Accomodation and Food in Malacca

Melaka heritage site covers a small area. The whole site, our best estimation, is about 1 km x 2 km. There is no place within the site that we can't reach by foot. So, getting a place which is close to the heritage site to stay is important.

We have been to Melaka several times. We used to stay in Tang Kim Hock Hotel, which was cheap, with acceptable service. It has a good rating at Tripadvisor. However, we found that the hotel is too far away from the heritage site, which means, it is far from the tourism spots.

Grand Continental Melaka shared the same fate with Tang Kim Hock Hotel. Service, ok, room rate, ok. But when we talk about the distance from tourist spots, that's where the big "NO" comes in. Imagine that you need to take taxi everyday to visit the heritage site. Or, you need to drive on your own, caught by the jam, pay parking fee (RM 5 per day)...if you are lucky enough to find a parking space.

We stayed in Mahkota Hotel before. The room rate is a little bit high for us. To be fair, the hotel has a nicely landscaped pool, beachside view, family activity room, etc. However, enjoying nice sunshine at the poolside or playing ping pong in the aircond room were not our purpose in Melaka. However, if you are the type who doesn't mind to pay, say RM 250++ per night, the hotel is a good choice for its excellent location.

Getting somewhere nearby, somewhere that we can reach the site by foot, really means something to the visitors like us, in Melaka. The very first hotel to recommend, Fenix Inn. The room rate was around RM 160++ during our visit 2 months ago, with good location at Merdeka Road, just opposite of Pahlawan Square. It is just a few steps away from that largest shopping complex in the heritage site. By foot, it is 5 minutes away from A' Famosa fort, 10 to Stadthuys, and 15 to Jonker Street. We were satisfied with the service and the condition of the room (shower heater, coffee making, drinking water, aircond, nice bed, flat screen were available, with free jockey parking). However, there were no breakfast and wifi provided. One thing that we want to highlight here, the room rate has really risen exponentially in Melaka, after the city secured a name in UNESCO list.

The outlook of Fenix Inn, Melaka.

The reception counter (upper left), lobby (upper right), and the room at Fenix Inn.

Next in our list, Sayang-Sayang Guest House. The guest house provides a Facebook account as its online website. The guest house is simple- a small aircond room with bed and sofa. TV and bathrooms, shared among all other tenants. The rate is starting from RM 40, depending on the season and the day of the week. Located at the bank of Melaka River at Kampung Hulu Road, we can enjoy nice riverview by walking through its back door. The guest house is at the border of the heritage site. By foot, 3 minutes to Jonker Street, 10 minutes to Stadthuys, and 15 minutes to A' Famosa fort and Pahlawan Square. Btw, no towel, soap, tooth paste, shampoo provided. We can get the shampoo and soap with RM 1.50 from the receptionist, or buy them from the grocery shop nearby. Free wifi and internet services are provided. You can get more info about the guest house here.

The "twin-layered" room- the upper layer is furnished with a mattress for two. The lower layer, a sofa and a side table (left). The corridor (upper right) and the washing area and bathrooms.

The night scenery at the backside of Sayang-Sayang Guest House. A water taxi was cruising in Melaka river.

Guest houses and average hotels are available all around Melaka heritage site. We listed some of them here as your reference (based on Chari-Chari Malaysia Magazine). We didn't stay in these hotels and guest houses before, so please go to Tripadvisor for the most up-to-date customer reviews on the hotel. In any case of discrepancies, the information on the hotel official website should serve as final.

