“Melaka” or “Malacca” is the same, but for me, I will address this as Melaka following how it is known in Malaysia.
Melaka is known as one of the World Heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization otherwise known as UNESCO. This city comprises approximately 214.6 ha in two protected areas within the city’s conservation zone demarcated by Melaka River and the second area is the Historic Residence and Commercial Zone comprising 600 shop houses, commercial and residential buildings.
This city is really a wonderful place to experience different historical attractions, food, museums, activities, animal encounters and a lot more. For me, I will highlight my trip in this city starting with the famous Melaka River Cruise.
I visited this after Chinese New Year together with my wife and father-in-law and this was one of the most memorable experiences I had on this trip. I was able to visit and had a grasp about the different historical Dutch style buildings, old shop houses, Malay villages, places of worship, museums, riverside cafes, and paintings of the olden days.
The cruise is about 45 minutes with approximately 9 kilometres. It is highly recommended to take the river cruise around 7-9 PM due to light combinations that will make the river cruise fantastic and romantic as a late Valentine’s date for me and my wife. One of the highlights that caught my attention during this expedition was the lighting decoration of the different bridges that have been installed along the river. The dancing lights were very magical and fascinating; so relaxing with a combination of cool breeze along the riverside.
The famous Menara Taming Sari is also another highlight that makes the journey more meaningful after the river cruise. The adventure gives you a panoramic view of Melaka during day time. The tower is wonderful and gives a 360-degree revolving ride up to a height of 110 meters. The tower is open everyday from 10 AM to 10 PM. But for me, I prefer to take this adventure during the day.
There are also different museums that showcase different historical details about Melaka during the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. These museums include:
Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum
Melaka Stamp Museum
The Melaka Islamic Museum
Architectural Museum of Melaka
Maritime Museum
The Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum
Among these museums, I was able to learn that Melaka started with only 20 shop lots for barter system during the olden days. This place became famous for voyagers to barter different products from China, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, India, and other parts of the world. Melaka was recorded to have used 84 different languages throughout its history as a business hub for spices.
As a tourist, one must not forget to experience the Melaka Dutch Heritage Trail. This trail highlights the three great European powers that occupied Melaka for almost 500 years from 1511 to 1957. This is my first time experiencing an old architectural design of a church called the St. Paul’s Church.
I was able to touch and feel different archaic structures and old writings embedded in stone during the olden times.
On the other hand, Melaka is also famous because of the food it offers to the public. The historical place is situated within different shop houses and makan houses that serve different delicacies from different cultures such as Indian cuisine, Taiwanese dishes, Malay food, Chinese delicacies, Western food, and others.
But one of the shops that intrigued me was the Melaka Nyonya food. I was able to try ayam pongteh, belacan egg omelette, itik tim soup, Nyonya chap chai, durian cendol and complimentary tapioca chips. These dishes were great and fantastic. I know there are also a lot of good eating places in Melaka as I believe that Malaysia is really a food paradise with different dishes, blended cooking styles from the Malays, Indian, Chinese, Thai and others.
For hotels and other accommodation, lots of them can be found in the area. Most of the directories were listed in the Malaysia tourism map.
Melaka is a safe place. This is a place where I can say is one of the safest cities in Malaysia.
Other highlights you can experience in this town includes:
The old Malacca West Bank Heritage Trail
Melaka Zoo
See the Queen and get honeyed at the Bee Museum
Balik kampung at Mini Malaysia and ASEAN Cultural Park
Crocodile Park
Melaka Bird Park
Other Photo Highlights:
Note: This article was published by the writer in another side on February 24, 2016