Me and my dear embarked on our first solo Malaysia trip. Solo as our previous foreign outings always have a large bunch of singapore bikers bringing me around, hence no fear of lost or bike breakdown or whatever...

The destination - Melaka. A small town in West Malaysia, known for it's touristy environment, Dutch/Portugese/Peranankan heritage and home of gula melaka, reknowned chendol and stuff nonya. All the photos here.

Before that, some preparaton required, namely

1. what to do - www.melaka.net, www.singaporebikes.com
2. what to eat - www.melaka.net
3. where to stay - Hotel Puri, BaBa House, Riveria Bay, Aldy Hotel, Hotel Equitorial
4. how to go! - From Hotel Equitorial website, From Hotel Puri website, using the Malaysia map that I have, and lastly invaluable advice from my biker kakis: 'exit Ayer Keroh, follow the Pusat Bandar sign!'

Day 1

Set off 8 PM from AMK. Went to Tuas and took the 2nd link. A quick pump at GP Esso, and off we go at average speed of 110-130 km/h. Fuel stop at Machap and Pagoh (though they were a precaution more than a necessity). Exit Ayer Keroh (no. 231) and followed the Pusat Bandar sign to Melaka. The roads from here onwards were all lit and traffic was actually quite brisk at 1130 pm. Reach hotel Puri and checked in! Drink tea, bathed, watch some cartoon then sleep...

Day 2

Woke up at 7+, had breakfast at Hotel Puri. For some reason ShuHann keeps popping into my mind, cos he's the only person I know that complain or rather expect some greatness from hotel's breakfast... Anyway, it was a buffet spread of fried mee, pancakes, wedges, bread and baked beans.

We then took a short tour of the hotel. The hotel is huge, although the front is only the width of a typical shophouse, It's long enough to house a basketball court! There are some nice antique and quaint furniture, but I'm most impressed by the swallows in the hotel. They were all busy, heads hidden in their nest and spitting saliva...yes, we saw bird's nest in the making!

Then we make our way on foot to the historical sight of Melaka. With places like A Famosa (cannons), Dutch buildings (all painted red!), some churches etc... However, all these were pretty...small scale, not as impressive as I though. Heck even Fort Siloso is slightly more interesting!

The famous Jonker street in early daytime. On weekends the roads are closed and there'll be a night market.	St Paul's church. Pretty much old walls, stone carvings and a one handed Mr Paul.

One handed Paul. Or is it Francis Xavier?	Nope, those are not tombstones. No idea what they are. Old version of bill boards perhaps?

View from the church, It's on top of a small hill...	Guitar toting old man. Maybe it's the good acoustic?

Red walls, as mentioned...	Don't know why is this here, but you don't find this in Singapore!

Dutch maritime musuem I think, disguised as a big ship.	A Famosa - doesn't look as delicious as it sounds... Supposedly very old.

Ah well, since it wasn't very interesting, we took a number of self-portraits for entertainment....

After this morning 'sun tan and stroll', we went back to Hotel Puri to check out (because they have no room for us this day) and transferred to opposite BaBa House. It was cheaper by RM 30, and it shows in the faulty WC, not so updated decor, CMI toilet (the toilet paper is located underneath the shower head! Use your blain use your blain!) and only 4 local channels on TV. But then location is just as good as Hotel Puri and we were not fussy as (and here he pops into my mind again) ShuHann...

For the afternoon itinerary, we decide to give our legs some rest and took the bike out. But first, lunch at Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant.

er...whoever is going to Melaka, please try other stalls, like Chung Hwa just next to Hoe Kee... Because this spread (though filling and taste quite good) cost an exhorbitant RM31!! FISH!

THen we got lost a bit trying to find Bukit Cina, which we found out to our dismay is just a chinese cemetary on top of a hill. Yes more climbing! And we got further lost as we try to find Portugese Square, only to find that the square is actually a pub/restaurant/seafood place (something like Marina South) admist a true Portugese town...which only operate at night! At 2 pm, under the freaking hot sun, we decided to proceed to Makhota Parade, the biggest shopping mall in Melaka.

Well perhaps big in Melaka, but having experience MBK, The Mall in Korat or even the new Marina Centre, the Makhota isn't any fascinating. But I did purchase a model of MV Agusta SPR and...one box of underwear. Still, it's worth a visit and may take up to 2+ hours of your time, if given more attention. My dear isn't really a shopper though :-)

And it's bloody hot! Look at the tan on Jo's shoulder, although we're just in the sun for less than 4 hours!

So we decide to head back to the cool (but sparse) hotel room, with ice cold chendol to wash away the heat. Fell sleep after that..... Awoke at 7+ and head for the night market at Jonker's street

Once again, Melaka failed to amaze me...literally. Perhaps going to night markets in Thailand isn't a good way to get introduced to other night markets. Finished it in 20 minutes, went for dinner at this (from hotel's recommendation) restaurant called Ole Sayang along Jln Melaka Raya. It serves baba/nonya dishes. Taste good, but nothing spectacular. Although (thankfully) it's cheaper than the freaking chicken rice!

After dinner, decide to go back to hotel (it's really warm leh) and watch Shi Zi Lu Kou with a bottle of Heinekken!

Day 3

Next morning, checked out and came back to Singapore uneventfully (hotel breakfast quite pathetic though...). Though the trip may seem uninteresting and short of attractions to see, there are actually some spots which were planned but cancelled due to timing or weather. Maybe next time perhaps?