• Baba House at the end of Tun Tan Cheng Lock Rd (Hereen Street). Tel: +606- 281 1217. Room rate: from RM104
• Puri Hotel at the end of Hereen Street. Tel:+606-2825588. Room rate: Single RM140++, Double RM160++
• Courtyard at Heeren at the middle of Hereen Street. Tel: +606-2824888. Room rate: RM200++
• Heeren Inn at Hereen Street (very good location). Tel: +606-288 3600. Room Rate: from RM100 (Pls. call to confirm).
• Heeren House at Heeren Street (very good location). Tel: +606-2814241. Room rate: from RM120.
• Hang Out at Jonker at Hang Jebat Rd (Jonker Street) (very good location). Tel: +60 6282 8318. Room rate: from RM150
• Jonker Boutique at the end of Tokong Rd (share a junction at the end of Jonker Street). Tel:+606- 2825151. Room rate: from RM200
• Chong Hoe Guest House at Tukang Emas Rd. (street next to Jonker). Tel: +606- 2817261 Room rate: RM27 (Pls. call to confirm).
• Da Som Inn at Tukang Emas Rd. Tel: +606-2866577. Room rate: Double RM108++, Family RM198++
• Harmony Lodge at Tukang Emas Rd. Tel: +606-2835218. Room rate: from RM88 for two. Unconfirmed info- same management with Puri Hotel.
• Cheng Ho Hotel at Tukang Emas Rd. Tel: +606-2826102. Room rate: RM50 (call to confirm).
• Jalan-Jalan Guest House at Tukang Emas Rd. Good review on Tripadvisor. But cannot access to the information about the telephone no and room rate...
• Voyage Guest House or Sama-sama Guesthouse at Hang Jebat Lane (very good location). Tel: +606-2815216. Room rate: from RM25.
• Aldy Hotel at Kota Road (very good location). Tel: +606-2833232. Room Rate: from RM130.
• Seri Costa Hotel at Plaza Mahkota (opposite of Taming Sari Tower). Tel:+606-2816666. Room rate: RM155++
• Sri Pelangi Hotel at Plaza Mahkota (opposite of Taming Sari Tower). Tel:+606-2868112. Room rate: RM100++
• Tower Hotel at Plaza Mahkota (opposite of Taming Sari Tower). Tel: +606-2812200. Room rate: from RM58.
• Yellow Mansion Hotel. It is a simple hotel with very basic service. RM 88++ for standard double with clean room, wifi, satellite tv, shower heater, and aircond. The location, Bukit Cina Lane, 5 minutes to A' Famosa, Stadthuys and Pahlawan Square. 10 minutes to Jonker Street.

Hang Out  At Jonker and Heeren House are located on the same street (upper row). Cheng Ho Guest House and Harmony Lodge are two of the budget guest houses available around Jonker Street area (oldtown area).

Melaka is famous for its Hainan Chicken Rice, durian chendol (in Malay is cendol), and some Baba and Nyonya food. There are three major Hainan Chicken Rice shops- Chung Hua, Hoe Kee, and Famosa. All of them are located at Jonker Street. For us, the first choice goes to Chung Hua, and then Hoe Kee. A' Famosa, uh, personally, we don't like the taste of the food there (pls. don't argue, that's our personal opinion, different people might have different taste). We always judge the taste of the food served by an eatery observing the queue (although it's not 100% accurate).

Chung Hua Coffee Shop (upper left), Famosa Chicken Rice (upper right) and Hoe Kee (lower right) are the main shops serving traditional Hainan Chicken Rice. Photo on lower left shows the chicken rice served in Chung Hua. The price for the chicken rice is around RM10 per person.

Durian cendol is the ice dessert served with durian, red beans, sweet corn kernels, jelly, and coconut milk. We had tried durian cendol at several locations at Jonker Street and Pahlawan Square. All of them taste good. Anyway, you need to like the taste of durian in order to like the taste of durian cendol.

Durian cendol (upper left), bubur chacha (a porridge with mixture of fruits and vegetable) (upper right), pineapple tarts (lower right) and locally manufactured carbonated drinks are available at Jonker Street.

Nyonya curry and Nyonya laksa are the dishes that we would like to recommend. The additional sourness of Nyonya dishes makes them unique food in Melaka (hope we described is correctly :p). Besides the traditional food, we tried dim-sum at Jonker Street, Korean Steamboat at Merdeka Road, Japanese Food at Pahlawan Square, and of course, Oldtown Kopitiam, layered cakes and many more. Overall, all the food were quite nice. So, food should not be a problem in Melaka.

Traditional Nyonya food.

Korean steamboat restaurant at Merdeka Road, Melaka, just opposite of Fenix Inn.

