Last weekend, my friend Karen and me made a trip to Melaka for some sightseeing! This time, she was my tour guide. It was a 3D/2N vacation and headed down South on the 17th Evening. Took us about 2 hours to get there. Mind you it was my first drive down south, so be gentle on me K?
Luckily, I had Karen as my navigator, and we eventually reached our destination.
Oh did I mention that the basis of the trip was to make use of a lucky draw for a stay at the Naza Hotel? The Deluxe room was HUGE! fitted with a long Sofa, king sized bed, TV and lots and lots of space! As much as I can describe the room. I just realized that I havent got a single picture of the room =.= but trust me its awesome! :)
The first night was just settling in after the journey. We were tired but hungry, and ended up taking a bite at the nearest KFC opened.
My first picture of the day :P
Our first point would be the Dataran Pahlawan @ Benda Hilir. A Famosa
Stadthuys
The Square The water mill The Ship We had lunch @ Zen when we figured our car was already summoned for not having a coupon. Most expensive parking in Melaka =.=
In the evening we headed to the most celebrated part of Melaka. Jonker Street! As lively as it was, we somehow could not find any nyonya food for at least half an hour.
Nancy's Kitchen, relative of Karen's was apparently visited by Lilian Too before. Great for tasting Nyonya food and snacks.
Next Day we went looking for more Nyonya Heritage places. First Karen took me too the oldest temple in Melaka. Showed me the oldest Mosque next to it too.
Then we went lookng for the Nyonya Heritage Museum, but be didnt go in (had to pay 5 bucks). We went to Hotel Puri which is apparently the hotel that they used to shoot "Little Nyonya"
Really a short trip. But Learnt and experienced alot of History and Culture ...not to mention food ....along the way.....throughly a Beginningless Journey in Heart...
Like to thank Karen for navigating and showing me around Melaka and accomodating to my photographic hobbies ^.^ Thank you so much for your time!
MX321 Flight to Havana Cuba or as they say on the Destination Board, 'La Habana'. INFO #1: According to the Mexican Embassy in Malaysia, Malaysians do not require a visa permit to Cuba. However, they will make you buy one on the way into the aircraft. So be prepared. Keep that and the boarding pass. You won't need the visa so keep it unless of course they ask for it. With your boarding pass and visa permit, you can bring it up to the embassy when you return to get it reimbursed...hopefully. AS with handling the Mexican embassy's secretary, she is a strict person so be sure to bring everything (passports, itinerary, fictious air tickets if you don't have any in hand and most importantly; youself in person. She will insist you see her even if you are in Kelantan).
Sigh....what a nice feeling to be in Cuba. Clean air, Kota Bharu airport, Melaka streets.
INFO #2: Cubans are a very closely knitted comunity. You can tell by the way they dance in the clubs, with practically everyone in one song. There are customs especially while driving. Give passing cars of ppl you know and courteous drivers the following sign language;The I Love You sign...as such...And The thumbs Up Whenever theres a hot chick walking down the street (mostly ladies in Red), it is polite to Honk and check out the chick (vacilala). We got a room at th 'Hotel Deauville' facing Old Havana City, the Lighthouse castle and the Sea. Room 1403 had a spacious floorspace and was on the top floor. Something compared to what you'd get in Sheraton with the same amount of money. After a night of rest, 5am was tossing and turning session. After awhile we gave up sleeping and decided to make breakfast. Second breakfast was at 630.
We went for a city tour. Saw the popular places of Havana, both new and old Cities, Citidel, Cuban Rum factory which also sells cigars, Havana Castle, and a walking tour along the Cuban streets. Most of which I have made into a video that has all the three days.
That evening we had a stroll along the streets to see what we could find. Unfortunately, 'Casa De La Musica' was setup for a Jazz performance training, so no salsa there. But there was this place called the 'Calleson de Jamel' that was suppose to be the place to learn the local dancers.
Looks familiar you Cyber-cafe peeps!? Anyway we went to 'Habana Cafe' thinking it was a club. But we saw more than that. There were 2 performances. one of which consisted of 4 musicians singing and making instrumental sounds with their mouth and hands. The other was a full blown performance of sexy Cuban ladies and muscular men dancing on stage showcasing the various Caribbean and African mix dances. There was a session for dancing after that. But they were too good, I couldn't enter the circle.
So I went to a lower level club called the 70's Cafe at the lower lobby of our hotel and danced there instead. They were more humble and let me dance with them though it was more of the samba type of music by the time I got there.
Next day, we took a tour that led us to a forest reserve hours away from the City. There, we were shown a park that was reforested by the government and is listed by UNESCO. Completely healed with a man made lake as well. Such a beauty.
We were also brought to see a house that was owned by a French family who used the area to produce coffee. Complete with a coffee area, a house and slave quarters. A stream where people can soak or swim was next on the agenda. It was a beautiful sight of greenery and well all things nature.
Lunch was fantastic.
Apart from learning the political and sociological stands of Cuba to the world, from Amielo our guide, We made some new friends 3 from California(Shoshana, Ken and Aura) and 1 from France (Daniel Brun).
We were recommended to see this play called 'Cecilla Valdez' which was confusing at first. But thanks to Aura, the Spanish musical made sense.
And so it was time to adjourn the trip back to Mexico city. Stay tuned for PArt 3: Return to Mexico! P.S Enjoy the Video-slide!
A Famosa
Stadthuys
