Today we went to Melaka, a small port town about 2 hrs from Kuala Lumpur. There is a lot of history here, dating back to the early 20th century. This town had desirable access to a port and lots of trade. This meant that the town has been controlled by the Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese, British and Japanese. A lot of this influence has shaped the town today. And you might notice this in the shape of buildings and even the cobbles on the ground.
This was the first time I’d been there and I was glad to be out of suburbia and doing what would be classically known as “tourist” stuff. And believe me, there were a lot of tourists taking photos with the “I love Melaka” sign in the Dutch Square so this day trip is definitely not off the beaten path. But you can make it special and finish unique places to enjoy your day.
So if you’re planning to head out this way for a day trip if you’re in Malaysia, here are some of the things we did!
1. Climb up to the roofless church and take in the surroundings of Fort Formosa
There are a few steps up to the lookout, which are a little bit steep. Be cautious and take it slow. Also take a hat and a bottle of water because it can get hot!
From here you’ll be able to take in the surroundings in the old church, and it’s ageless red brick walls. You’ll notice that there is a lot of light and that is because there’s no roof. There are also large stone slabs with writing on it which are memorials. Walking outside of the church, you’ll get a great view of the port.
2. Take in the history of Melaka by visiting a museum
On our way down from the lookout, we were so hot from the heat that we needed a break and change to cool down. This meant we would go into the local museum to absorb the history of the town (and also their air conditioning haha).
Entrance fees were 5RM per person. Cheaper if you are a local. We spent about an hour roaming the place, which was nicely split up into different sections representing the different countries that occupied the town.
3. Walk along the Melaka river
If you want something easy to occupy your day, walking along the river or even taking a river boat is a good way to see the town.
Along our walk we came to a galleon, representing a Portuguese trade ship from back in the day.
It had great views of the town from the top, but otherwise not worth visiting if you’ve already been to the museum (the ships on display and information was mostly the same). Note you also need to take your shoes off if you want to go in. Entrance fee is 5RM as well.
4. Grab a cold snack from a street vendor
It was about 2pm now and we were hungry and hot! Not the best combination. So we decided to grab some cendol (shaved ice with syrup and toppings) and coconut water.
Remember to mix your cendol to get the syrup from the bottom of the bowl! We didn’t realise this until we after we took a few sips and it tasted too salty to be nice haha. Also would not recommend coconut water unless you know it is chilled! It is so hard to drink unsweetened AND warm coconut water. Learn from our mistakes haha
Also remember to pay the vendor and not walk away 😅 something my aunt forgot to do until we got called back to pay.
5. Eat chicken rice balls for lunch at Jonker St
Another must see place while in Melaka is actually a street. Jonker St is packed full of places to eat, stores trying to sell you cheap trinkets and a myriad of colourful houses and uniquely decorated streets. We literally saw a “hole in the wall” that was part of each set of houses so you could actually look through to the other side for a few houses!
Anyway back to the food, we went to a restaurant roughly translated to “Old Street Chicken Rice Balls”. My aunt told us that the place used to be a home and it was converted into a restaurant. There was a lot of room and interior decorations that made it feel comfortable.
Here we ordered these “balls” I thought were fish balls but they’re actually chicken rice balls!! I was so amazed, all you need to do is squish it and it becomes rice. And the pork belly, chicken and vege dishes we ordered we probably the best I’ve had in Malaysia so far. I highly recommend trying more local food if you can.
6. On the way back, visit Kujang for some sate
We started travelling to or next destination at around 4pm. And we made the mistake of travelling through a school zone. Think of how crazy and chaotic Malaysian streets are, combine that with parents picking up these children and you get double parked cars and a one way street that takes you an hour to get through!
It ended up taking almost 4 hours to get to Kajang when it was only meant to take 2 hours 🙁 if you have wifi make sure to set the destination in google maps beforehand when travelling to save yourself a world of pain haha
Anyway, upon arriving at Kajang, we quickly found a sate place in an outdoor place with open space and many tables like a cafeteria. The food was also so cheap! About 0.90RM for a skewer and 5-6RM for Nasi lemak.
We ended up ordering 40 skewers of beef and chicken – which came with rice in square shapes and cucumbers and peanut sauce. All you needed to do then was stick it all together and gobble it up in one go. My goodness it was great!
7. Start the journey back home
And then we began our 2 hour trip back home to Klang.
Almost got lost again AND this time we had the added pressure of only having 1/4 of a tank left for 30mins of driving hahaha
But no worries we made it home safe and sound.
Let me know if you’ve been to Melaka or if you have any more tips!