Pahlawan Square houses many food outlets. We tried many of them, including Tang Shifu with traditional Chinese herbal food (upper left), Nadeje with layered cakes (lower left), Pinkberrys with very nice durian cendol (lower right), and the Japanese food. We would recommend Tang Shifu and Pinkberrys to all of you.

There is a small area in Pahlawan Square named Heritage Gallery (check the directory at the entrance), designated to hawkers selling local products. There are a huge variety of local products can be found there, the best thing, it is fully air conditioned (no heat, not sun, no sweat). We always get our favourite "lempok durian" (durian cake) there. Btw, the items there are sold with fair price.

For certain, we cannot cover every single food around Melaka, as we write based on our experience. We will be glad if our readers can leave comments about the food in Melaka, according to yours experience.

More sharing on our experience in Melaka are available at:

[Malacca Trip Day 1] [Malacca Trip Day 2] [Malacca Trip Day 3]
[Top 10 Must Do in Melaka] [All our Destinations]

Malacca Trip Day 1

We revisited Melaka (Malacca in Malay Language) in August 2011. We had visited this city of heritage many times. But, that was our second visit after the city has been listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site in 2008, 608 years after Parameswara found the old Malay entrepot. We started our journey from Kajang, Selangor at 9 am and took one hour and thirty minutes to reach Air Keroh Toll.

Our complete itinerary, the first day starting at 10:30 am- Melaka Zoo, hotel check in and then, lunch at Pahlawan Square followed by Melaka Philately Museum. At night, shopping and dinner at Jonker Street night market. The second day- Sultanate Palace Museum, Hainan Chicken Rice for lunch, searching for snacks and chendol at Jonker Street, followed by Melaka River Cruise at 2 pm. Then, Melaka History and Ethnography Museum in Stadthuys and A' Famosa. Later, we dined and went for a movie at Pahlawan Square. The third day- Taming Sari Tower ride and shopping at Pahlawan Square before departed home around 2:30 pm.

Photo taken in front of the Stadthuys (right). Surrounded by the Christ Church Melaka and the clock tower, the square in front of the Stadthuys is one of the most visited area in Bandar Hilir (Heritage Area).

We decided to visit Melaka Zoo first, which is located less than 2 km from the toll. We had visited the zoo before (at least four times). We didn't expect any element of surprise. We just wish to see our "old friends" over there. Some of them- capybara which LS once mistakenly thought that they were wombats, Bengal tigers in big and nicely landscaped exhibits, the strong looking seladangs, and the shady aviaries. The zoo was well-maintained, like old time, with a plus of new species.The zoo is the second largest zoo in Malaysia, after the National Zoological Park with around 1500 animals from 200 species.

The same old familiar entrance of Melaka Zoo (upper left). Our photo at the reception area of the zoo (upper right). The tram service (lower left) and most of the food outlets were close during our visit because of Ramadhan.

Some of the animals available in Melaka Zoo. Name them if you can :)

Tigers exhibits are really nicely landscaped, like a 5 stars hotel.

As we were visiting during Ramadhan, most of the food stalls were closed, the tram service was temporally off, and moreover, it was showering. However, we still had an enjoyable time there. We spent almost 3 hours in the zoo. Before we left, the workers there friendly reminded us that for the first time the zoo would launch the night safari on the next day and invited us to come again. Our really hoped that we were there, but exhaustion on the following day drew us away.

The zoo opens 9 am - 6 pm daily, with the entrance fees of RM 7 for adult and RM 4 for child. The night safari opens only on Friday, Saturday, and the eve of Public Holidays. The entrance fees are RM 10 per adult and RM 5 per child. The opening hour of night safari is 8- 11 pm. The zoo is located around 13 km from the city centre. Our advice is, visit the zoo first once you enter the toll, or keep it to the last on your way back. By doing that, you can save a total of 26 km of journey with heavy traffic.

The zoo is clean, but mosquito is still the uninvited pest. To avoid the unpleasant bites, long sleeves or mosquito repellent is necessary. Shoes offer better comfort for the long walk, and for the sandy paths and slippery slopes. There is a six-storey observatory tower beside the safari, looks battered and old, but it is still safe and guarantees a nice scenery to those who are willing to labour their muscles. Umbrella is needed for the rain, not for the sun, as the zoo is well shaded by shrubs and trees.

