Melaka With Kids: What We Did In Melaka!

Melaka Trip - August 2017

Ever since I found out that there is a direct flight from Penang to Melaka via Malindo Air, I immediately booked air tickets as I have not been to Melaka since I was a little girl myself. 

Our family of 5, together with my mum just came back from short trip to Melaka this week itself.

Melaka is quite fun for kids, although the weather is hot and humid just like in anywhere else in Malaysia. Just remember to wear your hats & sunnies, keep hydrated and bring along portable fans for the kids if possible.

Or just be like us, go out early in the morning and then go back to hotel to rest after lunch. At about 4-5pm, venture out again until night time. :)

This is a condensed version of what we did during our trip to Melaka. Have fun and be inspired. 

1. Stay In A Heritage Hotel

We stayed 1 night at the Courtyard @ Heeren, located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (formerly known as Heeren Street). It was just the next road to Jonker street, so it was the best location ever; happening yet quiet enough.
The hotel itself is beautiful, if you appreciate the beauty of traditional things like me.

I think the experience of staying here is very different (from the other hotel we shifted to the following day) and I really recommend staying at the heart of the Unesco Heritage town for at least a night or two. Everything is just a throw stone away and you will feel the liveliness of the city.



3. Walk Along the Busy Streets of Melaka Town

Like I mentioned, we armed ourselves with hats and sunnies and portable fans and we braved the weekend crowd to walk along the streets of Melaka town.
It was fun seeing how similar it was to Georgetown in Penang and yet so different (same same but different!).

4. Walk Along Jonker Night Market

 

Make sure the kids take a short nap in the afternoon before conquering this Jonker Night Market. It's quite a long stretch for kids to walk, so if your kids are small, bring along a stroller or be prepared to piggy back them.
We went early at about 7pm when the sun was still up until the night turns dark.

We went there in search for dinner. However, there were many duplicate food stalls though to my disappointment. But then we also scored some really nice food such as this really delicious Japanese Yakitori. We had the most awesome grilled squid and scallop yakitori with mentai at only RM10 for 3 sticks.

And also these grilled oysters, prepared fresh for you on the spot. You could see the people shucking the oysters in front of you, the grilled them for you with your desired toppings. We took the garlic and cheese toppings and they tasted really good.

Kids loved the grilled sausages on sticks and the long french fries.
But what they loved most was that they scored some souvenirs there, a rubber sling shot gun, a handmade crossbow, some handmade sparkling key chains and also a rainbow bracelet each.
Even Vern scored himself a Pooh bear drum winding toy.
Needless to say, many things were bought by Pho-pho. So, please bring along the grandma for maximum pampering session of the kids. haha.

When the kids couldn't walk anymore, pho-pho offered to bring them back to the hotel (which was just at the next road), while hubby & I went out again to try more food and to tar-pau back more food for mum!

5. Be A Chef at Lil Monster Kitchen @ Mamee Jonker House

My kids' highlight of the whole Melaka trip is this, especially for Khye.
They had a hand in making their favourite Mamee Monster Snack, from mixing the dough, to flattening the dough and churning them into strips of noodles through the machine, to flavouring it, etc.

Donned with a chef hat and an apron, they also customized their own Mamee Monster Snack packaging. I think we spent like almost 1 1/2 hrs there.
(There are 2 workshops there; creating your own Mamee Monster Snack, or the Mamee Cup Noodle)

This is my kid's favourite activity in Melaka, especially Khye who announced that he wants to be Malaysia Masterchef!
Kids super stoked with their Mamee Monster Snack creation and of course into the tummy they go!

6. Stroll along the Melaka River

It is also very nice and pleasant to walk along the river banks of the Melaka River. The pathway is good and the 'lil breeze makes it a nice stroll.

We stopped to watch a street performer singing some really nice songs there. He could sing in many languages and songs of many countries. And the thing that captured our attention was the little monkey in front of him.
The moment he strummed his guitar, the monkey danced, and when it stopped, the monkey stopped dancing. We saw no wires or so whatever. So unless the monkey works on wifi, I don't know how he did it! Haha.

We stopped to listen to him sing for quite awhile, with Vern clapping his hands and saying "more more more". And yes, he earned quite many bucks from us but I think he deserved it!

The beautiful Melaka River behind.

7. Get Your Kids (Or Even Yours) Caricature Drawn 

While we walked along the River Walk, we saw a caricature artist. The price was reasonable at only RM10 for a black-and-white portrait. So we got him to draw the caricature portraits of the kids.
Needless to say, they were ecstatic at having their portrait drawn by a professional for the first time!

  

Kids with their caricature portaits. 

Now, I need to get some frames to frame them up so that I can hang them in the house.
Please let me know where I can get frames at a decent price? They are of drawing block size.




8. Cruise Along the Melaka River

It was such a bargain and really worth it. At only RM10.60/adult and RM5.30/child for Malaysians on weekdays, we cruised the Melaka River for 40 mins.

This is the boat/ferry we sat in.

