Friends Peter and Shukri had invited me to visit and stay with them in Melaka. I had only been there about 20 months ago, so it will be a nice relaxing stay without having the pressures of trying to squeeze in all the historic sights.
My hotel was really handy being on the same train line as the Sudanese Embassy and Dora’s house. Not only that, it is also on the same line as the Southern Bus Terminal that has countless services to Melaka. At the Terminal, I had to wait about 45 minutes for the next available bus. It was very busy with the weekend traffic both at the terminal and on the highway. The journey took 2h15, which is about 30 minutes longer than expected.
Shukri and his friends met me at the terminal and we grabbed some nasi lemak before we lepak’ed (hanged out) at his place.
Late in the afternoon, we went to Tesco to grabbed some groceries for dinner. But not before having a surprise stop at a roadside coconut stall where the queues were “out the door” if they had doors. In fact the queue was so long we were invited to go to a shop which they had expanded into! The specialty here was coconut shake, with optional ice cream on the top. They offer free top-ups of coconut water.
At Tesco, I found a pair of ugly plastic Croc copies with closed toes. For about NZD6, I bought them, thinking that they would be quite practical in case I couldn’t find anything else tomorrow in Chinatown (as it turned out, I didn’t).
Shukri and his friend Shah cooked us a lovely dinner of fish, veges and chicken/vege masak lemak.
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- My coconut shake special, ie. with ice cream.
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- Free refill of coconut water.
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- “Keen” sandals purchased for CNY150 (NZD30) some 18 months ago. I got ripped off a little but realised it too late. I guess The true price was around CNY50-100 (NZD10-20). with a deep crack in one sole now.
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- The temporary replacement while I look for something suitable. NZD6 at Tesco Melaka.
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- Amazing home-cooked dinner.