Panoramic view six storeys above the ground. We can see the giraffes in the safari (lower middle). Green view is good for mind and body. You can see the dark clouds of the rainy morning. However, we got our umbrella with us :-)

The observatory tower.

We learned about the traffic in Melaka in the hard way before. So, we decided to stay in the hotel nearby the heritage area (Bandar Hilir), where we could park our car there, while roam around by foot. Fenix was our choice. Located just opposite of Pahlawan Square, it is really a strategic place to stay. 5 minutes walk to A' Famosa, 10 minutes to Stadthuys (town hall in old Dutch), and 15 minutes from Jonker Street. The hotel was newly renovated, the staff, friendly and helpful. Plus, private parking with free jockey service, and RM 160 per night. However, there were no breakfast and wifi.

Pahlawan Square was our first stop, a brief stop to settle our empty stomach. Can you imagine that we took A and W for our lunch? What a waste, but that's the fastest way to gain our strength. Then, we visited Melaka Philately Museum (or Melaka Stamps Museum) around 3:30 pm. The museum is located beside A' Famosa, about 3 minutes walk from Pahlawan Square. With the entrance fee of RM 2, the museum offered us more than what we had expected. We learned many history about Malaysian philately history there, and got excited to found out that we actually had owned most of the stamps issued by our own country. We spent around one and a half hour there till 5 pm. The museum opens 9 am - 5:30 pm daily.

Pahlawan Square (or Dataran Pahlawan) is a mega shopping complex in the middle of the city of Melaka. The shopping complex can be divided into three different parts- a two storey complex which the upper floor is a nicely landscaped square with lawn (in front of the grey building), and two multi-storey shopping complexes (one of them was under construction during our visit). The shopping complex is just several steps away from A' Famosa Fort, as you can see at the middle.

Melaka Philately Museum is not big, nor grande, but promises the visitors a gain in knowledge. The museum is a must visit site for stamps collectors.

The modest outlook of Melaka Philately Museum (upper left), and the exhibition about the history of the philately.

Jonker Street is well-known as one of the oldest street in Melaka. It is located at Hang Jebat Road (Jonker Street is the unofficial, but well-known name of this road). The whole street is about 500 m long, surrounded by old two-storey colonial style shop houses. However, deliberate renovations make many of these structures lost their originality. Located just 10 minutes by foot from Pahlawan Square, it used to be the place where the town folks carried out their daily routines- grocery shops, bicycles shops, laundry shops, cake houses, coffee shops (kopitiam), book stores, blacksmithes, etc. But now, souvenir shops are the majority, while many others serve tourism purposes as well, such as pubs, guesthouses, boutiques, and hotels, and eateries. As a tourist's spot, it is a good place for an evening walk, especially when the night market is on (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays). The night scene is nice, and the hawkers are dominated by Chinese. For its fame, the night market is a must visit site in Melaka, at least twice- once on daytime, and another, night. We spent about 2 hours at Jonker Street night market.

Jonker Street at night (left) and day. The hawkers are setting up their stalls right on the street.

The night market at Jonker Street. The night market is a place for both locals and foreigners, spans from the riverside till the end of Hang Jebat Road. Most of the food stalls are gathered at the far end of the river. As the crowd is massive, finding a car park is not easy. Another thing which is hard to be done- bargaining. You might never get sort of 50% or 70% of discount there, which is quite easily been offered in Bangkok or Siem Reap markets. The street is safe during the night in Melaka. However, we still need to keep alert and take good care of our belongings.

A singing competition held during our visit drew many local supporters at a side of Jonker Street. The food stalls are located just behind the stage. From what we could see, the middle-aged and old Melaka folks are still enjoying their slow moving pace with leisure life. However, the hustle-bustle tourism industry are eroding their peaceful life (as the crowd can be seen at far right at Jonker Street).

We can find some delicious food around Jonker Street. We tried Nyonya laksa, Nyonya curry fish, durian chendol, and "suan panzi", a traditional Chinese food. All the food were quite delicious. We didn't bought anything there, as for us, the items were not unique to us.

Our trip continued with Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum, Hainan Chicken Rice, Melaka River Cruise, Stadthuys, A' Famosa Fort, and many more. Click here to follow us.

