Malacca for those two days was a breath of air that I needed. I had been to Malacca before, but this was the first time I walked around the place on foot for over an hour, just wandering between alleyways, jumping into whichever old shop caught my eye. I have a penchant for what lived decades before me, and beaches where the sun sets, and Malacca happened to give me both.

We didn’t have time to eat as much as we wanted to, but we sure did take our time to go with the flow of whichever lane seemed more appealing.

Places we did eat at:

Nancy’s kitchen for peranakan food, the pork, the curries, the kangkong……superb.

Heesan Kopi for coffee while walking through Jonker street.

Places I wish we had time and stomach for:

Restoran Aunty Lee and Unicorn cafe (not a cafe) for peranakan food

Bunga Raya Popiah for their Popiah (an Asian version of a wrap) because my friend Ashleigh says “it’s damn shiok” (Singapore slang for effing delicious) not even kidding”

Nadeje for their crepe cake – have actually tried this before and it was, in my memory, worth every bit of that extra calorie you’re gonna have to burn off by walking.

We had wanted to visit Klebang beach because it was recommended by a grab Uncle, but then an Aunty said it was under reclamation works and suggested we head to Pantai Puteri instead. We listened to the nice Nonya Aunty who reminded me of my aunt, and took about 20 mins to get there from our Airbnb. Puteri was like a distant cousin that I have never met, but felt instantly comfortable with. Lining the beach was a few restorans and food stalls selling street food, but besides that, it wasn’t turned into an overly crowded tourist spot. The beach stretched out for a distance, and so Uncle Grab dropped us somewhere in the middle. We headed right to the shore and let our feet soak in the warm ocean for a bit. 6.50pm. The sun was taking it’s time to set, and so we walked against traffic, towards the breakwaters. I did what I hadn’t done for years, pick up seashells! After about 15 minutes later, we were faced with a beautiful sunset, its last few minutes of light glazing over us like warm honey.

As if we weren’t pampered enough, we woke up to a great morning at the pool. We stayed in an Airbnb above Elements mall (which I don’t think is open yet – only has a 7/11) and the views from the pool are lovely. You get to see a great view of the red bricked roofs as well as the sea, side by side.

Malacca is a great stop for anyone who is headed to KL, Penang, or Singapore. It doesn’t need too much time, is packed on the weekends because of Jonker street night market, quieter on the weekdays, has plenty of nice accommodation places. Traffic isn’t bad mostly, and you can get around anywhere within 20-30 minutes or less.