Malacca Day 4: Home Sweet Home

This is a trip that doesn't go according to plan. On the last day, we were supposed to do a family run along the river before bfast. After bfast, we would then go to the mamee musuem at JS. I have booked a mamee making 90 mins session at 11am for the kids. The plan was to check out, drive and park at JS. The kids would do their mamee making while I do my tau sar piah shopping. Then, we would head home.

Daddy Lim wasn't keen to park at JS and tried to convince the kids to skip the session. Zzzzz.. my piah dream went burst. Nobody could wake up on time and so there was also no river run. What the....

I ended up working on the treadmill instead. I swear that the treadmill was faster than the one in Centris and I was panting like mad after 3km but did manage to press on for the 4km mark, half jogging and half walking.

We had a leisure bfast and then checked out.

Wefie before checking out.

The ride out of Malacca wasn't too bad. We didn't meet with that many irritating traffic lights. The Malacca traffic lights made us wait for over 2 mins and then turned green for like 30 secs. Somebody's maths calculation must be really bad.

The car ride home was pleasant too. The kids were either watching their movie or playing nicely. Super nice.

We made 2 pit stops - once for lunch and then for petrol. I got my tau sar piah eventually though not the freshest and most authentic.

The ride back was smooth. We were praying for no jam at the custom. Though we were stuck in the Malaysia custom for about an hour, it was a breeze at the Singapore custom. Woohoo!

We were home on time for Zaky's makeup Chinese class. Hehehe, much to the boy's disappointment.

However, we had some time to spare and decided to fix up the kids' bicycles, so that they could do some practice. If possible, we hope that they could do their own bike in our future bicycle tours and spare their old mother's life. Lol.

They obviously needed a lot of practice; Lil Shauna was wobbily. Zaky was worse - he fell into the pool then bashed into a wall. I think he almost knocked into a kid as well. Faint.

The 3 days holiday felt a lot longer maybe bcos it was a hard work holiday. Lol. Work and school starts tomorrow... noooooo! I must smell for the next long weekend.

Mummy Lim

Malacca Day 3: R&R

The original plan was to head to the Malacca Wonderland, which is a water theme park. To make sure that we escaped being burnt alive, we were supposed to head to the park early, which only meant another early morning. This holiday is hard work. Lol.

However, after 2 short nights, nobody wanted another early morning market. The alarm was totally ignored; Daddy Lim couldn't even move to hit the snooze button. We all conveniently slept in and only woke up at 9am, followed by a leisure bfast.

I hated water theme parks. Give me land theme park complete with thrilling rides anytime but water theme park doesn't sit well with me. Given that it was late, I immediately jumped at the chance to convince the kids that we should skip the theme park and go for the shopping mall and arcade that we missed the day before. They bought the idea totally. Muahahaha. I am clever.

Though we drove to Malacca, Daddy Lim wasn't keen to drive in Malacca. We got a cab instead and for a flat fee of RM20, which equates to a 15 mins' ride, to Makota Parade, one of the biggest shopping malls in Malacca.

We did locate the arcade but the game machines were mainly Street Fighter kind and Lil Shauna was bored. Each game cost either RM1 or RM2. They had karaoke box, which saved the day. Lil Shauna and I went singing instead at RM1 per song.

Daddy Lim ended up playing the game instead - a way too tall sniper.

The arcade didn't entertain us for long. The kids weren't interested in a movie either. They rather go back to the hotel to enjoy movies in the room; there was a good selection of movies on demand for free.

We only headed out in the late afternoon when the weather was less punishing. I had wanted to go to the Jonker Street. We must go to the JS, what is Malacca without JS? Our hotel was a mere 10 mins walk.

It was a scenic and nostalgic walk. First, we walked through corridors with old shop houses that we once see in Singapore many years back. Look at that metal gate.

Then, we had to bash through the pigeon crowd.

The kids had been warned to not chase the pigeons. I don't want frightened pigeons flying into my face. No bird poo please.

We also walked past iconic cafes that lined the 2 sides of the river. Look at this TV, my ah mah used to have that!

This iconic church - we had a picture taken with Lil Shauna when we last visited many years back. So many photos bombers. Haha.

Finally, the JS! So crowded.

We went by so many traditional pastry shops and I told myself to buy on the way back so that I didn't have to lug them around. There are interesting things for the kids too. This VR was at RM15 per pax.