Take a look on all our sharing about Melaka:

[Malacca Trip Day 2] [Malacca Trip Day 3] [Accomodation and Food in Melaka]
[Top 10 Must-Do in Melaka] [All our Destinations]

Malacca Trip Day 2

Second day itinerary- Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum, Hainan Chicken Rice for lunch, shopping at Jonker Street, followed by Melaka River Cruise, Melaka History and Ethnography Museum in the Stadthuys, and A' Famosa Fort. We left our hotel at 9 am, and went straight to Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum. The museum is located just beside A' Famosa fort (right side if you face the front side of the fort) at Kota Road. The museum portrays some history of Melaka, especially on the history of Hang Tuah. Besides, the models of traders, and the artifacts of tools and weapons used in the past were exhibited as well. However, the most fascinating part of this museum is the architecture of the building itself. The museum was a replica to the Sultan Mansur Shah's palace, which no single nail was used to build the building! Must visit? Sure!

For Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum, the entrance fees for adult and child are RM 2 and RM 1 respectively. Operation hour is 9 am - 6 pm. One thing to remind, no shoe is allowed in the palace museum, so we need to leave ours outside. Although special "royal racks" are prepared for the shoes, there was no "royal guard" assigned to look after them. So, the safety of our shoes is under our own responsibility.

Entering the replica of the old sultanate palace, with not a single nail applied is awesome! This is a must visit site in Melaka.

Kamar diraja, or royal bedroom for Sultan (upper left), the model shows the attires of the traders and the goods (upper right), and a scene of balai menghadap, the place where the sultan meet the delegates from other countries (lower right). Other artifacts showing tools, eqiupments, weapons, clothes, etc. are exhibited as well.

The forbidden garden of the Sultan is located in front of the Sultanate Palace. It is a beautiful garden, but we simply had no time for it.

Then, we went to take Hainan Chicken Rice for lunch. Previous experience brought us to Kedai Kopi Chung Wah, the one that is situated on the other side of Melaka River, opposite of the Stadthuys (at the crossroad between Hang Jebat Rd. and Tun Tan Cheng Lock Rd.). The chicken rice there was still the best we could get in Melaka, queue was forming under the hot sun as early as 11:15 am. In contrast, other Hainan Chicken Rice shops were not so crowded.

Kedai Kopi Chung Hua (Chung Hua Coffee Shop) is still a choice by many. To taste the nice traditional Melaka Hainan Chicken Rice, you need to be early to avoid long queue. Chop Chung Hua from the outside (upper left), inside (upper right) and the chicken rice ball served (lower left). Hoe Kee is another Hainan chicken rice shop, which offers up-to-the-standard chicken rice. Hoe Kee is well decorated, with more tables for larger crowd.

The hot sunny day was good for a walk around Jonker Street (Hang Jebat Road). The street has two different appearances, day and night. Under the hot sun, the street is full with vehicles. The crowd mostly gathered at souvenirs shops, eateries, bakeries, and fashion boutiques. Again, we found the things sold there were not attractive to us (as Malaysian). However, a walk there was not totally in vain. We got some really nice durian chendol there. In addition, we took our opportunities to visit several temples, mausoleums, and Kampung Kling Mosque.

A scene at Jonker Street. It is not shaded and the pedestrian walkway is exposed right under the blazing sun (left). An umbrella or SPF 50++ sunblock might be a good idea to avoid sun burn.

Temples (upper left), renovated shops and eateries (upper right), the office for Hainan Association (lower left) and other shops, such as the souvenirs shops are the key components of Jonker Street. Majority (if not all of them) of the shops are ran by Chinese (or Baba and Nyonya). From there, we could deeply feel the influence of China on Melaka many years down the passage of history.

Kampung Kling Mosque is one of the oldest mosque in Malaysia. Built in 1728, the minaret of the building resembles a pagoda. Sumatran, British, Portuguese and Hindu influenced architechtures can be found too.

