Genting Highlands, KL & Malacca 4th July – 7th July 2010 Day 3

This morning, we checked out of First World Hotel at 1000 hrs before heading to Theme Park Hotel to pick up our friends and made our way to Kuala Lumpur. It took us approximately an hour to reach Sri Petaling area where we met our friend or ours, Gina, at Secret Recipes. We introduced Gina to Lionel and Lisa and had a good chat about what each and every person are doing and how we could help each other especially in the area of The Opening, an awakening enlightenment meditation retreat that we would be holding in November 2010.

Drinks at Secret Recipe

Meeting up with our friend Gina

Next was shopping at AA Pharmacy next door, a shop which had become our most popular shopping destination whenever we come into Malaysia due to the friendly staff as well as the great prices.

After paying for our purchases at AA Pharmacy, we made our way to Bandar Mahkota Cheras where we headed to Kafe Passion to have our lunch and met up with old friends of ours, Fong and Jacey. We were all pretty hungry as it was already almost 1600 hrs. Maybe that was why we found the food absolutely great tasting!

Great tasting Malaysian food at Kafe Passion

Great food at reasonable prices

Snow Ice for dessert

Mango flavour snow ice

We left Kafe Passion in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia just before 1800 hrs and made our way to Malacca where we would be staying for one night before making our way home to Singapore.

We had arranged with another friend of ours, Edwin Wong, to make a reservation at the Arenaa De Luxe Hotel where he was helping to manage. Located at Jalan Ujong Pasir, we managed to locate the hotel without much difficulties with the help of the Garmin global positioning system. By the time we checked into the family room, it was almost 2000 hrs.

As we refreshed a little in the room, we waited for Edwin to call us as he had arranged dinner for us. Meanwhile we were admiring the décor of this boutique hotel and taking lots of pictures.

Chair with 'bright red lips'

Edwin called us before 2100 hrs and he drove us to a little shop just five minutes away in Jalan SP 3, Taman Semabok Perdana, known as “Delicious Home Taste Restaurant”. The food was truly delicious and not oily at all. If you wish to enjoy home-cooked style Malaysian food, this is the place to go to.

Delicious Home Taste Restaurant for great tasting Malaysian food

A husband and wife team manages this restaurant where the husband is the chef in the kitchen and Susan, the wife, takes the orders and settles the bills. As the husband is the only one in the kitchen, they are not able to handle too many customers at the same time. This is definitely a restaurant worth trying. Take note that they are closed on Wednesdays.

Holiday Travel Tips:-
If you wish to enjoy the wonderfully delicious home-cooked style Malaysian food here in Malacca, it is best to call Susan Loke at 012-6389488 to place your orders before visiting the restaurant so that you will not be disappointed at being turned away. Or else, expect to wait a minimum of thirty to sixty minutes for your food if you are patient enough.

Clear & tasty soup

Well-fried egg omelette

Some vegetables

Belly pork with buns

Wrap the pork in the buns for a great dish

Beancurd dish

More vegetables

Susan, checking to see that all is satisfactory

Not only did we enjoy our sumptuous dinner, we also had a great time catching up with Edwin and discussing more on how he can promote Arenaa De Luxe Hotel.

Edwin then drove us around Malacca showing us the various Malacca Malaysia attractions as well as places of interest to the food connoisseur. As Edwin is a trueborn Malaccan, he was able to point out the best places for food here in his hometown. Alas, most of the places happened to be closed already by the time we reached, thus we did not have the chance to try out any further Malaysian food that night.

We did however make our way to the Jetty next to Holiday Inn Hotel and explored the area. It was interesting to walk along the approximately half a kilometer long structure that extends far into the Straits of Malacca. Abandoned shortly after it was built more than 10 years ago due to the shallow seabed, the Jetty now houses various food outlets such as Casa Dessert, Bali Café, Satay Celup Jeti, Straits Restaurant and others.

You can even enjoy a soothing foot reflexology or massage at El-Care along the Jetty. Or sing your lungs out at the GoGo KTV Box Family Karaoke. Or just sit at the outdoor pub area accessible via GoGo KTV, enjoy the music and the panoramic views of the sea as well as the sea breeze.

The Jetty

Foot Reflexology

View of the jetty

The unique pub in 'deep waters'

We ended our visit to the Jetty with some dessert at Casa Dessert Café by the entrance of the Jetty before we made our way back to Arenaa De Luxe Hotel where we were brought on a tour of this beautifully decorated boutique hotel. A lot of detail had gone into each and every corner of the hotel with plush furnishings, voile and velvet fabrics, and modern French inspired design.

Chatting away

Desserts:- herbal jelly, chendol and almond beancurd

The Presidential suite was simply fantastic! The red and black colour scheme with the soft inviting surfaces caused us to fall in love with the whole hotel. Each of the 82 rooms has its private balcony and high speed broadband internet. You simply must try this hotel when you are in Malacca. This is simply one of the lovingly furnished hotels Malacca has that I have personally seen and enjoyed.

