Malacca Part 2 - Christ Church, Fort, Cheng Ho replica museum, Navy museum

Part 2 of our short getaway to Malacca in August 2012.

The town of Malacca, Malaysia, is a UNESCO Heritage Site.  It has a very rich history.  In fact, the Straits of Malacca, one of the busiest narrow bodies of water in the world, was named after Malacca.   The Straits of Malacca is a narrow, 805km (abt 500miles) stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesian island).

The hotel (Casa Del Rio) we stayed in was very convenient, just a short walk away from Jonker street and all the other major tourist sights.  So we first headed to the famous Malacca church, called Christ Church.

Yes, we were in Malacca, or Melaka as how it is spelt in Malaysia.

There were other tourists.  Looked like they came here on tour coaches.

A fountain, where many tourists stopped to take photographs.

See the tourists taking photos.

Flowers blooming.

This sign is instructive.  This Church was originally built by the Dutch in 1753 as the Dutch Reformed Church.  It became Christ Church Malacca in 1838.   The Dutch ruled Malacca from 1641 to 1825, almost 183 years.  Malacca was once a very important port, however, her importance declined from the 17th Century.

Built by the Dutch in 1753 to commemorate the centenary of their occupation of Malacca!!  Wow.

After visiting the Church (couldn't take photos inside), we walked on to the nearby fort.

It wasn't much of a fort, by European standards.  Nevertheless, worth a brief look.

There's an old cannon.  Boom!

A description of the Malacca Fort.

As I said, not much of a fort.

That's Casa Del Rio, from across the river.  Very convenient location.

Another angle of Casa Del Rio.

These were our tickets to enter the Chang Ho replica ship.  Not expensive and worth a visit.

There she is.  Remember, this is a replica.

We had to walk up the stairs to get to the ship.

And we are on our way.

No Smoking.

There were many exhibits and descriptions inside the ship.  Also, they put an air-conditioning system.  So that was good.  It was getting rather hot.

Nice layout within the ship.  It was actually quite big inside.

Deck 2 plan.

Very rich in history, Malacca.

Other ships that sailed to this region.

Oooh, the Dutch?

Muskets, pistols.

Alright, we are out again.

Next, we visited this military musesum, I think it was a Navy museum. It was located within 50 to 100 M of the ship.  Might as well visit.....

A lot of weapons.

The ships of the Malaysian Navy, I think.

I liked this exhibit.  All the knots.

An exhibit showing the former Navy Chiefs.

There was this patrol boat exhibit that we could visit too.

Here we are, on the deck of this patrol craft.  The main gun looked rather menacing.

We couldn't go in.  Safer that way.

Three were these gun exhibits, but no good descriptions, so I wasn't sure where they came from or which ship they belonged to.

That was a sea mine.  Not live, I hope.

Looks like a machine gun.

To be continued in Part 3....

Malacca - Casa Del Rio Hotel (Part 1)

This was our short getaway to Malacca in August 2012.  We drove from Singapore via the 2nd link to Malacca and stayed in the Casa Del Rio, a 5-star boutique hotel.  This hotel has a secured carpark, making it easy to park the car.  

Upon arrival, we were asked to wait at one of these cabanas for the check in.  The water feature you see here is not the pool, rather it was a fountain.

This was a welcome sorbet.  As there were four of us, they gave us four servings.  A nice touch.

It was quite empty when we arrived.  However, we have read reviews whereby this waiting area is packed with families trying to check in.

That's the fountain.  The hotel itself is not very big.

The hotel faces the river.

Check in was quite smooth for us.  This was the bathtub.

A view of the bedroom from the bathroom.

Wife and kids checking out the bedroom.  As usual, the kids were most excited.

We got a rollaway bed for one child.  The other child had to sleep with us on the main bed.  I can't recall how much additional charge we had to pay for this bed.

My girl inspecting the bathroom.  Nice and spacious.

There was a rain shower.

It looks fragile.  In fact, they were very fragile.  So fragile that I was very afraid to use them.

The decorative wall in the room.

This was the hall and check-in area of Casa Del Rio. This hotel has fewer than 60 rooms.

The Infinity Pool.  A decent sized pool for the size of this hotel.  The metal bar separates the shallower from the deeper end.

When we got back to our room, we had this wonderful dessert Onde-Onde waiting for us.  This was a peranakan delicacy.

A closer look at the Onde Onde.

This was the menu of the bar in the hotel.  Prices here are in Malaysian Ringgit.

Just outside the hotel.  This hotel could be considered a riverfront property.

You could see the Cheng Ho replica ship museum across the river.  We would go there during our trip.

What were these for?  Burning some oils to chase away the mosquitoes!  Yes, there were many.

They look rather pretty though.

Breakfast in the hotel the next morning.  Plenty of breads to choose from.

Also lots of different types of jam.

That's my full breakfast.  Very full indeed.

Kids were also enjoying their breakfast.

When we were there, the breakfast area wasn't crowded.  Not sure whether this was low season or not.

This was my Eggs Benedict on the second morning . Very delicious too.

Now, near the hotel, about a 5 minute walk when you exit via the main entrance and turn left, there was a traditional Malaysian coffeeshop selling local cuisine.  I found this Wan Tan Mee store.

This Wan Tan mee serving for 3.50Ringgit.  It tasted fairly good. I had it for supper on two consecutive nights!  Good stuff.

This was how the coffee shop looked like.

Back to the hotel, some night pictures of the Infinity pool.

That is the Malaysian flag.  Malaysia Boleh!!

This was a nice touch, real milk for our coffee and tea.

To be continued in part 2.