Afternoon, we took Melaka River Cruise at Quayside. That was a surprise for us, as the experience for the ride was fantabulous. The 40 minutes ride through the historical and modern part of Melaka was unforgetable. The effort to beautify once heavily polluted Melaka river astonished us. Melaka River Cruise is the attraction which you should never miss, with little price to pay- RM 10 for adult and RM 5 for child. The operation hour is 9:30 am - 12 am, with a break on 5-6 pm. The frequency, 30 minutes per cruise. Although we took the ride around 2 pm in the afternoon, the hot sun didn't affect us much, as the motorboat was well-covered with canvas.

Different views on Melaka River Cruise, from the heritage site to the modern city.

The cruise is well-shaded with canvas.

Quayside and the ticket counter of Melaka River Cruise from the motorboat.

The 40 minutes relaxing on the cruise was followed by 3 solid hours of "marathon" through the Stadthuys, which houses Melaka History and Ethnography Museum, and A' Famosa Fort. That was our first time at Melaka History and Ethnography Museum. We spent more than 2 hours there. The history of Melaka is really stated in detail there, and if we could find chairs for our laden feet, we might had stayed longer in the museum. The entrance fees are RM 5 for adult and RM 2 for child. The original structure of Stadthuys is well preserved. Therefore, it is quite worthy to pay the fee and get into the building to take a look. 

Stadthuys (right), the clock tower, and the Church of Melaka (behind the clock tower) in red lure the visitors from all around the world. Built more than 350 years ago, the structures exhibits the architecture of Dutch.

Road signs in front of the Stadthuys with two statues of kancil (mouse deers). The kancil is believed had influenced the founder of Melaka to settle down at this area.

The square in front of the Stadthuys. A line of well decorated trishaws can be rented at RM 40 per hour, negotiable (lower left). Crowd can be seen in front of Victoria Fountain.

Inner part of the Stadthuys. We need to pay the ticket for Melaka History and Ethnography Museum to access to these area.

The stucture inside the Stadthuys. The well used by the Dutch can still be seen (upper right).

The exhibition in the first room, just after the ticket counter.

The Tourist Information Center is located just opposite of the Stadthuys, on the other side of the road. Instead of providing information to the tourists, there is a nice clean toilet available in the center. Btw, we can't find any other public toilet around the heritage site instead of the one available in the center. Of course, we could always use the toilets available in the shopping malls and the eateries (some of the eateries put a fee on the non-customer for using their toilet).

A' Famosa Fort is the center of the heritage site of Melaka. Once the most symbolic icon of the grip of Portuguese is now barely a surviving gate, in the middle of a modern city. Built by Alfonso de Albuquerque in 1511, the fort was destroyed by British on 1806. The wall of the fort is not high, nor thick. But with guns and canons on the Portuguese side, that's more than enough to hold the ground against spears, keris, elephants and horses.

The surviving gate of A' Famosa fort. Built by the Portuguese, the fort changed hand many times before it finally lays in peace to serve the tourists. The chapel can be seen far right on the top of the St. Paul Hill :)

Once been called Nosa Senhora Chapel by Portuguese, then St. Paul's Church by the Dutch, and ended the service on the hand of British, who make the church a store for gunpowder, the old structure on the top of St. Paul Hill witnessed the rise and fall of many rulers of Melaka.

The tombstone left by the Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

Panoramic scenery on the top of St. Paul Hill. Taming Sari Tower and Holiday Inn can be seen afar.

We spent the night at Pahlawan Square, and took a ride on Taming Sari Tower beside the shopping centre. The tower is really close to the square, around 3 minutes walk from the McD side of the square. From 80 meters above the ground, we saw more than what we had expected. Click here for our day-3 trip now.

Take a look on all our sharing about Melaka:

[Malacca Trip Day 1] [Malacca Trip Day 3] [Accomodation and Food in Melaka]

[Top 10 Must-Do in Melaka] [All our Destinations]

Malacca Trip Day 3

Day 3, we woke up late, drove by the exhaution. We went for a late breakfast, and started to take our way to the last destination in our list. That was a new attraction to us- Taming Sari Tower. The tower was named after the keris (Malay dagger) of Hang Tuah, the legendary warrior of Melaka. The revolving tower brought us around 80 m above the ground, with a wonderful 360 panoramic view over the whole city of Melaka in 7 minutes ride. We were lucky for the nice weather with just a little bit of haze. It was really an unforgetable experience, and it is surely a must visit place in Melaka.

