Melaka, Malaysia

We took an early morning bus from Singapore to Malacca (Melaka), Malaysia on March 28. It was about a 4.5 hour bus ride with stops at the Singapore and Malaysia borders in a pretty comfortable luxury bus.

It cost the two of us 50SGD

Upon arriving at the bus station, we took a taxi to River Song Residence - our accommodations for one night. Although the room smelled like mothballs when we opened the door, the room and location of the place was very convenient - right along the Melaka River. After dropping our stuff off, we headed towards the must-see places (after a quick lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe).

Pretty flowers walking along Melaka River

You can see the Church of St. Francis Xavier in the background

River Song Residences was right along the Melaka River

Our first Hard Rock Cafe on the road

Malacca is a lovely town and the locals are all very friendly and helpful. There's a mall on every corner - which was nice to duck into for some air conditioning when our clothes were soaked from sweat. Yeah, it is that hot and humid here.

Markets and Christ Church Melaka

Colonial building window

Christ Church Melaka with fountain

Church of St. Francis Xavier

Streets of Melaka

Statue of St. Francis Xavier; Paul punched him so hard, his hand fell off

St. Paul's Church

Window of St. Paul's Church

From the inside of St. Paul's Church

We then wandered into the Flor d' Mar Museum - which is inside this pirate ship.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're in Melaka and what appears to be a pirate ship

Look at Paul's face as he winds up to punch Alfonso De Albuquerque

A'Famosa Fort (aka Porta De Santiago)

Come, join me in this fort that took us hours to find

I like the contrast of the white walls and Paul's (sweaty) purple shirt

Canon in front of A'Famosa Fort

The back of A'Famosa Fort

This is the only remaining part of the ancient fortress of Malacca built by Alfonso D'Albuquerque

St. Francis Xavier Church by Melaka River

River cruise

We also walked around Little India in Melaka

That evening, we did the Jonker Walk, which is basically walking down Jonker Street. It's too bad we weren't here on a Friday night because it's a lot more lively than what we saw. There are night markets that are open until Midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

The beginning of Jonker Walk

Walking down Jonker these lanterns caught my eye

Cool art on doors

They don't want you to forget that you're doing the Jonker Walk