Went to Malacca from 17th Jul to 18th Jul with my friends. We met at 8 am at Golden Mile Tower, had our breakfast and boarded the coach bus to head for Malaysia, Malacca. It was a 4 plus hours ride there, we reached Malacca around 1 plus. We alighted at Hotel Equatorial entrance, and took a cab to the Baba House at Jonker Street.
Luckily one of our rooms is ready, so we put all our bags in that room. Next, we headed to Jonker 88 shop, which is famous for its laska. There are so many people inside, all the tables are fully packed. We waited for awhile and we manged to get a table after 5 mins (which was super lucky). We ordered a plate of fish cakes, 4 bowls of laska (4 of us) and 2 chendol and 1 ice kacang. The laska so quite nice and tasty, super spicy.
After that, we headed down the streets of Jonker Street. There are alot of shops along the streets, selling cute items, rattan stuffs, and many others. Then we slowly walked down to the Chris Church, which is the oldest church built in Malacca. After that, we walked back to Jonker Street again and we went to the Baba Nonya Heritage Museum (where the tv series, 'Little Nonya' was filmed). The entrance fee is $8 RM and it was a guided tour inside the house. It was a big house with 2 storey high, all the bedrooms are located upstairs and the dining room, kitchen, relatives' room, guests' room are located downstairs. It was a half an hour tour, but think there are alot of mosquito inside, cos we all came out with at least one bite. Hohohoho...........
After that, we went back to the hotel cos one of my friends wanted to have a shower (Weather too hooooot).
After that, we headed down to the Nonya Nancy's Kitchen Restaurant for our dinner. We ordered popian, fried rice, vegetables, fried egg with prawns, chicken and a soup. The only food which is nice is the fried egg with prawns and popian , the rest, not really that nice. The total bill was $60.50 ringgits. Anyway we all ate until very full. Later we headed down to the streets again, this time there are small stalls being set up along the whole Jonker street. There are alot of stalls selling watches, shoes, clothings and more food.
There are alot of people coming out to walk the streets too, it was packed. We walked until 8 plus, then we went back to the hotel again, to put our bags down (too heavy to carry around, lol). There, we rested until 9 plus, then we went out again to buy our supper. We bought taiwan hotdogs,fried noodles,bbq clams and lala, dim sum, otak, egg tarts (i like it,heheee) and ate in our hotel room. After all the good food, we went to bed and rested for the day.
The next day, we woke up at 7.30 am and got ready by 9 am. We headed down the Baba Cafe and had a light breakfast. Then we headed down to Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant to try the chicken rice ball. The rice was too sticky and not nice to eat. The chicken is still ok, not too bad. We bought 6 pieces of durain puffs on our way back to the hotel. The durain inside the puff was quite watery, but still it got the smell and the puff was quite crispy. After that, we headed back to the hotel to check out. We waited for the cab after checking out and headed down to the Mega Mall, next to the Hotel Equatorial.
It was a super big mall, but on the 1st level up, it was like our shopping mall. But on the basement, there are more small shops, packed together and there are more people shopping downstairs. We had our lunch at the A&W fast food. The order taker was so blur, gave us more than what we ordered. Later we headed back to Hotel Equatorial Entrance, to board our bus back to Singapore.
Reached Singapore at 7pm and we had our dinner at the Golden Mile Hawker Centre. I had chicken rice ($3), and my friends had carrot cake, hokkien mee and claypot chicken rice. After that, we all headed home.
Hotel Stayed: The Baba House
Places Visited:
Jonker Street
Chris Church
The Baba Nonya Heritage Museum
Mahkota Parade Shopping Mall
Day 15: Haiz...going to take plane back to singapore..so sian.Woke up and left for Paris airport.Still have to take the airport shuttle train from T3 to T1.So ma fan and the airport is so messy (still got 2A to 2F terminals,don't know how many terminals they have.) Then we checked in our luggage and when we went checking in,there was a lady beside our counter.She was like arguing with the SQ personnel about paying for excess hand luggage.Hohoho....
Anyway the airport looks old and boring,so we went in to the gate early.We did a little shopping too before boarding the plane. Later we boarded the plane,it was a 11 hours plane ride.So anyway basically we just sat and slept in the plane.As there is nothing much to do,except to watch movies or listen to music and waited for our food to come.Lol
With this,my 2 weeks Europe trip ended by reaching Singapore on 24th May 2010 early morning.
