As I lie there on the bench in the train station with my eyes open, it took me a moment to realize where I am. I immediately stood, woke my mom and my brother up after realizing that we are in Tampin and we have a bus to catch up and a place waiting to be explored.
It was a very quiet 20-minute walk from KTM’s railway station to the Tampin bus station. Aside from the bulk of vehicles that were passing by on the streets, a very few number of people on the sidewalk was all that I have seen.
Upon arriving at the bus station, we chose hands down the Tai Lye bus over the Salira one. The Salira bus was so rusty that it would give you an impression that it would not be long until it would eventually break down.
The bus ride cost us just RM 4.30 each but cost us a lot of time than expected! It took us approximately 1.5 hour to get to Melaka Sentral. A shockingly looong ride but it still bought us some time to relax before the day truly starts!
Upon setting our feet in Melaka Sentral, we immediately made our way into finding a taxi that would take us to Malacca’s center of attractions. I know how traumatic of an experience it is to sometimes ride a taxi in the Philippines but you do not have to worry of being priced unreasonably here in Malaysia even though the taxis here are not metered for the amount that the taxi drivers will ask from you is government-set. And besides, taking a taxi is still the best way to get to where you want to go if you are pressed for time.
Melaka Sentral, by the way, is the largest public transportation terminal in Malacca City and still a few minute ride from its main attractions. Finding a taxi to take you there is not really a tedious thing to do since taxi stands are present in the peripheral of the bus stations.
The taxi ride took us 15 minutes to get to the heart of the Malacca town and cost us just RM 15.
We were dropped off by uncle in Dutch Square, also called Red Square as the buildings surrounding the area are all painted in red.
To start off, the buildings in the square used to be painted in white during the Dutch regime. It was only until the British colonial rule when the buildings were repainted to red; an order given by the British governor during those times. The Red Square reflects the Dutch influence on Melaka. This lovely square is also a good point to start your journey as it already houses a lot of the many must-see attractions within the city which includes the Christ Church, Stadthuys, Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain, Tan Beng See Clock Tower and the Youth Museum.
Christ Church, which is an 18th century Protestant Church, is also known today as the oldest functioning Protestant Church in Malaysia. Like any other buildings that the Dutch constructed, this church was also built to satisfy their own needs to pray. Later on though, as the British took over Malacca, the British converted the Protestant Church into an Anglican Church. The bell and the weathercock found on top of the church were already added by them.
The Stadthuys was originally built as the residence of Dutch governors and Deputy governors alike. It now houses the History and Ethnography Museum of Melaka.
Although we later found out that the attractions are just a short walk from each other, a visit in Malacca would not still be complete without a trishaw ride. With vibrant and fun-filled colours and ornamentals enveloping and engulfing the whole of each trishaws, these rides will surely be hard to miss.
A trishaw rented for a single hour used to tour you to other city attractions would cost you RM 40 and could accommodate 2 people each.
The trishaw ride brings you first to the place where River Cruise and the Maritime Museum are located.
We got to see the Eye on Malaysia from here. It was temporarily closed when we went there.
The second stop of the trishaw ride brings you to St. Paul’s hill which houses this small gate and Malay Sultanate Palace on the bottom of it, Dutch graveyard found in the middle of the hill and St. Paul’s Church on top of it.
One of the most visited sites here in Malacca is this gate, Porta de Santiago, which once served as a gateway from the outside world to the mighty fortress of A Famosa. A Famosa once hold the grandeur during the Portuguese rule but eventually lost its splendour after it has been passed from one colonial rule to another; to the Dutch and finally to the British. The fort nearly reached its total demise when the English government ordered for its destruction but because of the intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, and his penchant for history, this small gate was spared from devastation.
Since we mainly used the trishaw to see the location of all the attractions there are so that we could just go back and savour all of it later in the afternoon, we still had some time left before the hour allotted for us ends. To maximize what we had paid for the ride, we instead asked uncle to bring us to a place where we could satisfy our hunger.
During the ride back though, we noticed that we can only see a very few number of people walking in the streets. We asked uncle how is that so given that it is already 11 in the morning. Most of the cities that I had been to are already busy during this time of the day but this particular city does not seem to go with the flow. He said that it is because they only have a fairly small number of people living in this city. Checking their statistics, the population of Malacca Town is just bordering around 455, 300 people as of 2007.
Uncle led us to the infamous Jonker Walk teeming with stores cum homes of the owners of these stores placed side by side with each other. The stores owners are just starting to open and put up their stores when we arrive there; an indication of how luxurious and good their lives are.
Jonker Walk along Jalan Hang Jebat Street is a heaven for antique, shop and food lovers alike. During weekend nights, including that of Fridays, this particular street becomes very busy and lively as Jonker Walk converts into a pedestrian mall or night market.
Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Ball, along Jonker Walk, caught our undivided attention as the exteriors and interiors of it, which could also be seen from the outside since it is open for fresh air, are painted in bloody red. Although the restaurant offers the usual dishes of chicken rice and the like, an interesting alternative for your rice are the chicken rice balls! There’s nothing special about it really aside from the fact that the rice are molded into balls.
Their very diverse cuisine is another thing to look out for when you are in Malacca. You could have a choose among Malay, Chinese, Nyonya (which incorporates Chinese ingredients with Malay spices), Portuguese and Indian (Chitty) food.
A meal would not be complete without tasting their yummy Cendol. This shaved-ice dessert maybe a nationwide favorite but Malacca claims to have the best Cendol in the country. This might go back to the fact that Malacca had once been the palm sugar capital of the region; palm sugar serves as the dessert’s base ingredient.
Our morning in Malacca ended upon going out of the restaurant feeling obviously fuller than before.
So far, so good.
0 comments:
Post a Comment