SingaporeSights: Weekend in Malacca, Malaysia

Malacca - November 11 - 13

Friday November 11

Mary and I took a bus from Singapore to Malacca. It's about a 5 1/2 hour bus ride. We stopped at a food stand in Singapore before leaving and got 2 orders of fried rice for our dinner to eat on the bus.

We didn't have a hotel or hostel booked yet. Mary had done a lot of research, so she knew where to have the cab take us from the bus stop. The first hostel we stopped at had an open dorm for one night. It was already 11 p.m. so we took it. The hostel was located right on the river, and it was gorgeous, with lots of lights. Malacca feels a lot more like "Asia" then Singapore!

We dropped off our stuff, and headed into the city to check out the night life. We found a bar that had great live music and played some good covers. We had a few drinks, listened to the music, and planned to make it an early night. We started talking to the waiter, and he told us to go to the club just down the road. They were having an 11/11/11 party because the name of the club was Eleven.  We stopped there, and the waiter from the original bar met us out.  It was a fun place, we stayed for awhile, and then started walking home. On our walk home, we heard music so decided to stop at another bar. We walked in to find Karaoke and couldn't resist! We took over the karaoke, sang some great American classics, and then headed out back to our hostel. We were lost for a little while, but eventually found our way back home! No thanks to my horrible sense of direction!

We woke up on Saturday, and the owner of the hostel 1 booked us a room at a different hostel for Saturday. We packed up our things, and moved on out. The hostel costs about $7/night.

Malacca has so much history, and the people are very genuine. There were many people that would stop us in the street just to say hi, or ask where we were from, or tell us we were pretty :)... the culture is very hospitable. The streets are narrow and tiny, with cars, bikes and people everywhere.  (I may or may not have almost been hit by a car... Mary was already planning the phone call to my mom). It is also a very confusing town to get around. All the streets look similar, and the majority of them are one way. The city is surrounded by a river, and there are bridges everywhere!

After roaming the streets on Saturday morning, we decided to pamper ourselves with reflexology and a massage. It was the best massage I have ever had! AMAZING!  It was an hour of being pampered for less than $20 USD. I wanted to bring the lady back to Singapore with me.

We spent the rest of the day shopping in little stores, and discovering the city. There is so much charm, words can't do it justice.

At night, we took a river boat ride to the Malay Deepavali celebration (Hindu New Year). They served free Indian food, and had many speeches, and performances. It was an awesome celebration, and a very cultural experience.

After dinner we went to the Night Market that takes place every Friday and Saturday night. Everything and anything you would want to buy is there, including food vendors. We tried a Taiwan Sausage and potatoes on a stick. I want to bring the Taiwan sausage back to the hot dog carts in Milwaukee, it was one of the best things I have ever eaten!

We went back to the bar we were at on Friday night to enjoy some more live music. We met a guy who was from Washington D.C. traveling by himself, who had just come from Singapore. We hung out with him the rest of the night, and he was very intersesting to talk to.

We took a bus back on Sunday at 1:30... we barely made it, with about 4 minutes to spare... thank goodness because the next bus wasn't until 5.

Thank you to Mary for doing all the planning.. I literally just followed her around :)

Malacca Streets at Night