Malacca Shore Excursion - SuperStar Virgo Cruise

Whilst on board the SuperStar Virgo holiday cruise ship, if you are on the route that stops at Malacca, you can opt for the Malacca shore excursion. However, this is a stop which is not free and easy. You will be required to book your Malacca shore excursion before 2230 hrs the night before. This can be taken as a mini Malacca vacation with a quick overview of the town.

Duration of Malacca shore excursion:- approximately 11 hours
Time to assemble:- 0715 hrs
Price:- SGD75 adult / SGD65 child

Itinerary:-
• St. Paul’s Hill Complex – visit the Independence Memorial, Porta De Santiago and the ruins of St. Paul’s Church

St Paul's Hill

• Bukit Cina – as the name implies, ‘Chinese Hill’ was the official settlement of the entourage that arrived with the Chinese Princess Hang Li Po. She was sent to Malacca by the Ming emperor to marry the Sultan, marking the advent of diplomatic relations between China and Malacca
• Hang Li Po’s Well – built by the followers of Hang Li Po, the well was the only source of water during great droughts. The Dutch enclosed it with stout walls to reserve it for their exclusive use. Today, it enjoys a reputation as a wishing well.

Hang Li Poh well

• Dutch Square – discover the Stadhuys, the Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower, Queen Victoria Fountain and Christ Church

Dutch Square

• Cheng Hoon Teng Temple – one of the oldest Chinese temple in the country, it was built in 1646 with materials shipped from China. Fine workmanship is evident in the ornate decorated mythological figures, carvings, and lacquer work inside the temple
• Jonker Street – authentic artifacts and relic, some dating as far back as 300 years, can be found among a host of interesting collectibles, each with its own history and mystery

Jonker Street

• Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum – the ancestral home of three generations of a Straits-born Chinese Baba family, the building is now converted into a stunning museum that preserves the unique legacy of the Babas. The Babas combine Chinese and Malay culture, a result of marriages between early Chinese settlers and local Malay women. Over the years, a distinct culture called the Baba Nyonya or Peranakan culture emerged
• Photostop at the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur - one of the world’s tallest buildings

Petronas Twin Towers

• Petaling Street (Chinatown) – this colourful street of shops, restaurants and hawker stalls bustles with vitality. Flanking both sides of this street are shops selling anything from textiles to Chinese herbal medicines.



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Malacca Vacation 16 Oct – 17 Oct 2010

Picked mum, brother and sister-in-law at 0620 hrs and made our way straight to Tuas checkpoint for our weekend Malacca vacation. Clearing custom and immigration for Singapore and Malaysia by 0710 hrs, we proceeded to Machap Rest & Relaxation to have a Malaysian breakfast.

Machap R&R food centre

This is the first time brother is at Machap Rest & Relaxation, he was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the toilets. Breakfast foods were basically of Malay variety and here are some of the dishes that we had – dry mee siam (thin rice noodles), mee hoon soto (combination of rice vermicelli and rice cake), nasi lemak (coconut rice) and kaya toasted bread. The mee hoon soto was not too bad and the nasi lemak, from stall number 8, was enjoyed by both brother and mum.

Dry mee siam

Mee hoon soto

Nasi lemak

Kaya toasted bread

Heading towards Malacca at 0845 hrs, we reached Ayer Keroh toll at 1030 hrs, we went to King Hin in Jalan Temenggung to buy some baking supplies. Next stop was Hallmark Hotel, a small hotel along Jalan Portugis. This being our first time staying at Hallmark Hotel, we fortunately found our way there with the help of the Garmin global positioning system.

Whilst on the North South Highway, watch for exit 231

As check in time was only at 1500 hrs, we pre-registered and then walked to Jonker Street. We later realized that we had taken a longer walking route to Jonker Street instead of what could have been just a 5-minutes walk.

Hallmark Hotel

Heading for Hoe Kee Chicken Rice ball, a popular Malacca food, we ordered the chicken, vegetable and soup. At RM1.80 (USD0.59) per bowl of lotus root soup, it was filled with peanuts and was good value for money.

Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball

Brother and mum found the chicken rice balls a bit too heavy and preferred the normal rice. The chicken was small and tasty. We had half a chicken as a whole chicken is normally for 6 persons. Not being big eaters, this portion was just right for the five of us.

Eagerly waiting for food!

Lotus root soup, vegetables, normal chicken rice and chicken rice balls together with half a chicken

Walking a few doors away to San Shu Gong, we bought some Malaysian products here including the coffee, which is a hot favourite of some relatives of ours.

San Shu Gong - famous for Malaysian food products

Brother was on the lookout to try more Malacca food and bought some onde onde (glutinous rice balls with palm sugar filling and coated with grated coconut) and rempah udang (glutinous rice with shredded coconut and prawn paste filling) along the way. The onde onde would have tasted better if the filling had more gula Melaka (palm sugar).

Brother checking out the nyonya kuih

Hubby bought some tau sar piah (flaky pastry with bean paste filling) from Tean Hup Biscuits as he likes these and is on the ‘must buy’ list whenever we are in Jonker Street.

Shopping for more Malaysian food products

The heat was killing and we were all perspiring and feeling tired out under the hot sun. Going back to Hallmark Hotel, we managed to get our room keys and checked in. After resting awhile, we made our way to Melaka Raya where we wanted to go for massage at Scents and Senses. However they were fully booked for the day and after checking their schedule, we finally booked a one-hour massage for the 5 of us for tomorrow.