However, Lil Shauna complained of huge motion sickness after the ride. Poor thing, but mummy had no intention of heading home bcos I was so excited at the stalls that were set up for the night market. There were loads of yummy food. Hohoho.

The kids didn't at all share my excitement and were happier taking pictures with these structures.

I didn't have too much time with the JS bcos of grumpy kids.

It was time for dinner and I was thinking of the famous Malacca chicken rice balls. However, the only one with enough stomach for dinner was Daddy Lim and he opted for Hardrock Cafe instead. It is so funny that we were in Malacca but didn't savour in the famous Malacca chicken rice ball and chendol.

The sun had gone down by the time we left Hardrock. The neon lights with loud music trishaws were everywhere.

I realised that I haven't bought my famous tau sar piah but it was too crowded to walk back. I have decided to buy my piahs the next day instead. We were heading back for the mamee museum.

We opted for a leisure walk back to the hotel instead. Zaky was complaining about how tired he was until he was distracted by mummy's dare to scale a wall and he really made it! He was the only one who managed it.

I duno if it was a good dare bcos the remaining walk back was so easy but he pretended to be a ninja in training and was bouncing off everywhere dangerously.

We spent the remaining time watching more movies in bed until we dozed off. What bliss.

Mummy Lim

Malacca Day 2: Bicycle Tour

We went to bed only at midnight and the alarm clock went off at 6.30am the next morning. I hit the snooze button a couple of times before I finally and very unwillingly lugged my butt off the bed. We needed to be up early bcos we were going for a bicycle tour and we would be picked up at 8.30am.

We had bfast and were right on time at the lobby.

The driver came to pick us in an old and non air-conditioned mini van. The kids were happy to enjoy the ride with the windows down and wind in their face.

Ok, maybe Zaky didn't enjoy it that much; he was throwing a tantrum bcos he couldn't tie his shoelaces the way that he wanted. Lol.

The driver picked up 2 other tourists before a 30-mins drive to the outskirt. There were 5 other people when we reached. This was the only bicycle tour that I managed to find on Google. I booked it immediately when they replied that they have trailer bikes. We were the only group with kids and I was thankful of the trailer bikes and need not worry about kids lagging behind.

The bike tour cost us RM100 per pax. The family owned so many dogs and cats and the kids went crazy of course. They were more excited about the animals than the tour.

We had to chase the kids onto the bike when it was time to go. The tour was a combination of tar roads and dirt tracks. The 1st stop was a rubber plantation where we took a rest and the guide explained about the rubber trees. Lil Shauna took back a rubber seed as sourvenir. The kids were still attentive at the 1st pit stop.

There were quite a few more put stops along the way and the kids got more and more restless with each increasing one. It was actually quite interesting, like this kapok. According to the guide, it is like the cotton but not the cotton. Lil Shauna took back some, intending to show to her science teacher.

The tour was also very educational. We learnt about how seeds dispersed for reproduction most frequently.

By the nth pitstop, the kids were totally bored and were more interested in distractions, like this playground, or playing with the fruits/ leaves/ animals/ monkeys.

The bicycle tour was hard work as the day progressed. I cannot tell if I was physically weak or maybe it was the sun; the rest of the cyclists looked like they were leisurely enjoying the tour while I was breathing so hard and trying to catch my breath most of the time. I started to suspect that the trailer bike was at fault or simply bcos Zaky was not cycling hard enough; he was sharing the trailer bike with me. I was thinking very frequently if I should switch Zaky for Lil Shauna; Daddy Lim looked like he had an easy time.

At times that Zaky was peddling hard enough, which was rare, I could feel a surge in speed. When we were climbing slopes, which was a lot, I had to half pant and half yell out to him to cycle harder. I really feel that I was going to die. Lol.

Towards the end, it was really bad, so very bad. I feel like puking and was contemplating if I should raise that white flag and tell the rest far in front that I-must-stop-for-a-rest or maybe just please drag me back. Sob. I kept telling myself that the end point looked like that house in front but it kept turning out otherwsie and disappointing me. Sob.

Finally, after the x house, it was finally IT. I was so happy but I was too tired to express my joy. I couldn't even stand properly after I dismounted the bike. My hands were shivering as I tried to hydrate myself. The kids were still full of energy and had ran off to chase the animals. By the way, one of the tour guide's dog was running after us the whole way. Apparently, the dog was much fitter than I was. Zzzzzzzz.

