I dedicated most of Day 2 to exploring Malacca with the bf before attending La Bodega’s opening party later than night(:

3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 Travelogue

You can read the rest of my previous posts here:

• 3D2N Malacca Day 1 (Part 1): Preparation / Coach Ride / 7 Days Inn / Mio Boutique Hotel Review
  mitsueki Travels | 3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 – Day 1 (Part 1)
• 3D2N Malacca Day 1 (Part 2): Dinner at La Bodega Tapas Y Vinos @ The Shore Shopping Gallery
  mitsueki Travels | 3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 – Day 1 (Part 2)
• 3D2N Malacca Day 2 (Part 1): Malacca Exploration – Jonker Street / Christ Church / A’Famosa 
  mitsueki Travels | 3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 – Day 2 (Part 1)
• 3D2N Malacca Day 2 (Part 2): Opening night at La Bodega Malacca @ The Shore
  mitsueki Travels | 3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 – Day 2 (Part 2)
• 3D2N Malacca Day 3: Breakfast at La Bodega Malacca / Coach Ride Home
  mitsueki Travels | 3D2N Malacca 21 – 23 November 2014 – Day 3

Had a wonderful sleep at Mio Boutique Hotel because the bed was super comfortable! Plus we were totally knocked out from the super long journey the day before. As usual, I did try to set our alarm early for breakfast according to my itinerary but eh, that failed horribly lol.

Since it was a short trip, I didn’t really draft up a complete itinerary unlike my usual trips but nevertheless, I did plan for a whole day out as seen below!

1/2 Day Malacca Itinerary

So yeah, the initial plan was to head for a dim sum breakfast at the famous Low Yong Moh Restaurant before heading to Jonker Street, exploring the famous sights of Malacca including A’Famosa and Christ Church before ending up at Mahkota Parade.

OOTD

Before that, here’s an OOTD with the bf! Wearing my worn to death TCL (The Closet Lover) top paired with a new pair of floral shorts from TBI (The Blush Inc) as well as my pineapple bag I got from a Carousell seller recently.

Walking to Jonker Street

I think that our hotel location is not too bad especially once all the construction around the area is completed. It’s like just directly opposite one of the largest (and newest mall) in Malacca – The Shore located next to the Malacca River. Construction around the hotel now is for another upcoming attraction, an underwater tunnel aquarium touted to be the world’s longest. Also just heard that The Shore Oceanarium Melaka is now open while the famous Lot 10 Hutong is also going to be expanding at The Shore. Not bad at all – just too bad they weren’t opened when we were there -_-

Other than that, it’s walking distance to most attractions though it can be a long long walk under the insanely hot sun (is it just me or is Malacca even hotter than Singapore?!).

By the way, you can read my hotel review on 7 Days Inn / MiO Boutique Hotel in my initial post HERE!

Anyway, so on to our journey to see if we could locate Low Yong Moh Restaurant for lunch instead of breakfast and Jonker Street using our GPS and the Google Map that I printed out prior to the trip. And sharing sights along the way as well.

It feels like walking back into the past, Singapore 10 years ago or something?

The journey took us to Malacca River where we had to cross it. Took us awhile to walk along the river till we found the bridge. Apparently, boat rides along the river for tourists are available but I’m not too sure of the embarking point though.

This is quite embarrassing but we absolutely could not find Low Yong Moh Restaurant at all for quite awhile and by the time we did, they were pretty much closed. Guess they don’t open for lunch then. It’s this stall below, only a tiny tiny sign indicates the name of the restaurant -.-

So look for it by identifying this temple below and the yellow sign.

Here’s what we missed:

*Photo credits: Hannah Chia from Burpple

Decided to change our plans and head straight to Jonker Street for lunch and exploration instead after that. And while walking to Jonker Street, we passed by Like Guest House, a Hello Kitty themed B&B that I found familiar because QiuQiu stayed there recently and I saw her post on IG!

Photos below were obviously koped from QiuQiu’s blog, you can read her full review HERE. It’s super cute but I think the bf will literally cry if I made him stay here, LOL.

Nearby, we also spotted this Totoro painted on the doors/gates of this shop. Super cute!

Was probably about a 20-25 minutes walk here from our hotel but it probably felt longer because the weather was scorching hot. Glad to say that we finally did reach Jonker Street though!

Exploring Jonker Street / Jonker Walk

Most people will visit Jonker Street at night especially on Fridays and the weekends when the roads are closed and the night market is open. But since we couldn’t get the opportunity to visit it at night due to our attendance at the launch party, we reckoned a visit during the day would be good too. It’s probably different when it’s at night (cooler too) but I thought our visit was not too bad.

Essentially during the day, it’s a one way street with loads of traffic so you have to be careful when navigating as seen below.

Just sharing snapshots of Jonker Street with my comments in between as usual. So first up, pictured below is a store selling these retro looking 60’s original fruit tea in assorted flavors found at many shops lining Jonker Street and I was tempted myself to get one due to the weather but I didn’t. Heard it’s not too bad so you can give it a go if you like.

