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SG-MY Tour Day 3 - Melaka and KL


DAY 3 of the tour is Malaysia. There were two places we wanted to see: Melaka, Malaysia's Historic City and Kuala Lumpur for the Petronas Twin Towers. Also, I had a friend to see in KL. Melaka is 4 hours away from Singapore by bus. The travel time also accounts for our stop at the border checkpoint in Woodlands, SG and immigration in Johor, Malaysia. From Melaka, it's a 2-hour bus ride to KL.

The bus that would take us from SG to Melaka stops at Golden Mile Tower along Beach Road where we bought tickets at 15SGD per ticket. We got there just before the 8:00 a.m. bus arrived and got on that one. Our bus (Starmart Express) made several stops along the way and we finally arrived in Melaka Central Station at past 1:00 p.m. From there, we took a GrabCar to Christ's Church, which is basically the centre of Melaka's historic town, and paid our driver 10MYR (it's only 8MYR but due to some confusion over our pick-up point, we gave him extra 2MYR).

The Town Square

Riverside Walk along the Quay


Queen Victoria's Fountain in the Town Square
We had lunch at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball at the intersection of Jonker Walk. Melaka culture is called "nyonya" which is like a fusion of Chinese and Malay cultures with sprinklings of colonial heritage (Portuguese, British and Dutch).

One of the funkier sights you'd see, especially in Jonker Walk, is this local tricycles exploding with colours and pop culture images. I've seen tricycles with Hello Kitty, SpongeBob Squarepants and Pikachu -themes. Some tourists rode in them but I satisfied myself with just taking pictures of the hilarious sight.

Melaka has a lot of side streets that feature quaint shops, selling trinkets from antique items to old coins and porcelain to succulents, Buddha beads and Korean fashion-inspired fashion clothes and accessories. You can also feast on local street food like Ondeh-Ondeh (made from deep-fried sticky rice balls with coconut sugar inside), Portuguese egg tarts and Gula (coconut sugar). But coffee is something you should try in Malaysia. They're famous for it. I especially recommend this charming little cafe called Serama Boutique Cafe in Jalan Tukang Emas and try their white coffee (no sugar). It's sooooo good. Old Shop is another place you should stop by and help yourself to the snacks and other knickknacks they have for sale.


KUALA LUMPUR

 While cooling off inside Serama Botique Cafe, I decided to text my friend in KL on WhatsApp to see if she's in town. Turned she was in town and was not too busy. She agreed to buy us dinner -- a proper Malaysian cuisine dinner. LOL Yeah, kinda twisted her arm for it.

We were debating whether we should take the bus (which means we'd have to go back to Melaka Central Station) or just take a GrabCar to KL. I was already too tired and said that I'd just pay the GrabCar fare to KL.

It turned out GrabCar will service a ride only up to a certain distance and KL goes beyond the limit. Our driver was very accommodating though. He realised we were Filipinos and told us that he was from Sabah and had a sister living in Mindanao. So cool. He agreed to take us to KL for 250MYR. This is better than the 300MYR that a taxi was going to charge us for the same trip.

We had booked an AirBnB at D' Mayang Condominium in Jalan Mayang, KL. It is very near Petronas Twin Towers in KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Convention Center). In fact, we could see one of the towers from our view on the 15th floor.

After meeting our host and freshening up a bit, we took another GrabCar to KLCC (8MYR). It was the wrong drop-off point because we were supposed to go to Suria KLCC, which is the shopping mall where we were supposed to meet my friend, who was already waiting for us at a restaurant called Madam Kwan's. Eventually, we got there.

So for dinner, we got Curry Laksa (Noodles in curry broth served with chicken, fresh prawns, bean sprouts and friend beancurd), Belacan Mix Vegetables (Lady's finger, twisted cluster beans, bringjals and long beans cooked in spicy dried shrimp paste sauce and I-forgot-the-name but it was rice cooked in coconut milk, which is apparently a very Malaysian dish. It was *chef's kiss* sumptuous.

Suria KLCC Tunnel

Madam Kwan's Malaysian Restaurant

After a full dinner, we went out to take pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers. To our dismay, they built some kind of structure at the center of the square right in front of the Twin Towers, such that you have to try really hard to get even a decent picture of the towers.

There are also hawkers there who try to sell you wide-angle lenses. We ignored them and just looked for a good spot to take pictures. By the time we finished, it was past 10:00 p.m. We decided to call it a day, since we still have an early bus to catch tomorrow, and took a GrabCar back to our AirBnB for 12MYR.

TOTAL EXPENSES: I blew out most of my MYR on this trip.
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