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Friday, 7 March 2025

MELAKA Walkabout│ St Paul's Hill • Melaka River • Fireworks!

Time to exercise!

We left the homestay at seven in the evening and made our way along Lorong Haji Bachee till we reached the main road.

We then walked across Bendahara onto Jalan Bunga Raya Pantai and continued on until we reached Jalan Munshi Abdullah and walked across. We then turned left then continued our walk onto Jalan Bendahara. We continued south until we reached Nathan Barber Shop where I had a haircut for RM15.00 (approximately USD/EUR3). 

We then continued our stroll along Jalan Bendahara and walked across Jalan Temenggong before continuing south along Jalan Laksamana. From this point onwards was a car-free zone and we thoroughly enjoyed our care-free stroll until we reached the Dutch Square, also known as the Red Square.

We spent some time taking a customary photo or two then continued along Jalan Kota until we reached a cluster of food trucks catered to the crowd that had just broken fast.

At the end of the row of food trucks was the A Famosa, also known as the Porta De Santiago ('The Famous'). The remains of this fort is one of the oldest surviving European architectural remains in the whole of Asia.

We walked into A Famosa and up a flight of stairs, and after a leisurely fifteen minutes’ walk we had arrived at the summit. Here we visited the ruins of the church dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle.

The Church of St Paul is known to be the oldest Catholic Church in Malaysia and is a revered landmark in Southeast Asia. Standing tall at the entrance of the church is a statue of St Francis Xavier in white; his lingering presence here is a testament of the church as his sacred burial ground.

This hill was previously known as Monti Ali Maria or Monty Hill during the Portuguese colonisation.

After a few minutes of exploring the ruins of this 500-year-old church and other artefacts we made our way down the hill. We ended up at Jalan Kota again and doubled back to Jalan Laksamana past the Dutch Square and the row of red shop houses.

We then walked down to the banks of the Melaka river and continued our stroll along this familiar path, past familiar landmarks before ending up at Seri Sahabat for a 'light' dinner of:

  • each a Naan bread
  • shared Tandoori Chicken
  • 2 Iced Lime Tea
  • 1 Watermelon Juice 

that came to RM28.60 (approximately USD/EUR6). Cat walked across the street to get five sticks of our favourite Youtiao or Chinese Crullers for RM1.20 a stick (approximately USD/EUR0.30). After dinner we made our way back along Jalan Bunga Raya Pantai before walking across Jalan Bendahara again onto Lorong Haji Bachee.

Here we were treated to a five-minute fireworks display!

We then continued our stroll along Lorong Haji Bachee before walking into the Apple Residence and up to our unit.

Be sure to catch the next video of breakfast at a perennial favourite coffee shop!

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Kedai Gunting Rambut Nathan - https://maps.app.goo.gl/xwKxGbzbcz7bbUej6

MELAKA Getaway │ City One to The Apple!

Melaka!

It has been a month since we came back from Indonesia. In that time we were engrossed with the almost daily uploads of our videos from Jakarta and Bandung, with the 21st and final video uploaded last weekend. 

Feeling a little burnt out at work we made a spur of the moment decision to book a two nights' stay at The Apple Residence again, as we did in September last year. Brendan declined our invitation as he had a gig this weekend as well.

If it is one thing we know for certain it is that Melaka always seems to soothe our souls, and our default getaway destination.

The day began with a short drive to the office, where I parked then headed up to the surface level to get sustenance from the one and only stall open during Ramadhan. I got a packet of Nasi Lemak with Dried Squid in Sambal for RM6.50 (approximately USD/EUR1.50) before heading up to the office to begin the day's work. 

I had applied for half a day's leave from work today and arranged for Cat to meet me here during lunch where BiBi was parked. With our luggage already in her boot we began our drive to Melaka.

The drive was uneventful, and we drove past the Air Keroh Toll Plaza at approximately 2:00pm before continuing on to Gathered Cafe & Lounge in Batu Berendam. Alas when we got there we got the distinct impression that it was closed, perhaps for good? 

We then took a short drive for our intended destination of the afternoon, the Wat Phra Jinaraja Siamese temple. 

So here's an interesting story for you: While in Bandung Cat inadvertently dropped her lucky charm and amulet (kept in a sachet) in Pak Yudhi's Bluebird taxi on our way to the Bandung train station. Blissfully unaware she only realised the sachet was missing when we arrived back home. In that time Bluebird's reached out to us with the news that Pak Yudhi found the sachet in his taxi, and arrangements were made to post it back to us. 

Cat has had her lucky charm and amulet since her late teens, in other words it has been with her for more than three decades!

All things said and done we thought it was best to have Cat's lucky charm and amulet blessed again, hence our trip to this temple today. We asked and received blessings from the local monk, then continued our drive to The Apple Residence. We had featured this excellent homestay during our previous stay so do catch it here https://youtu.be/aEFly1qsTo0.

We paid RM249.43 a night (approximately USD53/EUR49) during our previous stay, but this time only paid RM189.58 a night (approximately USD42/EUR40). We can only surmise that the drop in price was due to it being low season in the month of Ramadhan.

We thought it was fair value given its strategic and nostalgic location, within walking distance to our favourite attractions.

We settled in and ordered in our late lunch with the Grab food app. Be sure to catch our next video as we went on a stroll up a sacred hill then along the Melaka river, topped off with a fireworks display!

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit