Malacca - the weekend trip

Malacca or Melaka is quite commercial & touristic for a small town in Malaysia. If you're planning to go there :

• Carry a very detailed map. Specially if you're driving to Melaka. None of the locals know the names of their own roads or directions on how to get ANYWHERE. And I'm not just bitching here, we drove around for 2 hours trying to find our supposedly famous hotel. A Tourist told us how to get there in the end. (this wasn’t only in Melaka but the entire way from the Malaysian border to the town which is a 5 hr drive)


• If you're going there from Singapore like I did, then enjoy the cheaper alcohol, cigarettes and other things. Even fuel which we used a lot of - driving around trying to find our bloody way


• Leave early - so you can beat the hordes of cars lined up at the customs and immigration gate to get into Malaysia. It does give you the feeling that everyone wants to get outta the city.


• Also, the expressways are really nice and scenic and stuff, but do remember - just cause there's a good expressway doesn’t mean everyone can drive well. There was a 11 car pile up when we were returning. I know it was 11 cause we counted the smashed up cars as we drove by.


• Book in advance, there seemed like there was only one room left among all the hundred of hotels in the entire city and luckily we got that one. WHEW!! Seriously, even the Holiday Inn was completely booked. And the supposedly famous hotel I mentioned above is Aldy which looks good from the outside at least. Also has a live one man band playing in the evenings - you need to hear it to believe it.


• Plan your trip well - we were there for bout a day and a half and you just need one day to see all there is to see if you plan it well.. Like I said - it’s a town, not so big.

This place has been under Portuguese, British, Dutch & Japanese control. So there's many historical sites that are now museums and cultural places. There's also many old 17th - 18th century churches, Botanical gardens, a really lovely antique artefacts n furniture street, lotsa places to eat, drink and be merry, the usual shopping to do. Must see mainly is Fort A Famosa, Portuguese Square, all the churches, the antique stuff, and Stadhuys Building which was the Dutch Governor's residence

Maritime Museum..Obviously on a boat

Christ Church - one of the famous churches and another of the many red structures

This one was a quaint lil bar we found close to Christ Church

For a birds-eye view, you need to go to Fort Famousa