Day 14: Last day in London and it meat our last 2nd day of the trip.So sad.....lol.Anyway we woke up and had our breakfast in the hotel.After which,we checked our the hotel and went down to St Paul's Cathedral.
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral,all having been built on the same site since 604 A.D. The cathedral is one of London's most famous and most recognizable sights. At 365 feet (111m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world.
Sadly,photography is not allowed inside but we did climbed up to the upper top most gallery,where you can have a nice view of London City.There was a whispering gallery,where it was at the dome of the cathedral.There are tiny holes on the walls,where you can actually speak through the holes and the people on the other side of the dome can hear wat you said.Followed up is the stone gallery and golden gallery,total up is 500 plus steps.
After that,we headed down to Victoria Station,where we originally wanted to go Buckingham Palace.But in the end,we went into a restaurant for lunch instead,hahahaa....
After lunch,we headed down to St Pancras International station.We were looking for our train back to Paris but we cannot find it on the list.Stupid me!!Bought the train tickets for the wrong date!!In the end,we had to buy another tickets back to Paris for a total of 300 plus GBP!!!So expensive,and it was not a confirmed seat tickets.It was just for a seat near the door.So angry with myself...So we ended up waiting at the station until it is time to board the train.
On the train,we didn't wanted to sit near the door,so we went to the cafe coach to stand.After the train started to move,there was a group of Australian.They had reserved seats in the train but they didn't sit on the train,they also stood in the train from London to Paris.They had bought a lot of beers up and they were making merry there.(Noisy!!They even sang loudly!!OMG)
After 4 hours plus of standing in the train,we finally reached Paris (Gare de Nord station).It was around 8 plus and we still need to take the metro back to the Airport station.So we bought the tickets and took the metro back to the Airport station.By the time we reached there,it was quite late.Then we still have to find the stupid shuttle bus back to the hotel.
In the end,it was a small bus with so many people trying to squeeze up the bus (as the shuttle bus was going for 3 hotels together).Luckily we managed to get up the bus,if not,we will have to wait another 15 mins for the next bus.Finally we reached the hotel and checked in.Then we just went to bed,super tired day.....
Hotel stayed: Campanile Hotel
Places visited in London: St Paul's Cathedral
Day 13: Woke up to prepare for our day tour to Stonehenge.But it was too early,the hotel cafe is not opened till 7.30am.So we waited until 7.30am to have our breakfast,so by then we left the hotel,it was already 8am.We reached Victoria Station by 8.30am and the meeting place was like 15mins away from the station.Sadly,by the time we reached the victoria bus station it was already 8.50am.The coach bus had already left,in the end we didn't get to go for the trip. So we decided to go for Buckingham Palace,which was just nearby the area.But again,it was a disappointment as the opening times was 11am.So we headed to Wellington Arch first,as to pass time while waiting for the palace to open.And we kept walking until we reached the Hyde Park.We also passed by the Marble Arch,it is an arch made of marble.Nothing much there.In the park,there were a lot of statues and birds flying around.Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and playground were also built inside.Then we kept walking until we reached Kensington Gardens.There,we saw King Albert's Memorial statue,it was super huge and tall.From there,you can see the Royal Albert Hall.It was across the road,it is abit kind of a round building. Then we kept walking to Kensington Palace,and still need to walk through the garden before reaching the palace's entrance.(Why the garden always so big?)
Anyway,photography is not allowed in the palace,so no photos taken inside.In the palace,we were asked to find the 7 princesses lived in the palace before.Princess Victoria and Diana were in the list. After the palace,i was too tired to walk back to the Buckingham Palace,so gave up going there.(The 2 royal parks not small).We took the metro back to Tower Hill station,it was 4 or 5 station stops away (That's mean we had already walked for 4 stations away from the palace station).At Tower of London,we went to All Hallows by the Tower.It was a small church beside the Tower of London.Anyway we just went inside to have a look.After that we went a ride on the city cruise along river thames.
