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Published: April 13th 2013
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Having searched bus routes from KL to Melaka online, I decided to take the taxi to the airport with Sophie, then take a bus from the airport, since buses apparently depart from there. Or not. I got to KLIA to find that I needed to take another bus to KCCT, then take the Melaka bus from there. I waited with Sophie for a while, then took the bus. Arriving at KCCT, I wandered around trying to find the ticket booth, only to discover that it was in an area marked 'no entry'. Go figure. I finally bought my ticket, and then settled down at Coffee Bean coffee shop for the two hour wait.
The bus took around two and a half hours, then I took a taxi to Rooftop Guesthouse. The manager, Mani, gave me a thorough introduction to Melaka, marking points of interest on a map and providing me with a delicious lychee drink. Afterwards, I went to my room, meeting two Swedish girls and an Italian guy. I chatted for a while with the Italian guy, discussing our travel routes etc, before heading out to explore.
I wandered to Discovery Cafe, where I booked my Singapore bus
(apparently, the bus is less hassle than the train) for a total of 28RM. I leave on Monday at 11am, and the journey should take just three hours.
I decided to give Malaysian food another chance, and I'm glad I did! I started with some little coconut-covered glutinous ball things from a street stall. I had no idea what they were at the time, but they were delicious! I've since read up and discovered that they are known as 'Onde-Onde Pandan', made from rice pandan dough and palm sugar, coated in grated coconut. They are also known as 'Bua Melaka' by the Baba-Nyonya (aka Peranankans) - late 15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants to what are now Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
I also treated myself to some barbecued pork and chicken rice balls, both of which were delicious and cost the equivalent of no more than £2.50. To wash it down, I bought some pearl milk tea (bubble tea), and demolished the lot back at the guesthouse.
I sat on the rooftop (and kicked up the moss....) for a while, then the heavens opened up so I chilled with my roommates in the dorm. In silence. Why?
Because who wants to talk to strangers when they can be on the Internet talking to their friends? We all tapped away at our smart phones and tablets and it occurred to me that mobile technology and the Internet, although invaluable in some ways, have ruined the social aspect of backpacking.
Later, as I was heading out to collect my bus ticket (I was previously given a receipt and told to return at 9pm), I got chatting to a fellow Brit named Edd in reception. We ended up so engrossed in conversation that I decided to collect my ticket the next day. I went to bed at 1:30am with a banging headache - no alcohol involved!
Surfacing around 10:30am on Sunday to a now empty room, I sluggishly showered, dressed and dragged myself downstairs. I caught up with Edd and we went out for a wander.
After grabbing some lunch, we took a ride in the rotating sky tower, meeting a rather prejudice Indian-decent Malaysian woman in the queue, who spared no time in telling us how inferior the native Malaysians were to the Indians and Chinese.
The sky tower platform reaches heights of 80 metres,
looking out over Melaka. It was nice, but nothing spectacular. Then we got ourselves ready and set out for dinner and drinks, although neither of us were hungry, so we ended up skipping dinner altogether. We drank at Discovery Cafe, watched the footie, then called it a night.
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