Part 3: Malaysia Road Trip 2024 (Melaka Edition)
The Malaysian state government ceased the use of the common Anglicised spelling of the state name, Malacca, making Melaka the official spelling now. There were a few highlights of our Melaka trip: our health check-up, last-minute change of accommodation, and the girls’ food poisoning on the day we left Melaka for JB (we’re guessing it’s either the ice yoghurt at Jonker Night Market or the snow ice from Yong Peng.
Background: Our family of four (including a 4 and a 7-year-old) went on a 10-day road trip in West Malaysia from 25 May to 4 June 2024. Departing from Singapore, we went to Johor Bahru (“JB”), Muar, and Melaka, before returning to JB (near Paradigm Mall). Strictly speaking, it’s a 5-day road trip because we were in JB half the time.
Jump to the relevant section:
- Accommodation in Melaka (Airbnb)
- Things to Do in Melaka
- Food to Eat in Melaka
- Medical Check-Up (Mahkota Medical Centre)
Read related posts:
- Accommodation in West Malaysia
- Transportation
- Train from Singapore to Malaysia
- Rental Car around Malaysia
- Johor Bahru
- Southkey (Food and Shopping)
- Eco Spring Labs (Diggersite and Food)
- Mount Austin (Dentist, Optometrist and Coffee)
- Paradigm Mall (Shopping and Food; Sports and Fun Activities; Personal Care)
- Muar
- Accommodation in Muar (MUO Resort)
- Food and 大马贪吃街之【老街坊】 Old Market
- Photoshoot – Review of Red Studio (Muar)
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Accommodation in Melaka (Airbnb)
We stayed 3 nights in Melaka and initially booked an apartment at the Atlantis on Airbnb. The house has a good space and the development is not crowded with holidaymakers. However, their pool was closed but we were not informed of it. So we got a full refund and made a last-minute switch to the neighbouring Bali Residence.
Read our experience in detail in my other article: “Review of Airbnb in Malaysia (JB, Muar, Melaka)”
Things to Do in Melaka
Medical Check-Up
We had two full days in Melaka, with 1.5 days spent on sightseeing and the remaining half day spent on a general health check-up at Mahkota Medical Centre. If you are interested, you can read more about our experience in the last section of this article.
Near the medical centre, our girls also had an hour of fun at the bouncy castle outside the Hatten Hotel.
Jonker Area: Museum and Galleries
Since we had an afternoon to explore after our health check-up on Thursday, we headed to the famous Jonker area. But by the time we passed by Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, it was closed at 4:45 pm. We couldn’t make it early for it the next day too. If you have been to the museum, let me know in the comments whether it is worth a visit!
Good thing, we could still visit the nearby Tham Siew Inn Artist Gallery to appreciate some art. The gallery has a few nice art pieces, and a painting of the moonlight shone through and captivated me. It was a nice space, except for the slight push of sales towards the end.
Jonker Area: Shopping
Many interesting shops sparsely dotted the Jonker area, so we had to walk quite a bit to visit them. The shops that stood out were San Shu Gong, a longstanding food souvenir shop which brought back memories, a trendy-looking food souvenir shop, a Peranakan photo studio, a shop with beautiful paper cutting but taking photos was not allowed, and a jewellery shop where the girls each got a handmade ring.
Jonker Area: Trishaw
The loud, blaring music trishaws caught our attention. You can also spot them easily at night as they are lit with bright lights. The girls wanted to ride on it so much that we paid RM 25 (S$7.60) for a 15-minute ride, travelling from the Stadthuys (Red Square) to A Famosa fort and back, which is actually a 10-minute walk one-way.
The trishaw uncle waited for us at A Famosa to take a few photos before he cycled us back to the Red Square. He was cycling as if he was competing while other trishaws were travelling at a leisurely speed! So our ride was shorter than others, but at least my girls enjoyed the experience.
