Malacca, March 2011 - Part I

I'm rushing this entry for SL who will be travelling to Malacca (Melaka) this Saturday.

I've shortlisted a few boutique hotels for our stay in Malacca but after reading a recommendation in a mothers' forum, I decided to stay at Courtyard @ Heeren.

The main entrance.  Not too prominent in the day as there are way too many cars parking along the roadside.  As you enter the hotel, you are welcomed with a very refreshing smell of lemongrass and a welcome drink.  Very friendly staff.

These 2 pictures are extracted from their website.  I booked the Deluxe Family Room which is what you see above.

The deluxe family comes with a King and a single bed.  I had initially wanted to book 2 deluxe rooms since MIL will be joining us.  Unfortunately, only 1 deluxe room was available for the dates we wanted.  After some discussion with MIL and DH, we decided to squeeze into 1 family room and get an extra bed (praying hard no 2 person need to use the toilet at the same time).

The view from our beds.  The extra bed was placed at the left of the LCD TV. 

The bathroom - we love the strong water pressure.  It was so relaxing that we didn't want to end our shower.  There were some not so positive reviews from tripadvisor on the noise from the water pump.  To me, I find the noise level relatively loud but bearable.  By the way, this is the only place you get natural lighting as there are no windows.

The entrance to the toilet is in front of the sink.

To the right, it brings you to the safe box and the shower area.  Limited storage space for clothes.  No air conditioner in this part of the room.

The car park is at the rear of the hotel, marked with orange cones as barricade.  To park, you have to uncoil the rope around the cones and coil them back when you are done parking.  Guarded at night.  Within walking distance, there is a wet market (the guard told us about the market).
Sorry SL, I don't know the street name.

There is a section for the butchers, away from this market but I forgot to take a picture of it.  This stall we patronised sells vegetables and dried anchovies.

This is a rare sight for my children as they are all urban kids and have never stepped into a wet market.  It was an eye opener for them and it also relinquished my old memories:-)

The guard told us many Singaporeans bought fish from this market.  The fishmongers will help to pack them into styrofoam box so it's easy for transportation back home.

This caught my attention as the stall owner was calling out "duck" aloud in cantonese, but I thought he sounded more like quacking :P  There are many other stalls at the car park area.

A stall selling hair accessories, wallets and bags.  Typically what you can find in a pasar malam (night market).

The same stall, with DD1 choosing a hair band and DS2 going through the wallets.  DD3 was just busying around.

Just before we left the market, at the corner of the car park, we saw this fishmonger (?).  A rare sight indeed.

A few other stalls I've missed taking pictures are  fruits and vegetables.  Another stall with all the breakfast yummies,  fried noodles, nasi lemak and nonya kuehs.  We spotted a motorist selling char kway teow, was so tempted to have it for breakfast but was afraid to start the day with oily food.  Very interesting place and a great experience for urban kids like mine.

Sorry SL, not enough time to update on the teochew restaurant.  Along Jonker Street, just ask the shop owners, they will be able to direct you there.  Have a good trip!