WEEKEND IN MELAKA (2nd Round)

We went to Melaka again.. This time Zaid didn't join us because he had classes. Yed, FIGHTING!!

28th March 2009

Me with Jun on our way to Melaka

As usual, we stayed at the A'Famosa Apartment. I shared a room with Zaim. Something I haven't done in a while. The feeling's a bit different now, but it was still cool nonetheless. After we settled in, Zaim and me immediately jumped into the swimming pool. Huda kept taking pictures and I kept turning my face away. She can be so stubborn sometimes.. Sheesh.. Later on she gave up and continued to pester Mama whose on the bed with her beloved Sudoku. But Zaim and me didn't stay in the water for long because we had to get ready for tonight.

Dinner was seafood (staple food in Melaka) at Muara Sungai Duyung. The place was already packed when we got there. We have eaten here once before and as usual the food is CHO UMAI! Mama and Abah got a HUGE picture of them.

With Una after stuffing our faces. Happy!!

Actually we were making our way to Sungai Duyung during Earth Hour. So all we could do was look at other houses with the lights turned off. We consoled ourselves that instead of having Earth Hour, we were actually celebrating Earth Day as the lights in our house were turned off for the entire duration that we were away. So YEAY!

After dinner, we went to the Melaka River Cruise, dubbed by European seafarers as "Venice of the East". It's a cruise designed to let the people enjoy the sights of Malacca at night. The Malacca River used to have a really bad reputation of being really polluted and smelly. But the local government had decided to step up and preserve the river as it holds a lot of historical value. The cruise works like a sort of transporation system too, as there are a few stops where the passengers can get off. For those preferring to stay on the ground, there are also pedestrian walkways constructed along the riverbank.

We saw a lot of interesting sites such as the Morten House and the Eye of Malacca and were entertained by a professional singer on the boat. There was even a karaoke session and we jumped in when the singer was singing a joget song.

When the cruise was over we managed to get a photo with the singer and also a shot of us in front of the entrance. Then, we went back to Alor Gajah and were promptly off to Zzzz Land.

29th March 2009

The next day we quickly packed up and headed to the day's first destination: Melaka Revolving Tower (Menara Taming Sari). It's kinda like a mini version of the KL Tower. It is designed based on the Taming sari keris. It stands at a height of 110 metres and can accommodate up to 66 passengers at a time. We quickly lined up and rented a few binoculars so that we could clearly see the scenery down below. Lucky for us, there wasn't so many people that day, so we only had to wait for the next trip.

Needless to say, it was a photography frenzy when we reached the top. We made quite a few turns before we were lowered down. I read somewhere that the duration is approximately 7 minutes. We took pictures of the Maritime Museum and also the Eyes of Malacca. there were also a few pictures of the nearby swimming pool... When we were safely on the ground, we shopped around the entrance area where they sell all kinds of souvenirs. Me and the other Aimi's got ourselves keychains with our names..

Would've been so perfect if Yed was there...

Our tummies were practically grumbling when we made our way out of the building. So we had a nice lunch at the nearby restaurant.

After we had our lunch, it was park time!!

To let all the lovely food go down, we took a walk in the park and then headed to the famous A'Famosa (which ironically is "The Famous" in Portuguese). Built in 1511, it is one of the oldest surviving remnants of European architecture in Asia. Huda had a brief violin lesson there, which was cute+funny.

Just beside the ruins is the Declaration Complex. We took a few photographs there but didn't go inside. There were also a few museums scattered around the area. We also took some pictures around the Dataran Pahlawan area.

Since we were in a touristy mood, we decided to go to Hang Tuah's and Hang Li Po's well. Don't get the wrong idea. These are two different wells located at two different places. Hang Li Po's well was next to a Chinese temple and there were even a few fruit vendors just outside it's gates. Hang Li Po was the fifth wife of the Sultan Melaka, Mansur Shah. It was built by her followers circa 1459 upon her arrival in Melaka and is said that the well will never dry even during drought.

There was a traditional Malay house next to Hang Tuah's well. As we all know, Hang Tuah is a legendary Malay warrior. Locals believe that those with a pure heart can see the spirit of Hang Tuah in the form of a white crocodile near his well. I didn't get a picture near the well because we were kind of fascinated with the traditional house. But I managed to wash my face with the water taken from the well.

So, at the end of the day, we said our goodbyes and went back to KL. I have yet to pack for my Swiss trip the next day.. (shakes head)...

