Time for our annual trip to Malacca to get away from the madness of daily life in Singapore. This would be our 5th trip to Malacca either on a day trip or a 2D1N trip. This time round we opted for a stay over to have a more restful getaway.
We started our trip from 8.00 am and reached the Tuas checkpoint around 8.30 am and there was a massive jam way before we could see the checkpoint. We managed to clear the Singapore customs close to 10 am and alas… we were met with another at the Malaysian customs. As we inched towards the customs counters we realized the source for the jam. Passengers were asked to alight to register their fingerprints. This probably added another 5 – 10 mins per car than the usual. Strange enough, we noticed that only certain lanes had to do this and some other lanes just proceeded with the usual passport checks. Not sure if this is a trial but should they decide to implement this for all counters, do be prepared for longer waiting times at the Malaysian customs.
After clearing customs, we were 1.5 hours behind time so we drove faster than usual and reached Malacca close to 2 pm. We headed straight to our first stop for lunch. Ever since we discovered this restaurant, we have been visiting them for lunch. They are a Nonya restaurant with no pork no lard. Nonya Suan is located at the row of shop houses next to Mahkota Parade Shopping Mall opposite the San Shu Gong Shop.
You can choose to park at the lots in front of Mahkota Parade where your “fight and snatch for lot skills will be put to the test” or behind the mall. We chose to park behind as it is less crowded. The name if the carpark is Jalan Plaza Mahkota. The Google link of the actual location here .
The restaurant is very cosy and personal as with most of the restaurants in Malacca. Prior to this, we tried many other popular restaurants like Nancy Kitchen and Restoran Nyonya Makko but this is the one we like better. You can read the full review of the restaurant under the food review post Restoran Nonya Suan – Malacca
After lunch, we headed back to Casa De Rio to park our vehicle as our usual parking place at Hard Rock Cafe was full. As our hotel location was very near H&M, this was the nearest and safest parking venue.
We headed out to our next itinerary – Huskitory via Grab which costs us RM 8 from Casa De Rio. This is like a pet store where you can get to pet multiple Huskies, big and small and even feed them with the munchies they sell. You will have to make bookings with them for an available time slot through their Facebook page or via telephone. You can find more details here
We made a wrong booking and there was no longer any available slots for us. So we could only hang around outside the store peeping in for a glimpse of the cute doggies. Fortunately for us, while we were waiting for our Grab in the shade of the side door, we caught the workers bringing out 2 puppies for clearing of their bowels before bringing them into the store for the customers of the next time slot. Not satisfied with just this, we googled on the spot for another cafe that has doggies for us to interact with and we found Woof Station! We took a grab from Huskitory at MYR 7.
Different from Huskitory, this is a cafe where the doggies roam around freely and the 2 owners who are very hands-on and friendly actually impart tips and tricks on how to manage his dogs as well as the different characteristics of each dog. There are 5 dogs here , 3 husky , 1 Old English Sheepdog and 1 which I guess is a mix breed. Their names are Pepper, Chewie, Bella, Mr Bean and Rocket. Entrance fee is priced at MYR 20 per pax inclusive of 1 drink.
You can also purchase treats at MYR 2 per packet. Be prepared… once you have the treat on hand.. the furkids will all swarm towards you. Do not panic or throw your treats as these furkids are very well trained and behaved. Tell them calmly to sit down and shake hands before offering them the treats in your palm. All of them will follow this protocol with the exception of the occasional barking when they fight for attention.
My favorite has got to be this handsome boy: Chewie. He is so well-behaved and at the same time shows you such innocent eyes.. I’m already missing Chewie….
(yes.. that’s my fat legs next to Chewie)
We spent a total of 1.5 hours at Woof Station before heading to our dinner location which is just 5 mins walk from the cafe.
We made a reservation for this after reading positive reviews online. The food was very general and not very impressive. Read the full review Aunty Fatso Cheese Prawn Beehoon – Malacca
Since we finished dinner pretty early, we decided to hop over to Masjid Selat Melaka to catch the floating mosque with the beautiful sunset. We took a grab from Aunty Fatso to the mosque costing us MYR 11.
The mosque was packed with tourist from different parts of the world when we arrived. The building was glistening in an orange hue from the sunset. We hung around the area for 30 mins to catch the different colors the sunset was casting on the building. We walked further to the side of the mosque towards the breakwaters and there were many photographers waiting to see this picturesque view.
Loaded with endless pictures of this awesome sight, we headed back to our hotel with Grab at MYR 11. We booked our stay at Styles hotel at an unbeatable location.
The hotel location is at the start of Jonker street, just opposite H&M. This is fabulous as the night market is literally at your doorstep. However, as the hotel is before the start of the night market, there is no over pouring crowd at the hotel entrance. We booked our hotel at MYR 434 for 2 twin rooms with breakfast inclusive via booking.com
Full review and pictures of the hotel can be found here Styles Hotel – Malacca
A visit to Malacca is not complete without a visit to the night market. Be prepared to be hustling through huge crowds on the narrow road. This is the same Jonker street where they close the roads from vehicles and make-shift stores occupy the side of the road selling items from food to clothes to mobile accessories and unimaginable things like pet rabbits! Yes, your eyes are not playing tricks.. pet rabbits.. this is the first time i saw pet rabbits being sold.. Over the years, the wares sold changed from local snacks / homemade malacca kuehs and kayas to more commonly and commercialized bbq skewers, mango ice shakes, etc that you might find in Thai night markets or even Taiwan night markets. I pretty much prefer the ones in the past where the strong identity of Malacca tradition could be seen from the wares being sold. I missed buying the gula malacca kaya spread my mum wanted as there was hardly anyone selling it anymore from the night market. Such a pity…
Nonya Suan
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 