The Taming Sari Tower is located at Merdeka Road (beside the swimming pool). By foot, it is 5 minutes away from Pahlawan Square (McDonald side), or around 10 minutes away from Jonker Street. It is really easy to locate for the high rised tower. Entrance fees: Adult and Child are RM20 and RM10 respectively, with 50% discount for MyKad holders, and operates 10 am - 10 pm daily. The tower accomodates around 60 people with a new round of ride in every 15 to 20 minutes. So, a long waiting time is not expected.

Standing tall above the ground, Taming Sari Tower is the most prominent landmark of Melaka.

A view on the tower, with the Maritime Museum and Quayside in the middle. The newly built Casa De Rio Hotel can be seen on the other side of Melaka River.

The ticketing complex of Taming Sari Tower (upper left), not far away from Pahlawan Square. The ticket counter (upper right). Bicycle for rent is available at the ticketing complex, with the rate of RM 3 per hour (lower left). We grab the opportunity to take our own photo when we were on the ride.

Instead of the major attractions that has been mentioned, there are some other attractions in Bandar Hilir heritage site that simply worth a touch and go.

The Proclamation of Independent Memorial is an important monument. It was the place where Malaysian first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman firstly declared the date for the independant of Malaysia in 1956, a year before 31 August 1957. He then took a short walk to the residence of Tun Tan Cheng Lock for tea before he departed to Kuala Lumpur. The place where the monument stood is so meaningful, yet, it's like an abandoned child at a corner of Pahlawan Square. The exact location of the monument- opposite of the Malay and Islamic World Museum. We felt bad about how the authority of Melaka mistreated the monument.

Melaka never lack of museums. Melaka Islamic Museum (upper row), UMNO Museum (lower left), Museum of Enduring Beauty, and The Malay and Islamic World Museum (lower right) are lined up side by side, together with Melaka Philately Museum at Kota Road, just beside A' Famosa. Most of these museums are located between Pahlawan Square and Jonker Street.

Quayside is a nice place for a walk, while enjoying the scenery of Melaka River (upper row). We are able to see the unrealisticly big irrigation wheel and the old but newly discovered Melaka fort from the Quayside.

The Maritime Museum is located at one of the end of Quayside, while the giant wheel sit on the other.

Old, useless, but not willing to be recycled. Many of these antiques are kept in Melaka, scattered around the little patches of gardens across Bandar Hilir heritage site.

Melaka is really a place that worth a visit. It can be considered as the starting place of the Sultanate of West Malaysia. A three days two nights tour is simply not enough for anyone to go through every corner in Melaka. However, for us, it is definately a place where we will come back again.

What to expect in Melaka:

• Historical sites and tourism spots are close to each other. The whole Bandar Hilir heritage site can be accessed by foot.
• A blend of races. Intead of typical Malay, Chinese, and Indian, Baba and Nyonya, Chitty, Indonesian, Portuguese, Dutch, British are available too. Their influences in social-cultural, literature and architecture can be traced in Melaka.
• Food from different races. Queue in unevitable for favourite eateries and food outlets.
• Massive crowd of tourists.
• Need to pay for public car park, even on Sunday. Payment coupons are available at convenient shops, groceries and some hotels.
• The street is safe, day and night.
• Banks are extremely rare in Bandar Hilir heritage site. However, ATM machines are available in major shopping complexes.
• The hotels nearby Bandar Hilir are not cheap, cheap hotels are mostly far away.
• Nice and helpful people.

 For more information about Melaka, you can visit:

• Tripadvisor on Melaka
• http://www.tourism-melaka.com/review/
• Melaka.net- contains simple map of Bandar Hilir
• Melaka Malaysia Travel
• http://wikitravel.org/en/Malacca
• http://www.malacca.ws/

Click here for Accomodation and Food in Melaka or Click here for all our destinations now.



Take a look on all our sharing about Melaka:

[Malacca Trip Day 1] [Malacca Trip Day 2] [Accomodation and Food in Melaka]
[Top 10 Must-Do in Melaka] [All our Destinations]