Along the river,the guide gave introduction on the bridges and buildings we passed.He did mentioned that London Bridge did went down 3 times.And there was a bridge,they called it 'Lovers' Bridge',another bridge named 'Women Bridge'(Waterloo bridge),another bridge named 'Blackfriars Bridge' and there was a wavy bridge which was closed by the police after hours of its opening.Because people was falling from the bridge and it was too dangerous.Anyway the bridge did open back,now people are walking across it.There was a building shaped like an atomic bomb.Lol We passed by the famous London Eye and the House of Parliament of London in Westminster. Then we stopped at Westminster Pier and we went up to have a short walk around there.After that we took the cruise back again to Tower Hill Pier,where we took the metro to South Keingston station to have our dinner.Then we headed back to the hotel to end our day
Places visited:
1. Wellington Arch
2. Hyde Park (Royal Park)
3. Marble Arch
4. Serpentine Gallery
5. Princess Diana Memorial Fountain
6. Kensington Gardens (Royal Park)
7. Peter Pan's Statue
8. King Albert's Memorial
9. Garden Walk
10. Kensington Palace
11. All Hallows by the Tower (Church)
12. City Cruise (Bypass a lot of bridges & Buildings)
Day 12: Woke up early again to catch our train to London.Walked down to Amsterdam Central train station and waited to board to train to Bruxelles Midi station,to change to Eurostar. When in Bruxelles Midi station,the gate for Eurostar train was already opened,we went in.Luckily we went in early,need to pass through customs and luggage scanning stuff.
And so we reached London at around 10am plus,we headed straight to the hotel 1st.But unfortunately,the room was not ready.So we only checked in the hotel,then we went down to a nearby cafe for a full english breakfast.Then we ended up staying in the cafe until it is time we can put our luggage in the hotel room.Finally we can put our luggage in the hotel room,the room was kind of hot and there was a window and we were on the 4th floor of the hotel.
London metro was always packed with people and the circle line train is every 10 mins or more.Sometimes there was no even 1 circle line train,basically you will need to take a train to some place else to transfer.Another weird thing you will notice in London is the police's siren.Every 5 minutes,you will definitely hear a police's siren on the road (like there are a lot of crooks to catch in London,the police there very busy).
After that,we headed down to London's main attractions,which we went for the Tower of London 1st.We went for the exhibits inside,which was named An Armour for a King,where they displayed all the different amour worn by different kings.In there,we also went to the different crowns & staffs for the Kings and Queens.Too bad we cannot take photos of the crowns and staffs.They are very beautiful and expensive (A lot of jewels & diamonds on it).
After that,we walked over to Tower bridge,where we went up for the exhibit.You can even walk on the link bridge on the top.We went to engine room where we got to see the machine inside the bridge on how the bridge was being pulled up when large ships are to pass through.There was a display on a motorcycle which was being used to fly over the tower bridge on 2009 by Robbie Maddison. After that,we walked from Tower Bridge to London Bridge.Then from there we walked to The Monument.
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument,is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman Doric in the City of London near to the northern end of London Bridge.It is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.You can even go up and climb the 311 steps to the top.Anyway we reached quite late,it was already closed.After that,we went back to Bayswater station,where we had Burger King for dinner.Went to a supermarket for tibits shopping before heading back to the hotel.
Hotel stayed: Leisure Inn
Place visited:
1. Tower of London
2. Tower Bridge
3. London Bridge
4. The Monument
5. Streets in Bayswater station
Day 11: Didn't sleep much and woke up super early to catch our train to Amsterdam.Luckily this time,there is no need for transfer in between,it was a direct train to Amsterdam Central Station.
Reached Amsterdam at around 9 plus,we tried to ask the bus driver how long it will take to reach the hotel by tram,the driver said half an hour,so we got off cos we still need to go for a tour at 10.30am.Anyway we went to the tourist information agency to help us find a much nearer hotel and within our budget.We managed to get 1 nearby hotel which needs 15 mins walk from the train station.So we went to the tour agency first to check on our day tour package,it was a city tour 1st and windmill village later in the afternoon.Anyway we gave up the city tour and went to hotel instead.But the room was not ready yet,at least we can deposit our luggage there 1st.
So we went ahead with the 2nd tour,which was wonderful (since the start of the day was already so pek chey and like a disaster).First stop we went to Volendam Village,the guide took us for a walk around the village.We went to a chapel first,where there would be an old lady,wearing the traditional Dutch costume (which you can take photos with).Then we managed to go inside a real Marken House (whose the owner happened to be at home).Inside the house,all the traditional stuffs are kept and displayed (like a museum).Most of the houses are all painted in green color and from there we took a cruise (Marken Express) across the big river to Marken village.
After a 15 to 20 mins cruise ride,we reached the port of Marken village.The guide brought us to a shop where we watched a 10mins video on the village.After that,we had a 1 hour free time to ourselves where we did some shopping and walking around of the village.The village was famous for their fish n chips.Didn't try one there but did try the small pancakes (with butter & sugar).It was yummy!!Nice Nice!!Next time go back,must try again.