Arenaa DeLuxe Hotel, Malacca

Arenaa Hotel Lobby area

Invitingly plush sofa to relax

For more pictures and information on Arenaa De Luxe Hotel, visit Arenaa De Luxe Hotel, Malacca Malaysia.

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Singapore Malacca Travel 26 Sep 09 (2)

Welcome to Malacca City

Continuing our Singapore Malacca Travel part 2

Walking back towards Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall, the largest shopping mall in Malacca, along Jalan Taman Melaka Raya, we were surprised to see so many spas and massage centres along that stretch of the road. We counted more than ten of these establishments just on that road alone. And tons of food establishments as well.

Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall, Malacca's largest shopping mall

Moving into Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall, we took our time exploring the whole complex. On the upper floors, you could watch some movies at the Golden Screen cinemas. You could also sing along with your friends at the Dream Box karaoke lounge. Need a hair cut? Visit QQ Cut. Feeling hungry after expending your energy? Eat your fill at any of the various restaurants in the complex. Need to do your household and grocery shopping? Carrefour hypermarket should help solve your needs. Are your feet aching after all that walking? Indulge in a foot reflexology. Try the fish spa if you are not into foot reflexology. Or relax with a full body massage at any one of the spas and massage centres in the building.

Food establishments in Dataran Pahlawan shopping centre

As 3rd of October would be the Festival of Mooncakes, also known as Moon Festival, there were various shops and stalls selling mooncakes. Lanterns could be found as well since on the night of the Moon Festival, it is common to see children carrying lanterns and everyone enjoying the mooncakes.

lanterns

Festival Mooncakes


Cartoon stickers for the younger kids as well as older kids... :) (like us)
50 pcs for RM5 (USD 1.45)
120 pcs for RM10 (USD 2.90)
260 pcs for RM18 (USD 5.25)

Heritage Gallery in Dataran Pahlawan

In the early afternoon, we took a stroll to one of the Malaysia attractions, Jonker Street, a must-visit destination whilst in Malacca. We went by way of Jalan Kota and saw many museums along the way, the reason why Malacca is steeped in history.

One of Malacca's many musuems, interesting to visit at least one whilst in Malacca, Malaysia

People's Enduring Beauty Museum


In Taman Merdeka, a park, you can see the following:-

Old fire engine

Cannon

Railway

Plane

Bullock cart

A playground near by


An old tree that is protected... note the hollow trunk


Before reaching Jonker Walk, there are many interesting sights to see in Malacca city.

A cannon

Malacca River Cruise

Malacca River Cruise Ticket Counter

The Malacca Waterwheel

First of its kind in Malaysia, the Malacca waterwheel is said to have been used during the heydays of the Malacca Malay Sultanate era. It was used to transport water from the river to marine vessels which called on the Malacca Port during the good old days.

A seafood restaurant next to the Malacca Waterwheel

Jonker Walk, finally

We had lunch at 86 Jonker Street and tried the assam laksa, a popular spicy and sour noodle soup from Peranakan culture also known as Baba and Nonya, and wanton (dumpling) noodles soup. If it were not for the udon noodles instead of normal laksa noodles, the assam laksa would have been great as the assam gravy was quite authentic and spicy. As for the wanton noodles, it was not too bad, nothing to complain but nothing fantastic as well. Both the assam laksa and the wanton noodles cost RM3.50 (USD1.00) per bowl.


86 Jonker Street

Dumpling noodles

Assam laksa

For dessert, we ordered Malacca’s special chendol, a coconut based traditional dessert with green coloured starch noodles, red beans and palm sugar. At RM2 (USD0.60) per bowl, the portion was just sufficient and not too sweet, great for those who do not like sweet stuff. A nice place to have lunch here as the coffee shop as you can enjoy some instrumental oldies music as you dine.
Chendol

An interesting and interactive place, Jonker Street boasts bazaar style shopping. Lots of interesting products can be discovered along this street if you take the time to explore. If you are in Malacca city for the weekend, you can experience the night market along Jonker Street from 1300 hrs to 2359 hrs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Additional stalls are set up along the street on these days and you can soak up the culture and colourful flavours of Malacca. The street is turned into a pedestrian mall with mobile stalls lining up the street with offerings of traditional food, arts and crafts, Chinese fortune tellers and assorted collectibles.

Jonker Street

Before moving off, we stopped by San Shu Gong, a local shop selling Malaysia food products. The Black Coffee was out of stock. That must be quite popular. After we made our purchases of some snacks and the oh-so-spicy chilli padi there, we walked over to the Plaza Mahkota area and headed for Nadeje Patisserie, a food establishment specializing in Mille Crepe.

Along the way, we passed by more museums.

Royal Malaysian Navy Museum

Maritime Museum

Clock tower at The Stadthuys

At Nadeje, we enjoyed the comfortable ambience there and of course the coolness as compared to the burning hot sun outside. Listening to the piped in music, we had a hard choice to make and finally ordered the following:-
- Blueberry Vinegar
- Calpis (Lactic Acid Beverage) Hibiscus Soda Tea
- Chiffon Marble Cake

Chiffon Marble Cake

In Nadeje

We had originally wanted to order the famous Mille Crepe cake, a cake that comes in layers of crepes and cream in between. However upon the recommendation of the waiter, we decided to try the chiffon marble cake. What a disappointment it was. We expected the chiffon cake to be soft and light. However this had the texture of a butter cake and was nowhere near what we thought a chiffon should taste like. We should have stuck to our original decision.

