after breakfast, the cars were loaded and we headed to town. it was a good one hour drive away. i was in the blue car. there was 'in-flight' entertainment. Ahmad Albab was playing on the iPhone. Cik Man has a GPS but he hid it from his wife because he found it mighty annoying. we were looking for the hotel that my family was going to stay in. Best Western Wana Riverside Hotel (wasn't that a mouthful?) on Jalan Munshi Abdullah. Cik Man and wife know that it was after the Christ Church but thanks to many one way streets, we kept driving in circles. we passed by Hotel Equatorial 5 times! After consulting a driver of a stationary taxi, we headed the right way.
check in was 2pm, we came earlier. after dropping off the bigger bags (they were not exactly luggages) and buying the river cruise tickets, lunchtime! lunch was yummy. right now, i only remember i had sardine with rice. ayah ordered nasi goreng tom yam because most of the dishes available were fish or meat dishes. ayah loves seafood. oh. what is a word stronger than love? whatever that word is, it describes his affection for tom yam. he needs to eat tom yam whenever we eat out. i kid you not. my sister is annoyed by this fact.
the river cruise lasted about 45 minutes. going up the river we saw hotels and murals. the back of shophouses alongside the river were all painted very interestingly of images depicting scenes of everything Malaysia. we reached the end of the route and then the boat did a u-turn and that was when the tour began. the driver switched on the audio player and the 'tour guide' told us of the story of the areas near the Melaka river bank.
the blue car left for Kulai while the maroon car went back to Tanah Masjid. the four of us cabbed back to the hotel to finally check in. cab was not metred and we settled to pay 15RM for a very short 10 minute drive.
i chose the room with the view of the south of the river and the Straits of Malacca. the parents faced the north of the river. it had been very warm, so after settling Aqilah down infront of the television, i took a nice shower. 5pm then came and we headed out towards the shopping malls. we collectively decided that we were going to walk to the malls. went by the river by the boardwalk. the sun was dipping and so it was shining brightly on our left. took a left and walked at where the red shophouses were. stopped by an antique shop to get a windchime. it was made from bright emerald shells. ayah chatted up the shop owner and found out he hailed from Tanglin Halt, Singapore. stopped by a road side chendol stall for 2 bowls. it tasted simple, sweet and really refreshing. headed south, through their so called botanic gardens (there were not much flowers) and finally reached the Dataran Pahlawan.
got what we needed and then made our way across the road to Mahkota Parade. the mall looked spanking new. and the mall had free wifi. the food court was enourmous. i could not count the number of stalls that was there. i settled for my usual japanese fare and ayah had his tomyam soup. ibu had fishball soup while Qilah had a rice with black pepper chicken hotplate dish. i was impressed with the cleanliness of the place. come to think of it, the whole of Melaka City was very clean. the plan was to take the ferris wheel after dinner. since everyone was exhausted from walking so much, we cabbed back to the hotel. the taxi driver back talked a little too much and he sounded pretentious. ok, it is possible but i found it hard to believe that he had many children and there was a doctor, teacher, lawyer an engineer amongst them.
ibu was quite mesmerised by the colourful light fountain show that was going on outside the hotel. Qilah was not impressed and headed straight into the hotel lobby.
back in the room, Qilah got ready got bed while i packed for tomorrow. then left the tv on for her while i took my shower. she was dozing off but could not fall asleep. she kept asking me, "what is that sound?" instead of answering, i asked her what she thought it was. she said it could be the ferry down by the river. i added it could just be the airconditioner and the fridge. im sure she was just not used to the surrounding. i set the alarm to watch the Manchester Derby before falling asleep watching the videos on my phone.
breakfast setting was similar to the resort at Tanjung Leman earlier this year. im guessing its a Malaysian thing. main island of food consisted of nasi lemak and rendang. toast and sausages next to it. the other end was the eggs and danishes section. the corner end was where the drinks and cereal and milk were. the four of us sat facing the river and ate to our hearts' content.
me and the sis went back up to pack up somemore leaving the parents to enjoy some time together. half an hour later we checked out and our shiny blue can was waiting for us. the driver was polite and welcoming (i felt that he could drive us for hours and i would not mind hearing him talk).
got there a little early. ibu got her telekong and then we had dessert at mac donalds before boarding the bus back.
the whole trip had been an eye opener. i liked my uncle's place and i am impressed by the city area. i will definitely come back alone to check out the many museums. ok, probably i'll bring Shidah along. anyway, i guess i should never be reluctant about a trip. my uncles and aunts were depending on me to be prepared and know the way. i should have known better than to be selfish, only thinking about things that i had no control of. (i was very reluctant to go initially, because of impending talks on Labour Day over at the east side)
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