Randomly went into a shop to get some air conditioning and respite from the heat and found a quaint little cafe tucked inside called The Daily Fix Cafe. Apparently a really popular cafe but I didn’t get the opportunity to dine here.

Walked around and spotted this area called Taman Warisan Dunia Jonker Walk along the street. Nothing much there other than to read more about Malacca, see the map of where you are and take photos.

But seriously, what attracted the bf to get in was to take a photo with the iconic status of Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong. Sorry bf, your muscles cannot make it though :X

Other interesting shops that I wanted to purchase snacks from but I totally forgot to buy on the way back. This includes Taste Better One Bite Durian Puff and Christina Ee Nyonya Pineapple Tarts. Major regret not getting the latter back for my mom because she would have liked it!

Loads of antique shops and wares sold along the street and I picked up this rattan fan like what my grandma used to have. Wind power was pretty pathetic but any wind was better than nothing in the heat. Lost it on my way back though =_=

More random shots taken at Jonker Street during our exploration!

Spot the hello kitty trishaw below – don’t worry it’s a common sight in Malacca as these trishaw drivers can bring you around. They are usually located mainly at the tourist areas of St Paul’s Church so you can easily hire one if you like. Saw other characters such as Doraemon, Winnie the Pooh and even Frozen themed trishaw decorations!

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant 古城雞飯粒

So throughout this whole post so far, I have been mentioning that it was really hot right? Well, the moment we went to check out Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant, it started drizzling and we decided to head in for lunch. And yes, I am fully aware that this is not the real ‘famous’ chicken rice ball restaurant in Malacca but we were so hungry T__T

It’s a small restaurant able to cater to larger and small groups. Since it was just 2 of us, it was pretty easy to get a table tucked at the corner. Many tourists as well as locals were having their meal inside as seen below.

The general gist of the menu and prices for your reference.

Being slightly greedy, we ordered a 1/4 roasted chicken, small BBQ pork, 5 chicken rice balls and a bowl of loose chicken rice. Yes, the food looks good but it was just meh.

Definitely not a fan of the chicken rice balls, would prefer the loose rice version. Their char siew (BBQ pork) was the only one I particularly enjoyed because it was quite sweet – but that was the reason the bf didn’t like it. The roasted chicken was nothing too fantastic. In general, I prefer a plate of normal chicken rice from any random chicken rice store in Singapore.

On a plus side, the food was so-so BUT the price was rather cheap! Only RM28.20 (S$10.50) for all our food and drinks. Plus we were sheltered from the rain so that’s a bonus point, lol.

Back to Exploring Jonker Street / Jonker Walk!

The rain didn’t last long and within minutes, the merciless sun came out once again. I headed across to the stall opposite that was selling fresh nyonya kuehs made on the spot. Initially had the idea of purchasing for my mom because she was a huge fan but decided against it in the end. Didn’t know how it would last in this heat D:

Always spotted people eating this egg shaped popsicle ice cream / yogurt ice cream and there were loads of similar stores selling the same thing.

Headed over to a random one and got myself one to cool myself down in the heat. Prices start from RM3 and I got the durian flavor at a more expensive price, RM4 (S$1.50).

Hahahaha, I obviously bought it for 1 reason – because it was so cute and IG worthy! Frankly, it was a hassle eating it in public imo though and it was melting too quickly due to the heat. Ate about half and couldn’t stand eating from it because it was soooo inconvenient. You’ll know why if you buy it but it’s not too bad!

More random shops selling these old school clogs and pastries as below. The latter looked really tempting but the bf didn’t want to share 🙁

If you were looking to really try a good and highly recommended chicken rice ball restaurant in Malacca, you can try it at Chop Cheung Chicken Rice located at this nondescript building with the sign, Kedai Kopi Chung Wah pictured below. The queue is horrendously long and I hear you can wait up to an hour or two in this heat just trying to get into this restaurant. Caution that the chicken rice balls get sold out early though. It was closed when we walked past it at 4pm later on!

Souvenir Shopping @ San Shu Gong 三叔公

Figured that the bf and I would get our souvenir shopping at one of the largest and popular souvenir stores at Jonker Street, called San Shu Gong located at the main entrance. Plus it was one of the few places that had air conditioning so off we went in to pick up food related souvenirs!

Loads of variety to buy home such as the durian dodol, durian jam and loads of local specialties! Picked up a few stuff for my mom and colleagues and the bf got some for his family too.

You can also cool off by purchasing a drink here at Lao Qian Ice Cafe. Found the name really found because.. you know ‘ lao qian ‘ aka cheater? LOL, not sure if you get it!

Jonker Street to Christ Church & A’Farmosa

Walking to Christ Church and A’Farmosa is relatively easy. This area here where San Shu Gong and this huge ship model on display as seen below is the main entrance of Jonker Street / Jonker Walk. Just walk down the other way past Hard Rock Cafe and keep walking straight till you see the iconic red building that is Christ Church Malacca.

Nothing much to do there in my opinion except to take those obligatory tourists shots around the place. There are also a couple of souvenir shops there but they are more expensive then Jonker Street so don’t bother. You can also hire your trishaw riders here to bring you around the sites of Malacca instead of walking about like what we did.