I was so quiet on the ride back bcos my last ounce of energy was already used up. My butt hurts like hell too. Luckily the kids were tired too and were happy to enjoy the windy ride back. I was so tired and was glad to have lunch at the hotel restaurant and had ice cream in hope to replenish what I had lost.

We headed back to the room for a much needed shower and rest. By then, I felt like a battery-dead phone. Daddy Lim was nice enough to watch TV with the kids while I snooze.

I felt so much better after the nap. I am alive again. Haha. The plan was to head to one of the mega malls for some arcade but we were told that there would be mega jams bcos of the churches in the area - it was Good Friday. We ended up walking to the nearby mall instead and there was a mini theme park beside it. The kids took the viking ride.

The ride was so scary bcos it was so damn old. Lol. I was glad that they didn't swing us very high, much to the kids' disappointment.

We had Sakae dinner at the mall and it was another disappointment. By then, Zaky was exhausted and he had to be carried back.

Sleep was so easy, even for me, who had a nap in the afternoon. Yawn. This holiday is so hard. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Malacca Day 1: Driving In + Huskitory

I missed the Penang holiday and I was miserable! With a long weekend around the corner, we just had to go somewhere... anywhere!

With only the weekend to spare, we decided on Malacca, which is about 2 hrs drive away. The plan was to leave on Thursday afternoon right after the kids' school to avoid the jam at the custom. We expected that the kids to be beat bcos Maths class had to be pushed forward to Wednesday night and class ended at 9pm, which was already beyond their bedtime.

On Wednesday night, Zaky was asking if he could leave school earlier. He said that sometimes his friends do so. I bet he had it all planned out - on Thursday morning during recess, he called me from school and insisted that he had a bad tummy. Daddy Lim was activated to pick him up and he did leave school earlier eventually. He went to the toilet back home and was otherwise in perfect health. Zzzzzz. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

We headed back to pick Lil Shauna after school, changed, had a quick lunch and were on our way. Woohoo!

The custom was a breeze. We made it though in less than 30 mins and finally on our way! I even got to drive in the Malaysia. Ok, for 5 mins bcos soon we met with a jam and it was too stressful. Still, ticked off the bucket list.

The traffic jam was like forever. We were stuck for at least an hour. Then, there was a mega storm. It was so bad, like some end of the world movie. The visibility was so bad. At the peak of the storm, we had to wait for the wiper to swipe before we can see the tail light of the car in front of us. Even Daddy Lim was stressed and asked me if we were out of the rain clouds. He said that it was one of the most stressful drives ever.

While it poured, the kids were knocked out in the back seats and they didn't wake up until we arrived in Malacca. It is so rare to see Lil Shauna naps.

It was the peak hours when we arrived in Malacca and the traffic was super heavy. I had to use the last bit of my patience to stop myself for yelling.

Finally, after almost 4.5hrs on the road, we arrived at the Huskitory. The kids had always love pet cafe and this one is specifically with huskies!

There are specific time slots to play with the dogs. We arrived at 6.30pm, right in the midst of the outdoor play session with the huskies.

There is one other non-husky that I like. She is a lot more affectionate than the huskies. Meet 小白.

The dogs go for a rest from 7pm to 8pm. It was picture time before they left.

For RM18 per pax, we had a drink each. There is no restriction to the visiting time. We had some snacks while we waited for the huskies to join us indoor at 8pm.

We bought dog food to feed them.

Daddy Lim tried very unsuccessfully to get a selfie with the dogs. This was the best he could manage.

I didn't expect us to stay very long in the cafe. After playing indoor with the dogs for 1 hr, the kids wanted to stay for the 2nd outdoor play session at 9pm. This is Oreo; she is super tame, preferring to lie down quietly most of the time. Zaky refused to believe that she is Oreo bcos Oreo is supposed to be black and white.

We left the cafe only at 9ish. Our hotel - Ramanda Plaza Hotel was about 10 mins drive away. We finally checked in at about 10pm and went for a late dinner/ supper.

The kids were super energetic after their afternoon nap and were watching the TV until 12 mn before they finally turned in. What a busy way to start the 1st day.

Mummy Lim