Road trip to Malacca

Riding on the tailwind of our Japan holiday, we made our way to Malacca with aunts, uncles and cousins on a one night stopover. The trip was for shopping and eating, and we did a lot of both. It was a really intensive 2-day fully-packed trip. The girls were shopping most of the days and the men were left to mind the kids at the pool or in the mall. I am so thankful to both uncles for their patience in caring for all 4 kids while we were busy scurrying around for the best bargains. This time, hubby did not join us, but it turned out that most of the shopping was done for him. Very pleased with my buys. There was such a wide variety and I was spoiled for choice. I wanted to buy him everything! Hehe. He doesn't shop at all, and also in Singapore, it's difficult finding clothes in his size, so I went crazy.

We left Singapore at 8am and arrived in Malacca around 12pm, as we made many toilet stops along the way. I had the front seat in the car, so this was my window view. :)

We had booked to spend the night at Equatorial Hotel, but as we were early, we couldn't get our room keys, so we set out to have our lunch at a nearby restaurant called Ole Sayang.

I love the container for the rice but couldn't find it in the shops to take home.

Ayam pongteh.

Chap chye.

Sambal Udang.

Love the colours of this wall at the side of the restaurant.

After lunch, we made our way back to hotel to leave our bags and set off for some retail therapy at the very big mall right beside our hotel. Yippee! The men and kids got bored and decided to go swimming at the pool, and we were left on our own for 4hrs, us 4 ladies. At the end of of it all, we picked up some cheese tarts from this shop called Opps. I love their packaging and the very colourful, cutesy image.

Business seemed good as the chiller was mostly empty.

Aren't they all so pretty?

Pretty, right, both the box and bag?

We also stopped by a bubble tea shop and can you believe the price?? It costs M$1.80! That equates to S$0.75! We ordered 7 cups. The pearls were of a very good quality unlike those sold at the cheaper shops in Singapore. The texture is equal to that sold at Koi.

We had dinner at a seafood place facing the sea in the Portuguese town. Someone recommended that we try the seafood at No.7 stall.

Carollers entertained us while we waited for our food and little kids dressed as elves and santarina went around offering sweets at the tables to little kids, and some little ones went around with a little donation tin, although that was optional. It was lovely to see them share the Christmas spirit and also their generosity in giving a little something to those around them. The houses were all beautifully dressed up for Christmas but I did not take any photos of them. I sent the girl off to take photos and this was the only photo she took, while the rest were videos.

It was an extremely long wait for our food, almost an hour, so when it was finally served, everyone was onto the food and thus no pictures were taken except for the calamari which was placed in front of me. However long it took, it was well worth the wait as the quality of the food was excellent. The garlic prawns and scallops came in gorgeous sauces.

Mango juice was highly recommended by our server and princess could hardly refuse it as mango is her number 1 favourite fruit. After taking a sip, she turned to me and told me I HAD to try it, and so I did. It was very nice. :)

Breakfast on the second morning was at Jonkers 88. If you intend to visit them, take note that they do not open their doors till 10.30am, so there is no need to rush out early in the morning.

Lots of people were there when we arrived at 10am. While we were waiting for them to open, we popped in to a shop nearby. I managed to snap a photo before being stopped by a staff member. No photography allowed.

They have an extensive menu to choose from.

The desserts area.

Kueh Pie Tee.

The decor of the coffee shop was very unspoiled, very rustic, and I loved it.

Both uncles had the nasi lemak, which they claimed, wasn't that great.

I had the fishball noodles, and found the sauce too salty for my liking.

Both aunties had the baba laksa which was pretty good.

Saw this beautiful and impressive snowman at Aeon mall, made from recycled plastic bottles.