Travel Journal: Day 1 -Trip to Malacca

7:00AM:

Woke up and started to learn coding. I usually do this for an hour first thing in the morning as a way to feel good. When I finish, it feels like the day is already productive. Best feeling ever.

10:30AM:

Went out for breakfast at a place called ‘Lokl’ with a bunch of people I met in the city.

Had chicken and waffles, it was delicious. The sauce was sweet and salty, which surprisingly paired well with both the waffle and chicken.

It was only 30RM and tasted like it should have cost way more!

12:30PM:

Heading to TBS bus station.

Split a grab taxi with Mehmet, a traveller I met while in KL. We decided to check out Malacca at the same time, and we’re expecting another traveller to meet us there tomorrow as well. The ride to the station was only about 20 minutes.

1:00PM:

Bought our tickets and took a gamble on buying the cheapest bus ticket from a bus company which has a reputation for being delayed all the time. 8.90RM each. The gamble paid off handsomely.

We departed on time and there was so much space to sprawl out. Buckling in for 2.5hr journey by writing this journal.

3:00PM:

Arrived at Melaka Sentral bus station. The bus ride was ultra comfortable the entire way.

Mehmet napped the whole way there, since he hasn’t slept at all. He went out with a group of other travellers and the night stretched all the way to 4AM.

I was in the zone working on the laptop the entire time and felt like the bus ride was shorter than expected. We’re both hungry now.

3:24PM:

McDonald’s.

One of the things I really like about McDonald’s in Asia is they all have table service. If you wish, they’ll bring the food to you. That’s nice.

Is that something they do in Canada? I don’t remember.

3:46PM:

We’re splitting a grab taxi to our hostel. The fare was only 6RM a person ($1.78 Canadian Dollars) and was quite a distance away from the bus station. Wow.

The driver didn’t speak any English at all, but it was alright. Mehmet and I talked about his parents history in Turkey and the history of Vietnam the whole ride there.

4:05PM:

We arrived at our hostel and had a funny outgoing staff check us in. She gave us a whole tour of the place, laid out the rules, and I think she was even flirting with Mehmet a little bit.

Coffee and tea is on the house 24/7, that’s pretty nice.

The place is this really cool space pod kind of hostel. This is Mehmet’s first time in something like this, he seems to really like the novelty of it.

He says he’s going to sleep. We’ll go out later tonight and explore the area.

In the meantime, I may go out to find a small towel to buy since this place doesn’t supply it.

6:40PM:

Decided to just stay in the hostel to rest up a bit instead. We’re probably going to check out Jonker Street Night Market later tonight, I’ll look for a towel then.

This hostel is very comfortable, they keep this place ultra clean and spotless. I like the view outside the room window. I’ve seen a couple of grumpy looking older travellers so far and that’s killing the vibe for sure.

There’s some things you can’t control.

8:15PM:

Mehmet is fast asleep, I don’t think he’s going to wake up any time soon.

I’m starting to get hungry, so I’ll head out first and check what’s around the area.

10:40PM:

Turns out, there are a lot of Chinese restaurants nearby. I mean A LOT. In fact, I’m only seeing a majority of Chinese Malays around the area. Interesting.

Mehmet woke up just in time before I was about to decide on a place to eat alone. We went to a place nearby called Charlie to have Nasi Goring and Mee Goreng.

Malacca is really nice so far with a slight ocean breeze at night, making it cooler compared to KL.

There are a lot of crazy drivers here though, they drive very aggressively and are impatient with each other. I have to be careful when crossing the roads.

I’m estimating that 2-3 nights in Malacca will be enough to sight-see.

Calling it a night. Thanks everyone for following along today, I hope you enjoyed this sort of format in sharing my adventures!