Malacca

I just came back from Malacca. The trip will be fantastic if not for two bad experiences. The first is in Malacca where got a begger begs us for RM$0.10 saying he wants to call his friend. When I ignored him, he said:"Don't be stingy." I replied:"I no coins!". Even if I have, I also dun want to give him. I rather throw in Malacca river.

Another disgusting event is at the Malaysia check point when we are about to drive out back to Singapore. The police stop us and insisted my friend no wear seat belt and wanted to give us RM$200 summon! Then, he said:"Ok, lah. I "helped" you and you give RM$50 can liao." We dun want any trouble so we paid up and left. Corruption! This incident also got its good points. First is to make my friends and I more appreciate Singapore. Second is to make my friend remember to put on his seat belt! Heh heh. So I decided to boycott Malaysia for the time being. I intend to go Kuala Lumpur this May but I will shelve this idea.

Any way, driving to Malacca is not hard. It is around 210km from Singapore and quite straight forward from Tuas. Just follow the sign board. Just that it is a bit harder when you in Malacca Town. Any way, still quite ok. The charges to use 2nd Link Singapore check point is $3.70. You need to pay when you enter Malaysia and another time when you enter Singapore. The total toll from Johor Bahru to Malacca is around RM$36. Also must pay both time go and come back.

The hotel we stay not bad. A 3 stars award winning Aldy hotel. Service wise I feel still not too bad. The pricing also reasonable. Two nights per room with breakfast is RM$286. It is also situated beside the police station and within walking distance to all the tourist spots. The town is quite small. I took about one morning and finished visiting all the important tourists spot.

Then, we went to the nearby Mahkota Parade shopping mall. Quite big and got many things to buy but not cheap. We bought a few local food items and headed to Chinatown. It has a street called Jonker street where after 6pm, it is closed for traffic and stalls start to set to become a night market. At that street, there are some famous food. The first one is the chicken rice ball, second is the durian chendol but I dun eat durian. My friends said very nice. Third is the nyonya and baba laksa. Yum!!!