Malacca City

The only thing that puts me off visiting Malacca is that there is no direct air service and you can only travel by coach or taxi. It’s a four to five hour journey across the Malaysia Causeway mind you, and the thought of being stuck in a coach just does not resonate well with me. A check with the local coach companies and you’ll realize that the best deluxe coach available is the 26 seater, as most VIP coaches only ply longer routes such as Kuala Lumpur, Genting and Penang.

The schedule for each coach company differs so ensure you do your research before your make your payment. Also beware that some smaller coach companies might pack passengers going to different Malaysia destinations together first, and then transfer you to another coach when you reach the outskirts of your designated city. We had one such unpleasant experience and the connecting coach were dark, dingy and sleazy but fortunately, we only had to endure half an hour journey in it.

The best thing about Malacca is that most of the tourist sites and shopping area are nestled within walking distance of each other. And in any case, taxis are plentiful and they brazenly tout for business hence transport is definitely the least of your concerns. Just be firm in your negotiations and take care not to be fleeced!

Food
When you are in Malacca, you cant leave without trying these – cendol dessert, nyonya food and chicken rice balls. Our first stop was “Lao Qian Ice Café”, which is just beside the famous chicken rice ball shop "Hoe Kee".

As it was our first visit to Malacca, we had no clue which eatery serves good Nyonya cuisine. As such, we just walked into one of the resturants and tried some of the dishes. It was lousy though, and no wonder because we had the restaurant all to ourselves.
Rendang Chicken

Char Kway Teow

Prawns with pineapple in coconut sauce

I gathered that there are a number of chicken rice stalls but "Hoe Kee" was seemingly the best one around with reasonable pricing. It is located just at the entrance of Jonker Street. Address is 4,6,8 Jalan Hang Jebat. Take note that their opening hours are 8am to 5pm but they close earlier when food is sold out. Despite the rave reviews, we thought it was just normal and a bit too oily actually.

Courtyard inside Hoe Kee

What's your take on these chicken rice balls? My mum thought they were fish balls!


Tourist Sites
Famous Jonker Street (also known as Jalan Hang Jebat)

Entrance of Jonker Street

Arent these marigolds beautiful?

Windmill

The famous red building - the Christ Church

The beautifully decorated trishaws peddling for business along Christ Church.

The most beautiful trishaw award goes to... this! Hats off to the trishaw owner for his efforts and creativity.

I liked that there's lots of beautiful flower beds around the historical sites!

Stadthuys - Clock Tower

The fountain in front of Christ Church in operation.

Melaka River

The door leading up to St Paul's hill. We were too lazy to climb the stairs.

Some pictures of structures which I thought were quite enchanting.


Shopping
We only had time to visit these places for shopping. Mahkota Parade was undergoing renovation during the time of our visit hence we did not spend too much time there. The Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall has many small shops which reminded me of Bukit Bintang Plaza in Kulua Lumpur. Jonker Street has a night market which is a must visit. Do take note that the night market is only held every Fri to Sun, 1930 to 2330 hours and the roads will be closed for this purpose. You will certainly find some interesting souvenirs and lots of local food and products so dont miss it! Some local snacks are baked on the spot!

Mahkota Parade

Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall

Jonker Street Night Market

As it was just a short weekend getaway, there were still a whole list of food which we did not get to try, e.g. satay celup, portugese cuisine etc. Hence a return trip is needless to say :)

Useful links - Malacca info and travel guide

Holiday Inn Malacca

It was our first visit to Malacca and friends who have been there told gross stories about old and dirty hotels. I did some research and decided on holiday inn based on good reviews from Trip Advisor (TA) and also since it’s a relatively new kid on the block. Being a priority club member, I made reservations through their website instead of a travel agent. It was a big mistake because I realized later that with the same price, our travel agent would have gotten us complimentary breakfast. Talk about being a priority member! Don’t make the same mistake we made, do check with your travel agents before you book. Reservation through email was a breeze though as they were rather responsive.

From Malacca central, we took a cab to holiday inn and was charged RM15. Unlike most hotels, their driveway to the lobby are away from the main traffic. On one hand, you’d feel its rather exclusive but on the other, it means you have to walk out a distance to the main shopping area or to flag for a cab.

Take a look at their HUGE lobby area!


When we arrived, my mum was pleasantly surprised that there was a cold water dispenser for guest consumption! She absolutely adored this great idea by the hotel. Except that the glass table holding it was rather small and can only accommodate 6-8 glasses at any one time. This certainly kept the concierge busy with putting used glasses away and replenishing with new ones. In any case, its a novel idea which we gave two thumbs up!

There’s great room for improvement in terms of their customer service though because check in staff was icy and process rather slow. The key card was also tricky as we could not activate the lights initially and had to call for help. We were glad that help came in a jiffy so that was a plus point for them. I must say the room was huge and clean and equipped with basic amenities. One thing to note, the hair dryer was inbuilt in one of the drawers in the room instead of the bathroom and this could pose a noise problem to your fellow room mates.

Not sure if other rooms had bath tub but not for our deluxe room. Also, I think it’s a common design for all holiday inns that the bath room comes with a panel of see thru glass. Though there are blinds for privacy but due to the corner design, you could actually still peep through if you want to. Hence its not advisable if you in a group of friends. In any case, we were most happy with the room and had no further complaints.

Triple sharing deluxe room with city view

The location of holiday inn is certainly not as good as hotel Equatorial as it is along a busy highway. Here's the view from our room.

Thats the busy highway everyone's been talking about -

Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre on the right -

Plaza Mahkota, which is basically rows of shop houses on the left -

Though traffic seems to give a lot of face to jay walkers, it is still quite dangerous to cross to the other side. There are a few ways to getting around this problem – take the hotel complimentary shuttle bus (two hourly interval starting from 10am only), walk further left to cross under the highway bridge or hail a cab. Many reviewers have shared that you can take a 10 min walk to all the tourist sites and shopping area but if you are with elderly and child, it is quite a feat. Hence, we took taxi most of the time. As we all know, Malaysian taxis are a notorious lot and it was really a chore to bargain with them. To make things simple, we offer a flat rate of RM 10 for our trips and most are willing to accept.

Overall, the hotel is up to scratch and is so much better that some of the Malaysia hotels we stayed. I would not rule out staying at this hotel again but given a choice, I would prefer choosing another hotel nearer to Jonker street to avoid the highway traffic.

location map