Malacca Express

Working in Malaysia for a year, I made sure I did make it to Malacca. Left Cherating Beach in the evening to catch the last bus to Kuala Lumpur, I arrived in Pudusentral ( Puduraya ) bus terminal early in the morning. Grabbed a cup of coffee and walked around town, Kuala Lumpur reminded me a lot of Jakarta. Stop by in Twin Towers, I took some pictures and sat for a while enjoying a quiet morning before catch a cab to see my most favorite girl on earth, Yang Yang, at Sunway Pyramid. We used to work together in Cherating Beach for a month, then she had to return to KL to continue her study. She’s not only gorgeous and sexy from head to toe, but also incredibly smart, independent, crazy. I love her strong ambitions, fun and flirty character, just the mix of Carrie Bradshaw and Kim Cattrall from Sex and The City.

We had lunch, laughed and talked a lot about love life, career, dreams, clothes, all those wrong men, aahh you know girl talk. Was good to see her again then at 5 pm-ish I caught a bus ( RM 13 ) from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan station to Malacca. Reached Malacca bus station around 8.30, I told the taxi driver to take me to town. As a person who never booked hotel in advance and I didn’t do any research about hostels in Malacca, I thought it would be easy to find cheap hostels.  Was going to stay at Holiday Inn Hotels but I realized I didn’t bring a lot of money with me, so I kept walking under the gorgeous lights of Malacca town at night. Admiring each old buildings and architectures influenced by  Portuguese, British, Dutch and Straits Chinese / Peranakan culture, Malacca has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 2008.

Christ Church

Kept walking without actually knowing where I’d spend a night, I stopped for a while at Jonker Street. A busy small road, like a night market, they sell great local food, souvenirs, and you’ll see many rickshaws decorated in a colorful flowers, I was like giggling just totally happy lost in Malacca. Then I met this lovely couple from Germany, had a small chat in a coffee shop talking about their Asia trip. What seems really interesting actually that this couple grew old together, raised the kids, and still have that look of love whenever their eyes met. They laughed, lived, breathe in sooo much love. Traveling solo is always a unique experience, but when you travel and been through a long journey of ups and downs with someone you’ve spend years with, well…what a double happiness ! In the end of our conversation, they recommended me to stay at Yellow Mansion. It’s cheap, nice and clean, so my next stop definitely Yellow Mansion for only RM 50 or $14 a night, with AC, toilets, towels and free WI-FI, perfect !

After checked-in and changed my clothes, I continued walking around the neighbor. The receptionist said it’s pretty safe to walk at night, I do trust what local people said plus the night was still young, so nothing could keep me from exploring Malacca.

                                                                                 Jonker Street 

The next morning I woke up at 10 am, had small breakfast, checked out and continue exploring Malacca. Since Malacca is not really big, you can always walk everywhere. Rickshaw could be an alternative if you’re too lazy to walk. I took some pictures, shopping and had another meals then at 3 pm I took a cab to Malacca bus station. Had another interesting conversation with the taxi driver. He was a very friendly man, explaining me about Malacca history, his childhood, the changes of Malacca from years to years, and how he wanted to visit Indonesia. You see, it was just another great travel experience I had from my Malacca express trip. What a beautiful journey, met lovely people, then fell asleep in the bus, felt so fresh and ready to work again in Cherating Beach the next day. I spent like total RM 250, was a great weekend getaway.