The bus station in KL was the nicest, cleanest and biggest bus station we have ever been too. It was similar to an airport. The bus was just under two hours, dropping us at Malacca bus station outside of the main city. Thanks to Chris' PocketEarth app again, we knew which bus would take us into the centre, and along with a huge queue of other locals and tourists, we managed to squeeze our way onto the bus. 
Rucksacks on, we went hunting for accommodation. Thankfully, there was no discussion about choosing the second guesthouse we visited, 'Old Town Guesthouse’, set a couple of hundred metres away from the tourist area. The owner was a delightful Malay man, who was keen to share his local knowledge, and gave us a good deal on the price of the room for the two nights.
We stopped by a Chinese restaurant next door from some duck noodle soup, then ventured out to the old city. Malacca was once one of the greatest trading ports in SEA. However, overtime Singapore took over, and Malacca became a sleepy city, preserving its ancient architecture as well as the old ways of life. In 2008, at a similar time to Penang, Malacca was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and tourism boomed.
A popular mode of transport for the tourists is the brightly coloured, and highly decorated with music blaring trishaw. A popular theme to decorate their trishaw was Hello Kitty or Frozen, much to my delight! Of course, the experience comes at a cost, and not being able to squeeze the three of us onto one trishaw, we passed. Walking was much better for us, and we could take our time taking pictures, stopping off to try local snacks and drinks, and weave in and out of the array of quirky shops.
The main street in the old town, Jonker Street, was bustling. We tried ‘putu piring’, a steamed rice, coconut, and brown sugar snack, and after a few hours of mooching around, we stopped off for an iced coffee for Beth and I, and a coconut shake for Chris. The ambience of the old city was similar to George Town in Penang. It was cool, quirky, and rustic. One main difference is that Malacca has the ‘Malacca River’ that winds its way through the city. An idyllic spot for cafes, guesthouses, street artists, and for us to stroll along.
That evening, we went around the corner to a recommended restaurant from our guesthouse owner, but little did we know that we would stumble upon a large queue! We had not experienced a queue for a restaurant since we left home, so we did question our decision. But with the recommendation, a queue meaning only good things, and seeing what we were about to feast upon, made us join the back of the queue.
‘Capitol Satay’ was a one of kind restaurant in Malacca, serving various skewers for 1.10 ringgit each (around £0.18), from the expected chicken, to colourful vegetables, which you cook yourself in a large boiling pot of satay sauce. Wow I hear you all say! Yes it was beyond amazing! We ended up having nearly 40 skewers, a combination of meat, fish, and vegetables. The sauce was heavenly, we were eating it by the spoonful. It was a very messy meal, but having eaten with our hands for several meals now, we are used to the mess, and got stuck in.

Hearing the local morning market was just across the road, we decided to purchase some fruit (a pineapple, a couple of dragon fruits, and a bunch of bananas), all for about £1.80, and some natural yoghurt for our breakfast. The guesthouse had freshly brewed coffee and tea at our disposal, and the social area was a huge open, light, and airy space.
We decided to spend our morning walking around the Heritage Trail, which took us to the Clock Tower, Queen Victoria’s Fountain, and Christ Church, where the trishaws wait around for custom. We carried on along the river, passing by ruins, which to Chris’ delight had plenty of cannons laying around. Then we came across a huge Pirate Ship, a replica model of the Flora de Lamar, a Portuguese ship which sank in the coast of Malacca while on its way to Portugal. It reaches 34 metres in height and 8 metres in width. It was also in fact the Maritime Museum, so we spent some time exploring the ship, and soaking up some facts and information with regards to the maritime history of Malacca and the golden ages of Malacca’s Sultanate as the Emporium of the East.
Our walk continued around to pass by the rotating tower, Menara Taming Sari, then up to the top of hill where St Paul’s Church sat, well the ruins of it anyway. St Paul’s Church was built by a Portuguese Captain in 1521 AD and used as a chapel. When the Dutch colonized Malacca, the chapel was no longer used as a place of worship, but turned into a burial ground.
We looped back around, winding our way through the back roads of Malacca, taking us past many schools, where the children were breaking for lunch. After finding a small chicken and rice stand for some lunch, we took a few hours rest in the guesthouse, keeping us out of the main heat of the day.  
Rested and revived, we headed out to visit the Chinese temples and Mosque which we had seen yesterday but were not suitably dressed. Although these places of worship did not specify any required attire, I feel uncomfortable and disrespectful walking around temples with my legs and shoulders showing. Having spent nearly 7 months in SEA we have the knowledge and understanding, so like to set a good example and leave a lasting reputation.
We strolled along the Malacca River, enjoying the artwork, stillness, and peacefulness. A couple of kilometres later we arrived at the ‘Kampong Morton’ village, a traditional Chinese village still with its roots and heritage surrounded by high-rise buildings of office blocks, hotels, and shopping centres. It was interesting to see the contrast but a shame that the high-rise buildings blocked out a lot of sunlight from the village.
Slowly making our way back, we returned to Jonker Street for the weekend night market. Chris and Beth were on a mission to try as many new foods as possible. They made their way through a chocolate and avocado shake, then we stopped for some chicken and rice balls and purchased some layered coconut/rice cakes for dessert later. Beth’s nose smelt out some glutinous rice covered in peanuts, so there was no question about trying this. Chris was drawn in by an egg burger, i.e. rather than the bun you had fried eggs. We stopped by a bustling food stall for some fried noodles, and last but not least Chris and Beth dived into some cendol. Cendol is a popular dessert, especially in Malacca, made from shaved ice, black beans, green noodles, coconut milk and Malacca sugar.
Suitably stuffed, we dragged ourselves back to the room, ready for a shower and bed after a long day on our feet.

It was an early start to ensure we gave ourselves plenty of time to make it to the airport in time for our flight over to Sandakan, Borneo. We picked up a variety of glutinous rice parcels wrapped in banana leafs from the morning market on our way to the bus stop. The bus was running a tad behind schedule, but eventually we set off around 8.30am heading back to KL.