Yepp, we forgo the ride to walk in this scorching weather instead. Slight regret but at least it allowed us to view everything on foot.

Landed up in this small park on the way to A’Famosa as we were seeking shelter from the sun and to rest for awhile.

Continued onwards to our journey to A’Famosa and just took THIS ONE photo. Yes, it was just too sweaty/hot to continue on in the heat, much less explore it! Think we were walking for hours in the sun so it was really tiring. -.-

Solace from the Merciless Sun!

We spotted Hatten Hotel in the far off distance which was our coach pick up point for our trip back to Singapore. But what caught my attention more was the presence of an air conditioned mall, Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall located near A’Famosa. Yes, we dashed in to find a place to purchase drinks as we were super thirsty.

Spotted my new favourite dessert place, Hui Lau Shan (first tried it in City Square, JB recently HERE) and saw that they offered drinks too!

Ordered the Lime Crystal Jelly & Watermelon Crystal Jelly. And we didn’t realize that there was a 1 for 1 promotion till we got the bill and were puzzled at the price. Yay, only RM9.40 (S$3.50) for these large drinks, super worth it! I really enjoyed the watermelon crystal jelly – honestly cooled me down immediately and it was so refreshing!

Decided to just stay around the mall instead of heading to Mahkota Parade which was our initial plan. Picked up some random nonsense from Watsons and woah, didn’t know it was so much cheaper in to purchase products here than in Singapore! D:

It was here we tried our first experience at the Rest N Go massage armchairs. Initially it was just myself who tried it since it was like RM1 for 3 minutes and I was wondering what the hype was all about. And oh my GOD it was SO GOOD! Even convinced the bf to try it and even he enjoyed it too! Think I went for a number of rounds: RM1 (S$0.37) for 3 mins / RM5 (S$1.90) for 15 mins / RM10 (S$3.80) for 30 minutes, so cheap and worth it! Really helped to ease those aching muscles and made me feel more active and re-fuelled to head back!

Lol, that was when Jacq (jacqsowhat.com / @jacqsowhat)and I spotted each other. Lol, she was shopping with her family and I was at the armchair just chilling with the bf. It was pretty funny lol.

Originally, we wanted to take a cab back to our hotel but I felt so refreshed and energized after our armchair massage and my drink so we took on the challenge to walk back to the hotel!

Jonker 88

And since we passed by Jonker Street on the way back, I insisted on trying out Jonker 88 as many of my friends highly recommended it. The queue was usually pretty bad but it wasn’t THAT bad when we were there so we queued!

Just a note that seats are EXTREMELY limited and most people had to sit or stand while eating.

Meanwhile, the main stall was located deep inside and that’s where the queue originates from – all the way at the back.

The queue moved pretty fast though and within minutes, it was ready for us to order. It was then we realized that there were a number of stalls inside selling desserts / hot food / cooked food / yong tau foo.

I didn’t take photos of the yong tau foo store behind, instead, here’s the menu. Loads of variety. The queue system is quite weird, you have to order your desserts first before the mains.

Jonker 88 is famous for it’s cendol but unfortunately, I don’t take it. So I tried their Durian Ice Kachang instead. So imagine that it was insanely hot and you’re standing in line for their famous nyonya assam laska while holding a bowl of ice kachang with no place to sit – what will you do?

So yes, the bf and I polished this icy treat off within moments! It was so darn good and I wished I had more! Alas, if I wanted more, we would have to queue again which we didn’t have the time to anyway. >_<

As mentioned, there were no seats, so we dabao-ed it back to our hotel to eat since I just wanted to try their assam laksa!

Heading back to the Hotel

Knowing that our hotel was along the Malacca River route, we tried to see if there was a short cut instead of our original route. Let’s just say that it was a really bad idea because due to the construction going on, most of the roads were blocked off everywhere. So essentially, we could physically SEE our hotel a few steps away but we had to walk a HUGEEEEEE round because we were blocked off.

It took much longer to get back, almost 45 minutes! Just look at the difference from the first and second photo to tell how long we walked. It was bright and then..much much darker later on as the evening approached.

On a brighter note, at least we passed by some interesting places as seen below.

And FINALLY, I was able to try my Jonker 88 Nyonya Assam Laksa! These were the standard ingredients inside, the gravy was packed separately.

Let’s just sat that this dish literally BLEW me away. Yes, it was that good that I ate EVERYTHING (except the onions) and that’s really rare because I’m a pretty picky eater. The taste was just so.. mm, I don’t know how to describe it but it’s really flavorful and addictive. You HAVE to order this! Yes, I was so tempted to make the bf purchase it for me again but he was unwilling to due to the walk T___T

But seriously, you HAVE to try it. Yes, I think it’s that good! Posted this photo on my IG (@mitsueki) previously and I am now reminiscing over the taste just looking at it -_-

Well, that’s it for Day 2 (Part 1) about my short 1/2 day exploration of Malacca! Stay tuned for Part 2 where the bf and I attended the La Bodega opening party at The Shore!(;

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Till later,
♥ mitsueki

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