SG-Melaka-KL Trip Day 4 (Overnight in Melaka)

December 2, 2012 (Sunday)

Since Melaka was along the way to KL from SG  and it has been on my bucket list,  we decided to include it in our itinerary. I had earlier booked our seats online for the trip to Melaka.

We got up early and checked out of our hotel at past 6 AM to catch our bus going to Melaka which was scheduled to leave at 7:30 AM. The bus is located at the Golden Mile Complex (taxi fare: about S$ 11). It was good that we arrived early because we were not sure where the office of the bus was and we were supposed to get our tickets there. The bus was located in another area. Although it was just walking distance, if you are not familiar with the place and you happen to arrive at the last minute, you might not be able to board on time.

There were only about 10 passengers on the bus which included us and there are only 3 seats in a row with a super wide leg space that you can recline your seat that you are almost lying down since there are no passengers behind you.

Less than an hour after we left the terminal, we reached the border. We were told to disembark and proceed to the immigration with our passports. In my haste, I forgot to bring the portion of our embarcation card which was given to us upon our arrival in Singapore. The immigration officer told me to just explain to the office that we had lost our cards and were immediately given cards to fill up and after that they stamped our passports. We walked out of the immigration building and boarded the bus again.

After less than an hour, we stopped by the Malaysian immigration centre and were told to take bring our luggages. Unlike in the Philippines, where bus conductors assist passengers from removing their luggages from the bus, the Malaysian conductor was not as helpful.

The immigration officer only looked at our passport and we never filled up embarcation cards, stamped it and off we went putting back our heavy luggage in the bus.

After more than two hours passed before we finally arrived at Melaka Sentral. With only S$1 in our pocket, we immediately looked for a money changer to have some of our pesos changed to Malaysian Ringgit (P10,000 = MYR300, more or less).

Since it was almost lunch time, we decided to have lunch first before proceeding to our accommodation.

The taxi charged us MYR 20 to take us to Oriental Residence Riverside Guesthouse. I noticed that just like the Philippines, some drivers prefer to haggle than use the tax meter. Since the Guesthouse proprietor told us that the taxi fare would cost from MYR 15 to 20, we didn't bother to argue as we were already tired.

Asri, the owner of the guesthouse, greeted us at the door and offered us two rooms on the 2nd floor, a smaller one with the view of the Melaka River and a bigger one facing the street. Since there were three of us, we chose the bigger room. Aside from the aircon, there was also a ceiling fan.

After settling in, we went to a self-service laundry shop to wash our 3-days worth of dirty clothes. Washing and drying cost MYR 5 each, plus MYR 1 for the laundry soap. The process took about an hour.

After laundry, we returned to our room to fold the clothes and surf the internet as they have a fast connection. We decided to go to Jonker Street afterwards to check the famous place. The road was still open although some vendors have already set up their wares and foods by the side of the street.

We saw the Restoran Famosa, which we had read so much about. We decided to try their famous chicken rice ball and roasted chicken. Each rice ball costs 30 cents each. The texture is like that of puto but tasteless like regular steamed rice.

After our meal, we strolled along the street and later on walked towards one end of the road where the k

We also went to Little India hoping to have some Indian food, the place however was almost totally deserted as most of the stores are closed, it being a Sunday.

We returned to the square and found a boat offering a river cruise docked at the side. We decided to try the cruise which took about an hour. A pre-recorded narration was played as we passed each landmark. We also saw the rear of

It was getting dark when we finished the river cruise. We returned  to Jonker Street to see what is being offered. The street had already been closed and a lot of people were walking around browsing through the items being sold.

It started to rain at about 9 PM so we decided to go back to our room and this was how the street leading to the Guesthouse looked like.

See also:

Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 1 (Singapore Bound) 
Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 2 (Universal Studio Singapore and Orchard Hotel) 
Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 3 (Around Singapore)
Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 4 (Overnight in Melaka)
Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 5 (Finally Kuala Lumpur)
Singapore - Malaysia Trip - Day 6 (Last Day of Our Trip)

Planning our Singapore-Melaka-KL Trip
SG-Melaka-KL Trip: Everything is Falling into Place. I Think