The Blueberry Vinegar which is supposed to be good for the body with the blueberry helping the eyesight had a nice sourish taste whereas the Calpis had a sweet and tangy taste.
Calpis Hibiscus Soda Tea

With the new finger food menu, there is more reason for you to drop by and indulge in some of the famous mille crepe. However, do take note that each slice of cake can set you back by RM8.50 (USD2.45) and the drinks that we ordered were RM8.50 each as well. Not a cheap place but something worth trying.

Menara Taming Sari, Malacca's latest landmark which will give you a 360 degree panoramic view of historical Malacca some 110 metres above ground level.

After being energized, we walked over to Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre. As it was already after 1600 hrs, we thought that it might be better for us to stay the night. We tried calling a few hotels in Malacca but they were fully booked. It seems as if Malacca is a popular destination to spend the weekend, so if you ever want to spend the night there especially on weekends, make your hotel reservations in advance and not wait till the last minute.

Since we could not get any hotel, we decided to make some purchases at Giant before moving back to Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall. We went to Thai Wadee, a shop specializing in Thai foot reflexology and Thai massage. To our disappointment, we could not be accommodated until 2000 hrs which meant that we had another 2 hours to walk around and the earliest that we could drive back to Singapore was at 2200 hrs.

However, since we had our heart set on trying out the 2 hour Thai massage here in Malaysia, we agreed to the 2000 hrs appointment, hoping that there would be a cancellation before that so that we could be scheduled for an earlier slot.

Thai Wadee Massage brochure

Meanwhile we walked around looking for a place to have dinner soon as it is not a good idea to have the massage immediately after our meal. Having dinner now also meant that we would have approximately 2 hours to digest the food before the massage appointment. As we were going round the complex trying to find a place to have a nice dinner, we came across another shop with the same name Thai Wadee. Upon checking further, we realized that they were one and the same company with the original place where we had the 2000 hrs appointment. Since they had 2 massage slots available immediately, we asked them to assist us to cancel the 2000 hrs appointment and had our massage at 1800 hrs here instead.

We opted for the 2 hour massage since it would give us more time to relax as well as being more value for money.

Traditional Dry Body Massage (Tuina)
60 mins RM60 (USD 17.50)
90 mins RM80 (USD 23.30)
120 mins RM95 (USD 27.70)

Aroma Body Therapy (Ginger/Lavender)
60 mins RM80 (USD 23.30)
90 mins RM108 (USD 31.50)
120 mins RM128 (USD 37.30)

Hubby tried the traditional Thai massage and I took the Thai massage with the Ginger Lemon oil which is supposed to be good for stiffness. The masseuse were all from Thailand and exercised firm and hard pressure which made it a little painful but good for the stiff muscles. (N.B. I slept like a log that night.)

Before leaving Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall, we bought a box of 12 assorted donuts from Big Apple & Co for RM23 (USD6.65), including a durian donut.

Box of 12 donuts

Yum yum...

*Holiday Travel Tips:- The durian donut needs to be kept cool or consumed as soon as possible. By the time we reached home a few hours late, the durian filling had turned sour.

After leaving Dataran Pahlawan Shopping Centre Malacca Megamall, on the way to do some shopping at Tesco where prices are more reasonable as compared to Giant, Jusco and Carrefour, we stopped at Newton Hawker Centre. Here you can get a variety of local hawker delights from 1100 hrs all the way to midnight. Even at 2100 hrs, we had to wait for a table to be vacant.

Newton Hawker Centre

From across the road

Lots of people eating still

We had a tough time deciding what to eat as there were so many choices available. We finally ordered the fried oyster omelette and char kway teow (stir fried rice cake strips). The fried oyster omelette was a little pricey at RM6 (USD1.70). It would have tasted better if it was slightly less oily and more crispy. The char kway teow was not spicy and the clams were completely raw. The portion was a little small for RM3 (USD0.85). Drinks were quite reasonable in prices though.

Oyster omelette

Fried kway teow

After dinner, we proceeded to Tesco and bought some fruits and vegetables. We also discovered that the prices of the items that we had bought in Giant earlier were cheaper here in Tesco. Better to realize this now than never. Guess Tesco will be our choice shopping center in Malaysia from now on.

Tesco shopping

Join as Tesco member & get rebates whilst shopping at Tesco as well as eating at the Tesco food outlets

Lots of people in Tesco still at 2200 hrs

*Holiday Travel Tips:- Check out the prices at the various supermarkets and hypermarkets such as Tesco, Giant, Jusco and Carrefour. Price difference can vary quite a bit.

After a long day in Malacca, we finally started our drive back to Singapore at 2220 hrs. The journey was smooth all the way and we cleared both sides of the immigration and customs at Tuas Checkpoint in fifteen minutes. It was home sweet home at 0130 hrs.



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