Malacca and Singapore

We jetted off to the other side of the world to attend one of Asher's friend's weddings and spend time with his family. The weather was just starting to turn in London so what better time to escape the cold and head for the tropics? Since the wedding was in Singapore, we flew in and out of Changi Airport but also spent a few days in Malaysia.

Having had a busy week at work juggling a conference and business, as usual, I was absolutely exhausted when I boarded my flight at Heathrow on a Friday night. Somehow, I managed the best sleep I've ever had on a plane and arrived in Singapore on Saturday evening feeling well slept and ready to go! We initially stayed at the Mercure in Bugis as this was near to the wedding that we were attending. There are plenty of places to eat and shop in this area so we headed out to have delicious Thai Boat Noodles for dinner on Liang Seah Street - so cheap and delicious compared to eating out in London! We then went out for a drink on Arab Street, a great place to visit if you're looking for somewhere to sit outside and enjoy live music.

The next day was the day of the wedding so we had a fairly relaxed time. We went out for an early lunch at Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodle and Bistro. As the name suggests the prawns are delicious. You just can't get food like that in London (without giving away your life's savings). We then wandered around the Marina Bay area before making our way back to Bugis so I could get my nails done - my usual treat whenever I'm in Malaysia or Singapore. The wedding was held at Chijmes, made somewhat famous by the Crazy Rich Asians movie.

The next day, we got up bright and early for our long bus ride to Malacca. As there isn't an international airport in Malacca, this is pretty much the only way to get from Singapore to Malacca (unless you have a car). Thankfully, the buses are quite comfortable but having to go through two border checks certainly makes the journey long. While we were in Malacca we explored the main sites. Jonker Street is the most popular destination in Malacca. This historic street is full of old shop fronts turned into shops, cafes, galleries and boutique hotels. The surrounding streets are also worth walking through.

We also walked along the river, where you will see a lot of street art. There are river cruises in Malacca but unfortunately, they stopped running while we were there due to the river being too high. We came across a really cute place to stop and cool down called Bikini Toppings. This little cafe serves everything coconut - fresh coconuts, coconut ice cream, smoothies etc. You can find it at 46 Lorong Hang Jebat.

Christ Church Malacca is a popular photo spot in the centre of Malacca. This old church was built while Malacca was a Dutch colony in the 18th century (this is very obvious from the style of the building). We also went up to St Paul's Church, which is more or less the ruins of an old church on a hill with a great view over Malacca.

Malacca is most famous for the amazing array of delicious food, especially Nyonya food. We visited a traditional Nonya restaurant on our first night, Restoran Nyonya Makko. The food is amazing and we tried so many dishes I can't even remember which was my favourite! We also visited a great Hakka restaurant, which was quite different from other Chinese food that I have tried. A visit to Malacca isn't complete without trying the chicken rice balls. You can find them very easily around Jonker Street and surrounding streets - they are essentially hand-rolled balls of rice served with chicken in the same style you would find in other areas of Malaysia, except the rice isn't usually in balls.

We explored an original Peranakan family home, which is now the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum. This beautiful old townhouse is still full of original furniture and photos of the family that lived there. I loved the open courtyard in the middle of the house - something more houses in hot climates should have!

We visited a new show, Encore Malacca, which tells the story of Malacca's history in a huge purpose-built stadium every evening. The show was very professionally done and had a huge number of actors and dancers - especially given the size of Malacca. There is also plenty of other entertainment in the evenings, including going for a joy ride on a Hello Kitty themed rickshaw complete with pop music pumping out of the speakers!

To wind down, I had an amazing one-hour Malay massage at the Casa del Rio hotel. We stayed in the new Doubletree by Hilton hotel which was slightly further away from the centre of Malacca, but easy enough to get around by Uber.

After three days in Malacca, we took the bus back to Singapore. We met a friend for dinner at Jumbo Seafood. The crab was so amazing - I'm dying for some more! Jumbo has a few outlets and is centrally located. While you can probably find better value crab in other areas of Singapore, Jumbo is easy to get to as a tourist. We went to the Jumbo near Clarke Quay, which made for a nice post-dinner walk.

We decided to get an Uber to Orchard Road after dinner to check out the Disney themed Christmas lights. I didn't originally think that I had any interest in this but quickly got carried away! There were a lot of fun photo opportunities - my favourite had to be getting in Cinderella's carriage.

The following day, I had some time to myself so I decided to check out Gardens by the Bay. I bought a double ticket to get into both the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. I personally preferred Cloud Forest as I was expecting different types of plants in the Flower Dome. It had a Mediterranean theme with a section dedicated to the South West of Australia - a bit too much like home for me to get excited about! That said, I think the plant display is changed regularly so it could be completely different next time. The whole Gardens by the Bay area is beautiful so it's definitely worth checking out.

I managed to sneak in a bit of unplanned shopping at the Marina Bay Sands after getting trapped by a torrential downpour - it's hard to resist when you can't leave! Even if you don't like shopping this is a good place to visit just to check out the lavish interior, including man-made canals with boat rides.

On the way home, we managed to check out quite a bit of the Harry Potter display at Changi Airport. Yes, that's right - we ran around for an hour taking photos and posting them on Instagram all so I could get a photo in a Harry Potter style robe. What better way is there to kill time while waiting for a flight?!