were very proactive. They often approach every single passing person.

On our way back, (we had no specific destination) we walked through Makhota Walk. It's a newly built shopping mall with an open concept so most stores were not taken but this lady from Ming An approached us and we found ourselves buying a whole lot of hong peah and other stuff (spinach noodle, pumpkin noodle, brown rice noodle, green tea cake, mushroom and chicken peah, bak ku teh noodles). It was bag after bag and we went back to the counter like 3 times because the staff kept introducing us to other products.

Tried our luck at the famous chicken rice place again and we were lucky enough to get a table in less than 20 minutes. 

Such a small place!

Commemorating the fact that we waited

When we finally got in.... I realised the place wasn't as small as it seemed from the size of the entrance.

I honestly feel the rice balls were tasteless. Thankfully, though, they had awesome chilli and the chicken was quite flavourful so I guess that made up for the horrible rice balls. Anyway, 5 may seem like a small portion but I couldn't even finish them all. The other table had 10 rice balls per plate, it was scary!

On the way back, we walked by Color Beads to pick Mama up but she took forever so I ended up carrying all the barang barang back on my own, which was quite a lot really.

Now this is where the drama begins:

I wak to my room with hands full, struggling to keep my balance only to find my card key was not working! Luckily, this kind female staff helped me watch over my stuff while I went to get it fixed at the front desk. After offloading, I walked up to Chermyn's room (that's on the fourth storey) and in less than 20 minutes, I went back to my room to pick up all the peah we bought because, well, we were supposed to go for coffee. As I exited the hotel, I receive a call from Mummy telling me I don't have to go out anymore!? In the ended, everyone came to my room for coffee (except Chermyn who was sleeping).

I was expecting to rest a while after every one left but I don't remember this happening. I did, however, remember coming down with a fever. Before I knew it, we went out for dinner - this time to a place called Nancy's Kitchen.

Omelette with prawns

Egg roll soup

4-angle vegetable with prawns

Chicken curry

Despite the sore throat, I still enjoyed the spice in everything. It was also my first time seeing/tasting the 4-angle vegetable, which tasted almost like our okra (ladies' finger). It was a very simple dinner but very fragrant and lovely. We paid 13 ringgit per person (3 of us) so it was quite cheap in fact!

In an attempt to kill time while waiting for 8:45PM (because we all agreed to meet at this time at a nearby bar), we walked the night market again. It was boring as usual because there was just nothing to buy! It's very different from the ones we have here.

Came 8:45PM, and we all gathered at Ringo's.

I drank, what, one glass of beer? It was so harsh on my throat because I was sick. I probably would have downed more if I was feeling better.

Group shot:

Mama and I, Chermyn and Aunty Pat returned to our rooms before 10PM while the rest continued their party elsewhere. I don't remember doing much that night. I did place my order for a selfie stick and a Bluetooth remote control with @deviantsg for $20 but I found a cheaper deal elsewhere all too late.

Slept so much better that night but I did hear Aunty Julia entering the room at, what, 3:30AM?

Day #3:

Our last day was quite slack since our coach ride was at 4PM, we didn't really have the luxury to dilly-dally.

Met everyone at 9AM for breakfast!

Final day's outfit included all my favourite colours and my favourite skorts (from MDS) to date. I find the lining for this one more wear-friendly than my other one. Threaded around in my trusty Skyscape for all 3 days and I have no regrets - they're the comfiest sneakers ever.

We went our separate ways as usual. Mama wanted to go get her silver chain cleaned and she did it for 10 ringgit!

The lady who did it sure is a pro. I've never seen anything like that in Singapore. Its the same place Aunty Julia got her brass belt gold-plated for $47! Talk about affordability on a whole different level.

The 3 of us walked around aimlessly for a while, looking for a place to have lunch at. (Yes, all we practically did was eat and walk and eat some more then sleep.)

Ended up at this rather unimpressive place for wanton noodles:

Those shredded chicken bits were probably soaked in salt water or something - almost killed me with all that salt. The funny thing is there was no balance in the dish. The noodles were completely bland, the chicken was too salty, the charsiew... I'm not sure? The wanton (in the soup, not captured) was probably the only thing passable.

The group of 7 of us went on walking around aimlessly after lunch, with no intention/idea what we should do. It was between a foot massage (again) and dessert so majority of us (who already did a massage) opted for dessert. Democratic vote, majority wins: next thing I knew, we were waiting for our ice kachang/chendol to be served!

Yes, the chendol standing out belongs to me

From this moment on, Chermyn returned to the hotel lobby. Aunty Pat wandered on her own. Aunty Alice and her boyfriend did some last minute shopping. Aunty Julia, Mama and I began our search for snacks because our coach was not going to stopover at anywhere but for a toilet break only.

Truth is, I was too sick to have any appetite so whatever Mama bought, I barely ate. (She ate everything, heh.) Before we returned to the hotel lobby, we sat down for drink.

We had... an hour or so when we returned to the lobby but all was good. We took turns to use the toilet and I took some photos of the place I always walk past on my way out.

In this same area, I saw a lot of bird nests! I don't think I captured them in the above photos but I was so amazed because they actually do use real bird nests for the drink.

Everything after this was history - we boarded the coach and was well on our way home. :')

Extremely elated to come home to this furry boy:

How can anyone not love him!? *.*