Aeon Shopping Mall
Before heading to the Jonker night market on Friday, we spent our day at AEON MALL Bandaraya Melaka. Hubs got coffee from G Coffee which was average to him, while we got Auntie Anne which has more varieties and is more affordable than in Singapore. After shopping at Muji and the supermarket, we had lunch at Vivo Pizza and ordered pizza and pasta. The food was better than we expected!
If you have more time with the children, bringing them to A’famosa Water Theme Park and Safari Wonderland is highly recommended. You can get the tickets on Klook too.
Food to Eat in Melaka
The morning I brought the girls for a swim, my hubby went to get us a hearty and delicious breakfast from Eat Toast. You can also find them in Muar, Batu Pahat, and Johor Jaya.
As for our first lunch in Melaka, we filled our tummies with Melaka’s famous chicken rice ball. We had it at the nearby Nanyang Chicken Rice ball, not bad but not to die for.
Later in the day, we had watermelon juice near the Red Square after our trishaw ride. We chose a big watermelon and the shop “drilled” two holes for the straws. Then the shop took out the drilled part for us to eat – you can see it in the photo below where EG held it to eat. Sweet and especially good under the sweltering sun!
After the watermelon juice, it’s time for dinner! But we couldn’t find the restaurant I bookmarked even though we were at the location indicated on Google Maps. Hence we concluded it had been closed permanently. We were so tired by then and so decided to eat at a Peranakan restaurant near us. It’s Peranakan Place Signature @ Heeren Street (do not mistake it with the one at Jonker Street). The decorations were beautiful and captivating, and more importantly, the food and service were good! Do try the Chendol, it’s good enough to make up for the recommended Chendol eateries that we missed out because they were too far for us to walk to.
Jonker Street Night Market
There were many entrances to Jonker Night Market and we got in from the side, walking from the Tham Siew Inn Gallery. Along the alley were various stalls selling food and drinks. Turned out most if not all the stores in that small alley belonged to one shop. Get a seat in the open or head into their air-conditioned seating area, and order from the menu.
But for one or two popular items along the stretch, you have to join the long queue and order it for yourself – but feel free to eat in the seating area. Well, I think the food from the menu is overpriced, especially when the food is not particularly fantastic, and I had better stingrays before. But the nasi lemak away from the alley, but not too far away is quite good.
Later, we went around the night market and continued eating a few snacks and desserts here and there and bought a few trinkets. It reminded me of Taiwan’s night market. Note that Jonker Street Night Market is open only every weekend on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 6PM to midnight.
Medical Check-Up (Mahkota Medical Centre)
In hindsight, we should have done our health check-up at Johor Bahru instead of Melaka. However, my relative sort of recommended the health check-up with Mahkota, we ended up at the Mahkota Medical Centre in Melaka.
Making an appointment via email was easy. We were told to arrive early if we wanted to get the results on the same day. We didn’t arrive early enough but still got the results on the same day, even before we left the hospital! I think it’s because there weren’t many people. Btw, most of the patients were foreigners – Singaporeans, Indonesians and even Koreans!
We had to choose the plan we wanted and pay before the start of the tests. We paid RM1,971 (S$567.83) for two comprehensive tests, including a top-up for an additional test for my husband. The clinic staff speaks English and the tests in the clinic were relatively fast since there were not many people. The waiting area is comfortable and spacious, with lockers provided for our belongings.
However, we were asked to head to another level for the ultrasound scan and queued along with many other people. We waited long for our turn and that area felt more like a public hospital.
There was a small anomaly in my husband’s results and they suggested we consult the specialist in their hospital. We were worried and so went to the cardiologist they recommended. The doctor studied the scan results and said it was a minor issue, just take note of diet and exercise. My hubs queued for 15 minutes and the consultation was done in 5 minutes. He paid RM150 (S$43.21). Hmm, it made us wonder if there’s some referral commission behind the scenes.
That’s all, for Melaka! Let me know if you have any place to recommend for health checkups in Johor Bahru. Or is there any must-do or must eat stuff in Melaka that I missed? Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
Before you go, you might want to check out my other posts on Malaysia (accommodation in Malaysia, Johor Bahru and Muar).
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