This will be a Malacca, KL and Genting 8-days trip, with 3 days in Malacca and 5 days in KL. While in KL, I will be on a day trip to Genting and Batu Caves, where they are just an hour and 30mins drive away respectively from the city of KL.
So for Malacca, I took a bus from Big Box (Jurong East) since I stayed in the west. You can book your bus ride from www.easybook.com, operator is WTS Travel. It cost S$21.20/pax, and duration of the journey is indicated as 3hrs 42mins. You are allowed to bring along a luggage, with maximum weight of 15kg, and the size of it should not be more than 60 x 55 x 20cm. Little did I know, I am supposed to start counting the time from JB custom, and not from the departure time at Big Box, thus I arrived at Malacca a lot later than expected. It is indicated that you should reach your pick-up point 30mins before departure, but the bus actually only arrived 5mins before the departing time. I took the 8:45am bus. After clearing customs thru Tues Checkpoint, the bus left JB custom at about 11:30am.
I reached Malacca, opposite Hatten Hotel Malacca, at around 3:15pm. There are 2 drop-off points at Malacca from Big Box, the other is Melaka Sentral. I chose Hatten Hotel as it is located nearer to the hotel I booked. After having lunch at KFC where I alighted, took a Grab to check-in to my hotel. Tried their Golden Egg (salted egg) Fried Chicken, and it was SO DAMN GOOD! This flavour should totally be selling in Singapore since Singaporeans LOVE salted egg flavour so much!
Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall Jalan Merdeka, Bandar Hilir, 75000 Meleka, Malaysia
1000-2200hrs (daily)
#1: Golden Egg 2-pc chicken meal, RM14.90
For my accommodation, I booked M2 Boutique Hotel at about S$40/night for a Queen room. It is about 2km away from Jonker Street, and cost you just RM6-9/trip on Grab to Jonker Street. The stay does not come with breakfast, which I wouldn’t need since there are so many food places that I want to try here! On the ground floor, is the reception and the ‘convenience store’ corner. They sell drinks - canned, packet, bottled; candies, snacks, biscuits, chocolates, cup noodles, instant drink packets like 3-in-1 nescafe and milo, souvenirs, and even coffee capsules at RM4 per capsule. Though it’s a hotel, but all the items are sold at very reasonable prices, like a can drink for just RM2, and a small snack for RM0.50. It makes it really convenient.
M2 Boutique Hotel
17 Jalan Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia
#2: The "convenience store" corner at the hotel.
#3: You can get Singapore's Irvins chips, Korea's Samyang noodles, and Taiwan's The Alley drinks here too.
#4: Lot of other instant noodles and snacks choices.
#5: All the 3-in-1 drinks and teas.
#6: There's even coffee capsules if you want better coffee.
#7: There's a coffeeshop diagonally across the hotel.
#8: Old Town White Coffee that opens 24hrs, right opposite the hotel.
Upon check-in, I was told to pay a tourism fee that cost RM30. The room comes equipped with TV, kettle, hair dryer, bottled water, hand soap and bath towels. Malacca is a small city, it’s easy to get from place to place. The hotel does not have any elevator, so you do have to carry your luggage up a flight of stairs if your room is on the 1st floor (it’s actually the 2nd floor, but in Malaysia, the first floor is referred as Ground Floor, so it’s G/F, followed by 1/F, 2/F..), and up 2 flights of stairs, if it’s on the 2nd floor.
After settling down, took a Grab to Jonker Street. Walked along the stores and am loving this place! So many heritage and handicraft stores! You can see many street vendors slowly coming in to set up their stalls along Jonker Street for the night market, which starts around 6pm. Sat down for a henna session and requested for a dreamcatcher henna, with traditional henna design for the top part, and the feather design for the bottom. Never knew there are so many colours to henna paste - it’s always a brown paste which leaves an orange mark. My henna was done in black, with red feathers and some purple markings. Was hoping it could dry up before the crowd starts to build up for the night market.
Went to The Daily Fix Cafe to take a seat, but it was full house with a waiting list. There were some seats set at the cafe entrance for waiting customers, so ordered just an iced latte to-go and finished it up. My henna was almost dry by now, so I decided to start my night market journey. Walked to one end of the street and then slowly made my way to the other end. There were so many amazing stuff and food! Got some dim sum, rice dumpling and coconut. Halfway through, more and more people started to build up and it became very congested. Decided to stop walking and just leave with whatever food that I’ve got. H&M was located at the other end of Jonker Street and went in for some air-con to cool myself down. Finally, took a Grab back to my hotel and that’s it for day 1.
The Daily Fix Cafe
55 Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia
0900-2330hrs (Mon-Fri), 0830-2330hrs (Sat, Sun)
#9: The Daily Fix Cafe.
#10: Love its heritage vibes and design!
Jonker Street Night Market
Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia
1800-0000hrs (Fri, Sat)
#11: Jonker Street Night Market.
#12: Check out these old-school soda bottles!
#13: My henna final look.
#14: These assorted yummy dim sum are only 5 for RM4!
#15: My favourite rice dumpling flavour is the Nyonya rice dumpling. Never seen one that has blue rice with it, I had to try this!
#16: This was so so good!
- - -
Exchange Rate at S$1 = RM3.04
Expenses for Day 1
KFC Golden Egg 2pc Meal RM14.90
Grab to Hotel: RM5
Hotel: Tourism Fee RM30
Grab to Jonker Street: RM6
Watsons, dry and wet tissues RM7.40
The Daily Fix Cafe:
- Iced Latte RM12
- Malacca postcard RM2
Jonker Street Night Market:
- Henna RM25
- Colourful dim sum RM4 (5pcs)
- Baked char siew pau RM1.50
- Nyonya rice dumpling RM5.50
- Coconut RM6
Grab back to Hotel: RM9
Total Expenses for Day 1: RM128.30 = S$42.20
Previous Spending: S$426.30
Total: S$468.50