By Callum Taylor
Stepping out of Malaysian immigration, we were now officially on the same piece of land as our final destination in Spain a mere 11,000km away. Just a few buses, the odd train, a taxi here and there and we would arrive in no time.
Peninsular Malaysia was evidently a different world compared to East Malaysia in Borneo. The endless forests and wild nature of Sabah and Sarawak hugely contrasted with the major highways and urban environment of the major sights of the peninsular. We were more likely to get stuck in a huge traffic jam here than come across a pack of rogue macaques.
Getting stuck in a traffic jam is exactly what happened to us. After changing to a new, much more luxurious coach as the bus from Singapore didn’t cross the border, it wasn’t long before the traffic was causing more headaches. Like in Singapore, the Christmas holidays had meant everybody was driving somewhere. What was meant to be a four hour drive in total from Singapore was now looking like it would take at least six.
Not quite the sight we would arrive to thanks to the traffic. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
Malacca
We arrived in Malacca at around 9pm well after sunset. Just when it looked like our transport problems were over though, our taxi driver drove in endless circles around town looking for our hotel. You cannot fault the kindness of these people for trying their best to drop you off directly in front of your accommodation, but 99% of the time our Google Maps is more accurate than their knowledge of the city. We eventually made it after half-begging to driver to let us out once we knew we were close.
Where the taxi left us, but not our hotel. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
Fortunately the owner of our place for the night was expecting us late so he was there to welcome us in. We dropped our bags and immediately went out for dinner. The local Jonker Street food market had shut down though and after a long, unsuccessful search for an open restaurant, we were forced into going to McDonalds.
Just as we were about to dig into our future obesity, a kamikaze grandma decided to blindly drive across four lanes of traffic and in front of an oncoming van. Luckily the van was able to slow down enough to ensure there wasn’t a serious accident, but it wasn’t enough to stop the collision altogether. We ran over to see if everyone was ok and fortunately it seemed as if nobody was hurt. Crazy that the first car accident we see comes at night when there is hardly any traffic compared to the chaos seen on the roads during the day.
After finishing the meal we headed back to our room. Along the way we came across a number of brightly coloured rickshaws complete with flashing lights and loud children’s music driving tourists around. Thanks to these we now had this song stuck in our head all night while trying to sleep.
Hello Kitty on the prowl at midnight. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
The next day we planned to get the afternoon bus to Kuala Lumpur, meaning we basically had half a day to get out and see Malacca. So after an incredibly delicious breakfast at the hostel we left our bags and started exploring the city.
The historical part of town was just down the road from where we stayed. Old red colonial buildings built by the Dutch were the main attraction here, along with the picturesque nearby river. The place was buzzing with tourists and it was a shame that we couldn’t have stayed a bit longer to sit down at a cafe and enjoy the place. A walk up to the top of St Paul’s Hill to see St Paul’s Church gave a good view of Malacca and also helped burn off the cheeseburgers from the previous night.
Malacca Old Town. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
We continued on walking through the city, occasionally stopping at a shopping mall to cool off from the heat and humidity. The city centre itself doesn’t have a lot of interesting sights, so we kept moving until we made it to the ‘floating’ Malacca Straits Mosque.
Getting our muslim on. Photo: Callum Taylor
Technically it’s not floating, but it is known for being built extending out over the water. Marta and I both needed to change into the provided mosque-appropriate clothing to go inside, which greatly pleased Marta as she could wear her first proper headscarf. After a quick walk around though we had seen everything and taken more than enough selfies so we returned the clothing and went to the nearby cafe for some lunch.
It was here that Marta and I discovered the magic of steamed buns. We had seen them around in Malaysia already but hadn’t gotten around to buying some. What a mistake we had been making. We ordered five different types and savoured every bite. Where had these things been all my life?
Steamed happiness. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
Now that we had seen most of the city’s attractions, the most exciting point of our time in Malacca was upon us. A few days prior to arriving Marta had done some research on things to see and do and discovered that there was husky cafe here, creatively named the huskitory. Essentially it was just a place to sit and play with dozens of huskies. There’s no way Marta would be missing out on this.
We took a Grab from the mosque to the cafe where Marta nearly exploded from excitement. We had to wait for our session though so I was afraid she would break through the door in anticipation. When our time arrived she was straight in. I’m fairly confident that if someone had gotten in her way they would’ve been brutally wounded.
Not sure who was more excited, the dogs or Marta. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
The dogs finally came out to much excitement and I think Marta nearly peed herself. Food was the easiest way to get their attention as they didn’t seem to care for you if you were empty handed. Selfies were being taken from every angle, there’s no point visiting without one. Husky photos are also guaranteed to get major likes on Instagram. The real highlight was still to come though.
Once the dogs started to become noticeably tired they were led away back to privacy. When the staff members returned though the mood in the room became 100x more exhilarating. On each arm of each staff member were husky puppies. Everybody got to hold a puppy and I think it was at this moment that Marta found true happiness. Unfortunately, as they were puppies the interaction was only brief and reluctantly we gave our puppy back. It was now time to go.
Why have children when you can have a dog.
Saying goodbye to the huskies was tough for Marta but she remained strong and held back the tears. It was time for us now to find the bus to Kuala Lumpur. A quick taxi home to pick up our bags and then we were on our way to the bus station. It was likely that there would be awful traffic again as it was now just two days from Christmas. Hopefully we would arrive at a reasonable time.
Goodbye new friend. Photo: Marta Pascual Juanola
Fortunately for us there were still plenty of buses available and we were able to be on our way within 30 minutes. Normally it would only be a 2-3 hour drive, but we were expecting something more like four. Thankfully we had a self check-in AirBnB so the arrival time wasn’t an issue. However long it took, I had my twisties, Marta had her nap, and Christmas in the big city was awaiting us.
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