gula melaka

My 1st overseas trip of 2008: The historical township of Melaka. The great journey began early in the morning as I woke up at 6am and made my way to Golden Mile Complex for the coach to my destination. My ex-colleagues (now good friends and all 15 of them inclusive of spouse and baby) gathered and awaited with thin patience as the bus delayed our set-out timing. Finally, the 2 by 2 seater came to ferry us to the Malaysian customs. We boarded our SVIP 26 seater to Melaka enroute a 3.5hr journey where I slided into immediate slumberland....but only for 2 hours. I woke up to the sound of joy from baby Gerald (vivian and amoz's baby boy). Who would have thought his stamina could be so good to shout almost non-stop throughout the entire trip!

We checked into our fabulous Holiday Inn at level 12. My room offered an expansive seaview whilst some rooms ( we had 7 rooms in total) enjoyed the sleepy Melaka township view. Our 1st objective of arrival was to Makan!! We went to nearby Newton Food Centre where there were a huge variety of tasty nimbles and main courses available. Thereafter, we took the free hotel shuttle bus to the old Melaka town. The Stubhuys was our 1st tourisy stop, basically the famous red buildings of Melaka that used to house the Dutch a few hundred years ago. We proceeded to walk along Jonker Street but the sudden downpour dimmed our hopes to explore any further. We ended up chit-chatting in a local cafe with great ambiance.

The rain finally reduced to a mere drizzle as we made our way out into the street, scouring for some local delicacies. We entered a Noya restaurant with traditional Peranakan Interiors, and began slurping down hot and spicy Noya delights such as Noya Assam Laksa and Curry Noodles. And a very befitting dinner it was with the cool weather. The main attraction was the Durian Chendol for dessert. So cool and nice, but the durain taste was very mild. Instead, the Gula Melaka's taste was more intense! A great way to wash down the heaty dinner!

After dinner plans qucikly became a woman's desire destination. We went the shopping district of Melaka and the girls just went wild with their purchases, again. Haiz.. I really wonder what is there to buy. For the sake of things, I bought a burner at one of the smaller shops.

Shop Shop Shop, and then, Drink Drink Drink!.. ok, we didnt really drink a lot. We gather at the hotel's lounge for a drinking session, and celebrated Ada's last day with CKS. She was the 17th person to tender, but as of tat nite, 21 ppl have already tendered since last week of August 2007! Anyhow, I did get a little high from drinking 2 portions of redwine that night..

The next morning saw me having 4 helpings for breakfast... it's almost like lunch! :P We explored the hotel's pool and did some relaxing chit-chat sessions before we headed out to Bukit St Paul.

Bukit St Paul basically was named after St Pauls Church that was situated atop. Built by the Portugese in 1521, it was taken over by the Dutch and re-named St Pauls Church.The ruins of the church immediately reminded me of one of several structures I saw in Hobart when i visited the ghost town several years ago. It was a simple building with no roof but very solid walls.

The final 2 hours were spent at Makodta Shopping Centre where i basically walked rather aimlessly. Lunch was Chicken Rice balls, though not from the most famous store. It tasted so-so. And then we gather at the lobby of Holiday Inn were we enroute to Singapore.

The whole trip was nothing but pure fun, and with so many activities, it certainly stretched my weekend much longer. I cant wait for the next one soon!