After that,we went to the cheese farm and clogs factory.They were next-door to each other,so we went for the cheese farm first.In there,we had a brief introduction on how cheese was made and preserved for long long time.There was a special plastic (which is mostly yellow color) to protect the cheese and you can keep for years.The young cheese are like 3 months,and they called those cheese kept for 1 years or more as old cheese.The host demonstrated 2 special knives which were used to cut/slice the cheese very smoothly.Anyway they are selling the knives there.Hohohooo...after the introduction,we got to taste the different kinds of cheese and they are mostly for sale.The cheese was not bad (not really a fan of cheese) and they came up with different flavor of cheese.They even had smoked cheese,the taste was a bit werid though.Lol
After this,we went over to the opposite house,which was the clogs factory.There,we saw a lot of clogs hanging up on the roof.Then the host gave a brief introduction of the clogs too.They made millions of clogs everyday,but the clogs are machine-made now.They made clogs for farmers,clogs for flower planting,clogs stick for their sports,they even made a Nike Air clog.Hohoho...the guy said later he will make an Adidas clog.Anyway he did demonstrated how a clog is made by using the machine and it was fast,like 5 mins.The shape of the clog is done,later he brought to their shops to buy their clogs.You can even buy a pair of clogs for yourself to wear.
After the clogs factory,we headed down to the windmill village ( "Zaanse Schans").But it was already around 5 plus to 6.So by the time we reached there,all the shops are closed and all the people had already went home.The village was like kind of dead,anyway we just went there to take some photos of the windmills.There was like only 3 or 4 windmills lining up in a row.Basically,nothing much there too.After this,the tour ended and were brought back to the starting point.We headed back to the hotel first to check our room.The room was big but the toilet again was very small.The toilet door was just a small cupboard size (if you see the picture,it is the white door just beside the desk).
Anyway,can't be bothered anyway,we went out to see if there is any good food for our dinner.We went to a small restaurant,where i had grilled chicken with potato.The baked potato was a big-sized and it was nice to eat with the sour cream (just tat there was no bacon).After a nice dinner,we went back to the hotel and watched Spiderman 1 on the tv.Then went to sleep to prepare for the next day to start.
Hotel stayed: Nadia Hotel
Places visited:
1. Volendam
2. Marken
3. Cheese Farm
4. Clogs Factory
5. "Zaanse Schans" (Windmill Village)
Day 10: Woke up late and went down for a breakfast prepared by the hotel owner himself.It was nice and warming.After that,checked out the hotel and went to walk around the city again,as to pass time (The coach bus would only come at 3.40pm,which was a bit waste of time).We went to the chapel and had a short tour there,did a little shopping around.After that,we went to the royal garden at the back of the town.Spent more time there and later went to have an early lunch.It was yummy.Then we returned to the hotel to wait for our cab to bring us to the bus stop.The cab came and brought us to the bus stop,where we waited for 15 mins for the coach bus to come (It was late). Finally the coach bus came,the ride was super boring!!Cos there was another couple with us,then we didn't even stop at any of the towns anymore along the road.Basically it's just only passing by,and they just wanted to go back to Frankfurt as early as possible.Anyway just slept on the coach bus,finally we reached Frankfurt at around 7pm plus. Then we had to find the hostel I booked.It was just opposite the main train station.The room was quite big but the toilet was super small (i mean,really small).There is no space for a person to stand inside.And the floor was carpeted with those cheap carpet,not nice to stand on,somehow it make your feet itch.Anyway,after check-in,we went down the streets to look for dinner.The streets gave you a feeling that it's not safe and 'messy'.There are a lots of 'XXX' shops around,just 1 or 2 shops away,you can already see 1.Lol,we just went back to a coffeeshop near the hostel and had a half-chicken for our dinner.It was oily and salty,not very nice.After that,we just went back to the hostel and slept early,as we needed to get early to catch train the next morning.With this,our 3 days Munich to Frankfurt tour ended.
Hotel stayed: Frankfurt Hostel
Went to Malacca from 17th Jul to 18th Jul with my friends. We met at 8 am at Golden Mile Tower, had our breakfast and boarded the coach bus to head for Malaysia, Malacca. It was a 4 plus hours ride there, we reached Malacca around 1 plus. We alighted at Hotel Equatorial entrance, and took a cab to the Baba House at Jonker Street.