During the breezy ride, we saw many bridges, beautiful heritage houses, cafes and restaurants lining the river walk area, and lotsa good graffiti/street art on the buildings which add to the atmosphere of the place.

My kids of course loved to be on a boat ride. Another highlight of theirs. 

This should be on every tourists' list.

9. Food Hunting in Melaka

A trip to Melaka is never complete if we don't eat the famous food there, like their Nyonya Cendul, their famous Melaka laksa, Nyonya Food, and Gula Melaka-everything.

I love their Gula Melaka ondeh-ondeh. This one was really good, especially when I had it warm.
Shern also loved the Gula Melaka popsicle.

We wanted to try their Satay Celup but then hubby & I were down with tummy problem on the last day so we didn't manage to go.

We however, went to 2 Nyonya restaurants.
Restoran Nyonya Makko's food was pretty decent. My favourite from there is their Sambal Prawn Petai, Sotong dish and their Nyonya Cendul was one of the best I tried in Melaka (and I tried a few!).

Any's Heritage Nyonya Cuisine is the other Nyonya restaurant we tried and it was sooooo good we went back twice!

I loved almost everything they served there. Their fried chicken was the bomb. My kids (and adults too!) super loved this! My favourite has got to be their Prawn Lemak Nenas curry. Super super nice and a must order!

(Hope I have time to do a separate post on the food we ate in Melaka!)

10. Cafe Hopping Nearby Jonker

Along Jonker street itself, there are many really nice and quirky cafes serving really good food.
We managed to visit three of the cafes during our short trip there.

We loved The Daily Fix Cafe @ Jonker Street which served really nice and fluffy pancakes with Gula Melaka, and also very nice Smoked Duck Aglio Olio Pasta. The Carbonara Pasta was really delicious too.
This cafe has an ambiguous store front. The store front sells Nyonya souvenirs and you would have to walk past the shop to see the hidden gem of the Daily Fix cafe.
Behind the cafe, it reveals this quirky cafe.

And the other cafe we visited was the Calanthe Art Cafe @ Jalan Hang Kasturi with its rustic and creative shopfront. The interior was just as quirky and their Calanthe Nyonya Laksa was really delicious.

The Geographer's Cafe, I visited with my mum late at night only for a drink and to listen to their live band. (see #16)



11. Pose with the Strongest Man in Melaka

We found this along Jonker street and we had fun posing with this strongest man in Melaka. Here is one of Shern who is flexing his muscles just like him!

12. Conquering A'Famosa and St Paul's Hill

We woke the kids up early to visit this historical place before the sun was up. But then we ended up leaving the hotel only at 9-ish am.
They were fascinated when we told them how the Portuguese built this fort overlooking the river to protect Melaka from the enemies.

The kids enjoyed seeing the canons and made it like a game while climbing up the hill and playing at the many windows of the facade.

At the foot of St. Paul's Hill, there were some transport on displaty. We saw a train, a jet plane, a fure truck and also a traditional bullock cart.
My kids being transports fans, we couldn't help but stopped awhile for them to admire these beauties.

 

 

Walked a little towards town and we came to the Red Dutch Building / Stadhyust. Nothing much here that interest the kids except to take a few photos of this iconic Melaka attraction.

13. Visit the Maritime Museum

This was in our plan, but then when we reached here, it was a little too late as it closed at 5.30pm. So we just posed for a photo in front of this giant ship.
This one's just next to the Melaka River Cruise.

14. Visit the Submarine Museum 

We took Uber all the way (~20 mins ride) to Klebang to visit the Submarine Museum because my kids are fans of all kinds of transport. And submarine is not something you get to see quite often.
It was a pity that it was a rainy day and so it was more difficult to walk around. But nevertheless, the kids had fun.

But it was quite a small place and not much were on display except for the submarine and 2 jet planes. You get to go inside the submarine but it was not an elaborate museum. But it was still fun though.

But at only RM5/adult and RM2/child, I can't really complain.
But I would say that unless you or your kids are a submarine buff, you may skip this place.



15. Try-On/Buy a Baju Kebaya
Trying on a Baju Kebaya was in my itinerary because I know there is a much wider selection of it in Melaka. This shop is just next to our hotel at Heeren Street. I think it is called Sixty 3 Heritage. The sales person was really friendly and mum & I spent some time here admiring the beautiful kebayas.

Love that this shop is also situated in a heritage building, which adds to the charm. 

16. Go For A Drink At A Nearby Cafe With Live Band

While hubby was on sleep duty with the kids, my mum & I went out to grab a drink at the nearby happening cafe called Geographer's Cafe.

It was nice drinking beers and just hanging out with my mum while listening to a lady belting out oldies and current hit songs.
Loved that she even sang some Indonesian songs that I haven't heard for a lonnnngg time like "Madu dan Racun" and "Si Jantung Hati"..

 

That's the condensed version of what we did in Melaka for 5 days and 4 nights!
Hope you all enjoyed this post and have fun planning your own Melaka trip with your family!
Cheers!