Have Perut Will Travel...: MELAKA Getaway │ City One to The Apple!

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Friday, 7 March 2025

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!