TRAP

TRAP stands for Taman Rekreasi Air Panas, which incidentally was how I felt in the very very very hot water... For some reason, I had icecream 3.5 times through out the day...

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I've had another weekend away from home. And it was definitely refreshing!! This time me, Kak Hawe, her sister Kak Manje and their friend cum roommate Kak Azi went to Kak Maya's house in FELDA Trolak Utara. They fetched me at the Taman Melati LRT Station and we're off!! Kak Azi stopped at a nearby oil station where I bought some chocs and an icecream (FIRST!). The journey to Trolak was quite unevenful. Kak Maya was waiting for us at a traffic light intersection somewhere along the way. Nobody wanted to get in her car, hee.. We got to her house at about 11.30am.

After a brief rest, lunch was served. And then I kinda rolled around in her room. She showed me a new JDrama (Mei Chan No Shitsuji) that she just got into. She totally loves the hero (Mizushima Hiro) who looks a lot like Matsumoto Jun (my love!!) and sounds like Jang Geun Seok. Seriously. But the guy was totally adorable in the drama. Me and Kak Maya decided that Hiro is HOT and COOL and MatsuJun is WILD and SEXY. While Kak Manje and Kak Azi took a little nap, Kak Maya, Kak Hawe and me got to finish the first two episodes of the drama.

We got ready and were on our way to the hotspring at about 2.30pm. There weren't too many people there. Kak Maya acting as the tourist guide of some sort wanted to walk from the parking lot instead of taking the tram. On the way was a place where you can sit and be steamed by the vapours from the flowing hotspring. Kinda like a sauna but in an open space and not as hot. It was cool seeing the vapors from the water and kinda scary too because that just shows how hot the water really is. Every time the hot vapors wafts around the spot you always smell a slight sulphury scent.

Left: Ma with Kak Manje in the background. Right:Me with Kak Hawe

Then we made our way to the "warm" section of the park. It kinda looks like a big recreational pool just that the water is "warm". Although Kak Maya told us the water was "warm", when we got there it was actually pretty hot. The instant my feet got into the water it felt kinda cold and the next split second like my skin would burst out. We slowly made our way deeper into the pool and Kak Maya and me managed to sink ourselves up till our necks. Which is quite an accomplishment. ...Yeay US!! In reality, I felt quite challenged because there were some children running around the pool and I told myself if they can stand the heat, why can't I? Huh, competitive much?

To cool ourselves we headed to the mountain spring pool. On the way, we stopped for an icecream (SECOND!!) each. There were a lot of fishes in a nearby pond and they kept going round and round the pond which is cool and cute. We took some pictures whereafter Kak Hawe promptly fell and injured her toe. Nothing serious but she bled a little at a few places. Careful next time k, Kak Hawe...

When we got to the spot, it was quite packed. We saw a couple of food stands nearby and made a beeline for food!! All of us decided to get icecream, again (THIRD! AND A HALF coz I shared one with Kak Maya) and just observed the crowd. After we finished everything we headed to the last spot, where the really really hot water is. Literally, you can boil eggs there. Me and Kak Maya sat not far from the spot where they boil the eggs and the water was so hot that when we put in our feet, the searing pain nearly made my eyes water. Then we joined the other three who sat quite far from the egg-boiling spot.

The three who sat far away from the eggs...

We realized it was getting late so we made our way back, while taking some pictures on the way. We stopped again at the sauna-esque place we were earlier and rested some more. On our way back to Kak Maya's house we stopped for "air kelapa" just to cool ourselves. Dinner that night was a sumptuous fare. We had rice, chicken, some beef, laksa, cakes and a couple more kuihs. Wow!! Then, we watched the third and fourth episode of Mei chan. I fell asleep somewhere during the fourth epi. But towards the end of the episode I woke up. Me and Kak Maya proceeded to see other videos (DBSK, SuJu, KatTun etc) and fell asleep still giggling at midnight.

Kak Hawe, me and Kak Azi.

The next day we packed up soon after breakfast. Kak Maya gave me a bucuk goodbye hug and we were on our way back to Kuala Lumpur at 10am. Bye Kak Maya!! We stopped by a couple of places (Tanjung Malim, Yik Mun's Pau Place and Pak Man's Cendol) along the way. They dropped me home at around 2.00pm. Arigatou!!

Thanks to Kak Maya, Kak Hawe, Kak Manje and Kak Azi, I had a wonderful weekend. It was fun being in a different place every once in a while, just to avoid feeling stuffed and stuck. Right boys?