SERI MALAYSIA HOTEL, MALACCA

I have stayed in other Seri Malaysia hotels in other parts of Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Mersing and Port Dickson, but I think the Malacca branch was the best one. The room was clean and the place was well maintained. Most probably, there are many foreign tourists in Malacca so they have to do something to keep up to the standard. It is located by the main road to Malacca from the Air Keroh exit, the place is easy to find. It also offers discount for government servants (most probably only on weekdays). And I found the food that was served for breakfast was also not bad if compared to its other branches because there was a wide variety to choose from.

I hope that someone from the management of this hotel will read my blog and offer me a 2D3N voucher to stay day there again after promoting the place in my blog. Dream on...

SEEING MALACCA TOWN FROM MENARA TAMING SARI

The view of Melaka town from up in the air.

A (REAL) QUICK TOUR OF MALACCA MUSEUM

The other place that we managed to visit was the Malacca Museum. It should be the replica of a palace from the Malacca Sultanate back in the 15th century. The entry fee was cheap, only RM2 and we were given a plastic bag to put our shoes and carry them inside. There must be past cases of people's shoes being stolen when they were left outside. The museum housed exhibits which told the story of Malacca during its glorious days when Malacca Port was the meeting point for merchants from the east and west.

It was a real quick tour as the parking tickets for my car was expiring and we had to catch the ride on the Taming Sari and Sharudin had a class to catch at 2:00 p.m.

I definitely need more time to observe all the things put on display there. You need to spend a lot of time to make your visit to a museum more meaningful. But I have doubt my students would be interested to come to a place like this.

A-FAMOSA AND STADHUYS

Do you know that A-Famosa is one of the oldest remains of the European architecture in Asia? Built by Alfonso the Albuquerque after Portuguese conquered Malacca, the fort actually surrounded the hill but what is seen today is the entrance gate that survives the test of time.

Info abouth Stadhuys will be updated later.

ST. PAUL'S HILL, MALACCA AND THE STORY BEHIND

St. Paul's Hill is located in the city centre, opposite Mahkota Parade and behind Pahlawan Mall. It is easier to give directions to people by using shopping complexes as the landmarks.

You have to walk up the hill to reach the place where the St. Paul's Church is located. There should be more than one entrance. It is not that steep because I could see much older people climbing up the stairs, slowly of course.

The historic building was built by the Portugese in 1521 after Melaka was conquered in 1511. Then it was used by the Dutch in 1641 before it was turned into a burial ground and graveyard. Spooky! I would never want to go up here at night.

There were tombstones leaning against the wall with words engraved in a language I could not understand (which should be Dutch).

There is a statue in front of the church and it was only built in 1952. That lucky (or unlucky) man was St. Francis Xavier, the pioneer missionary to Malacca. If you observe the statue closely, you can see that the right arm is missing and it was not intentionally done, neither he was alive with a missing hand. Actually before they were trying to consecrate the statue, a tree fell and broke off the arms and it remains like that until now.


So that is all for our history lesson on Malacca for today. Hope it has been informative enough.

reference: http://www.malaysiavacationguide.com/

BEING AN ACCIDENTAL TOURIST IN MALACCA

having our morning tea

I was in Malacca recently but not as a tourist but to see an alternative medical practitioner. As I had a lot of time to spend, so Mr. Solleh (an ex-student who is now studying in Canada and on holiday) and I contacted Mr. Sharudin (from SPM batch 2006 and of the same batch of Mr. Soleh)  who is currently studying in UiTM Melaka to get around the historical city.

So we went to a few historical sites as quickly as possible because Mr. Sharudin would a have a class at 2:30 p.m. By the way, Malacca has been declared as a UNESCO world heritage site because of the old builidngs and relics left by the Portuguese and Dutch when Malacca was colonized in the 16th and 17th century.

We walked up the St. Paul's Hill where there is a church on top of the Hill, then walked down to A-Famosa fort, stopped at the museum which is a replica of a Malay palace and lastly went to see the Stadhyus (I will check the spelling for this later).

We lastly took a ride up (and down) the Taming Sari tower, a rotating cabin that enabled us to get a bird-eye view of Malacca and the whole tour took seven minutes only and cost RM10 for MyKad holders

an accidental fire truck

So the short tour ended with a lunch at McD because Mr. Sharudin refused to skip class while Mr. Solleh and I continued spending our time at Pahlawan Mall before checking in at Sri Malaysia Hotel.

at the lobby of Sri Malaysia Hotel

So thank you to both my ex-students for the company. There are definitely more things to do and see in Malacca but time just did not permit. I will be posting more pictures and stories (and video too) of the historical sites of Malacca later.