Located at Jalan Melaka Raya, we like coming to this Thai massage outlet. The mostly Thai employees here are friendly and can speak simple English. Moreover this massage outlet is hygienic and has a great ambience, looking more like a spa.

Wanting to let brother try the chendol (dessert of shaved ice with coconut milk) at Jeta Groves, a few doors away from Scents and Senses, we were disappointed to see the shutters half closed at 1530 hrs. Upon enquiring if they were open tomorrow, they invited us in upon hearing that we wanted to try their chendol since they had something on tomorrow and would not be open.

We ordered 3 plain chendol and 2 durian chendol. Mom, brother and sister-in-law had the plain chendol and found it lacking the gula Melaka and too much coconut milk. We loved the durian chendol for the generous lump of durian meat that came with the chendol.

Rich & yummy...

More Nyonya food items on sale at Jeta Groves

Fancy some pickles? Also from Jeta Groves

Shopping was next on the itinerary. Since Daataran Pahlawan megamall is the largest shopping centre in Malacca, we decided to bring them there. As brother also wanted to find something else, we also crossed the road over to Mahkota Parade where we did more shopping.

Kora Kora in Dataran Pahlawan

Get your caricature drawing done for just RM10 (USD3.26)

Mum trying on some t-shirts at Mahkota Parade shopping centre

Having made reservations for some authentic Peranakan food at our favourite place, Amy’s Heritage Restaurant, for 1900 hrs, we made our way to Melaka Raya. We ordered the pisang jantung (edible banana flower), ayam pongteh (nyonya chicken stew), fried fish with chilli, sambal udang petai (chilli stink beans) and hee peow (fish maw) soup.

As usual, the dishes were well prepared and all of them tasted great! We also ordered one bowl of tai bak, a nonya dessert which everyone found too sweet. Fortunately we had only ordered one bowl to try.

Hee peow soup

From left clockwise:- ayam pongteh, sambal udang petai, fried fish with chilli and pisang jantung

Sambal kangkung

Tai bak dessert

After dinner, we made our way back to Hallmark Hotel where mom, brother and sister-in-law were all too tired out and wished to retire for the night. Thus hubby and I made our way back to Jonker Street and 5 minutes later, we were so tempted by the smells of the various foods that were being sold along Jonker Street night market.

Food galore at Jonker Street

We wanted to try the foot reflexology at RM38 (USD12.40) for 60 minutes, but decided against it as we had to wait another 20 minutes before our turn. Thus we returned to the hotel and retired for the night as well. It was a fully packed day and marked the end of the first day of our Malacca vacation.

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Malacca Vacation 6 Nov - 7 Nov 2010

This Saturday morning, for our drive to Malacca, we left early in the morning to pick up our friends, 2 sisters whose hometown is in Malacca. Thus our Malacca vacation started extra early this round.

As usual, on the way up to Malacca, we decided to stop at Machap R&R for a break and had a simple breakfast there.

Nasi lemak (coconut rice) breakfast

Nasi lemak unwrapped

Dry mee siam

This time, we tried the dry mee siam from a different stall located to the left of the main entrance which we thought was not as good as stall no. 8.

One of the sisters, always ready for a shot!

After dropping the sisters off safely at their home just at the start of the famous Jonker Street, we went to Chinatown area to buy some baking supplies and then took the opportunity to visit Hang Li Poh's well, a mere minute's drive from where we were.

Alas! We visited the Poh San Teng Temple, one of the Malacca attractions and was disappointed at the little covered well we saw inside, little realising that this was not the well-known Hang Li Poh's well which is adjacet to the temple.

Poh San Teng temple entrance

Inside Poh San Teng temple

Next we headed for Hotel Puri Malacca which is near Jonker Street. However as it was still early, the rooms were not ready yet.

We made our way to Jeta Groves in Melaka Raya to have some Nyonya food for lunch.

As usual, we were not disappointed.

Fried tou fu

As always, we are tempted by the durian chendol and just had to indulge

Nyonya mee siam

Since we were going for a Thai massage at Scents and Senses, we did not have a heavy lunch.

Holiday Travel Tips:-

Always make an appointment if you wish to have a massage at Scents and Senses, especially during the weekends or you will be disappointed.

At Scents and Senses, you will be pampered and feel relaxed.

After a 2 hour Thai massage, we felt rejuvenated. We then returned to Hotel Puri and this time, we were able to check in.

Deepavali display in the lobby

The beautiful garden with a gentle waterfall

Our room in Hotel Puri

After we had settled in, our friend Emileigh met us and brought us to the Kota Laksamana pasar malam, about 5 minutes walk from Hotel Puri. It was an interesting walk and we saw a variety of local Malaysian food as well as fresh vegetables and other knick knacks and clothing too.

Baba Charlie Nyonya Popiah

We were excited to discover Baba Charlie here. As we are fans of Baba Charlie nyonya cakes, we had always wanted to know which pasar malams we could find them. Best of all, we could try the nyonya popiah as we have always been to the Baba Charlie home in Jalan Tengkera Pantai 2 and the popiah was always not ready.

A stall holder frying carrot cake

After buying whatever food we wanted, we walked a short distance to Emileigh's house to have the various packet food for dinner.

Pandan beancurd

Carrot cake

Oyster omelette

Emileigh and her godsister

We had a great time getting to know Emileigh and her family and our stomach was full from the various Malaysia food that Emileigh had bought for us to try as well.

After dinner, we took a walk along Jonker Street on our way back to our Malacca accommodation for the night, Hotel Puri Melaka.

Jonker Walk which comes alive every Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings

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