• Gedong hot spring (KNN so hot still go hot spring?)
• Umbai grilled fish (along road to Muar, 1 hr away!)
• A Famosa water theme park
• Beaches? Scenic place?
• Tesco and other shopping mall?
• Portugese Square at the right time
• Red light district? Nightspots? hehe...always interested in this..to look see only lah!
• More food tasting! Along Jln Melaka has many restaurants. Not to mention the weird stuff in Jonker area. Satay celap, pineapple tarts, more chendol, Baba and Nonya stuff...

Where to next? Genting? KL? Penang?

V: "This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Evey :"are you like, a crazy person?"...

Some more animated gifs!

And now, something to look forward too..but darn, it's in 2007...

...so I can watch the fucking Final Fantasy Concerts!!

It started with 20020202...

http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/20020220/index.html

The response was very good in Japan, and with the hunger of the Americans for Japanese stuff (anime, PS2) and no doubt also the lure of their shiny green dollars, Uematsu unleashed the power of game music played live once again...

http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/concert/dear_friends.html

And of course it's a huge hit! So they decide to do....a TOUR! In bloody US only though....sigh....

What spark this post? First thing: an incidental find on a bittorrent site led me to this:

http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/concert/more_friends.html

It's one of the 'tour' concerts but what's unique is that it has a CD recording! Owls arranging a medley of FF VII songs (he promised...) should need a copy of this for some inspiration. The CD started with the usual applause, then the errie but yet familiar long, high notes, echoed by a harp...the starting theme one hear when one play FF VII! I didn't think it was nice when I played the game (oh well, not as 'outstanding' as FF VIII opening theme at least...) but here it's brilliant!

The second reason? Haha...because Masak played a Final Fantasy theme song not too long ago, last saturday at Genus concert! And yes, it's because I was searching for that version of Suteki Da Ne (the one I had has a different solo) that I chance upon More Friends....

On a side note, I must say our performance as a whole it's quite alright, though we were a little too fast (my fault I think!) and the sound balance is not right. But who cares, as the audience is mesmerised by the fine flute playing from Owls and flawless solo by Shu Hann?

ps...support original! Buy one for me here!

Well, not those Jack Neo's type, but the indie or rather smaller scale production that for some strange fucking reasons, never got publicised nor distributed around.

Except the Tammy video of course....

Well I think the hype for local produced short films started with Royston Tan's 15, a story of young ah bengs or punks. Won some prizes of course, but how many people have watched it? I have the 30 min if you want, email me, or you can watch a slightly low res version at http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZXcpTjNUPp8

But what spark this blog is the new short film by Jacen Tan. He was slightly well known in his previous successful short film Tak Giu ('kick ball') and now he has another one call Zo Peng ('enlist army').

Must watch! Too bad for those with no broad band though...

Yup, yesterday was my 27th Birthday. So just in case you're desparate for a gift and also more desparate to get into my good shoes, here are some nice little playthings you may wanna consider....

Update: I am so tempted to buy this (click link).... but S$135....OMG...

Presenting..... Final Fantasy Advent Children toy set!

The Bad guys....

The good guys...

And the cool guy...

*rubs hands with glee....*

Well Michelle said she did some 'magic' to her blog and that I can't locate it in google or technorati....well she's right!

Anyway, as usual curiosity got the better of me and I tyoe 'snowparang' into technorati...and found this: http://cowboycaleb.liquidblade.com/index.php/archives/2005/10/18/liddat-still-can-blog/

But still I'm still left wondering how she got to know your blog....anyway, have you done the meme? Mine is done but I do not know who to link to....

Ah dui, dear Karen tagged me with this disease called Meme but didn't give specific instructions...but somehow I managed to understand..

Five weird habits of mine:

1. I bite my nails and tap my front tooth using my thumb nail when I'm thinking
2. I WILL fall asleep in a moving land vehicle (bus, car, taxi), even if the journey is only 5 minutes.
3. I breath through my mouth.
4. No matter how badly dried up, bloodied or painful my lips are I do not use lip balm!
5. I can fall asleep (and comfortable so) in a kneeling position, body curled over and head on the ground in front of my knees. My friends call it the 'Mecca sleeping technique'! I've used this to great advantage on uncomfortable long distance bus rides, wet and cold moutain hikes and any other places where I find it a little too hard to fall asleep...

Unfortunately I still have not though of who to link this to....so this is incomplete ok....

Well for those who don't know, I'm actually allergic to Paracetamol or Panadol. So please don't feed me with these common medication!

But that's only slightly relevant to this post. I'm still in Thailand, and as you can see from my previous blogs good food is abound in this Land of Smiles.

So are some.....Fear Factor food...

In a nutshell, the worms (those they buy in aquarium to feed the Jin Long Yu and LuoHan) taste quite good actually when fried well, with a strange nutty taste. The slightly fatter worms, though, has a slightly squishy centre which may not be THAT palatable to the common man.

But that's nothing compared to what I'm going to try:

The pincers are very hard! And crunchy as expected. I do not know what seasoning they used to fry the bug, but it taste vaguely like....chicken essence? The head though, is nice, with the right blend of crispiness and taste.

The adomen part, however is TERRIBLE! Soft and bitter, it fit the taste of what I imagined an insect will taste like!

The best part is, after eating the 2 pincers, the head and half the adomen, I began to feel an itch around my lips and mouth! OMG. Then I began to feel dry in the throat......I had a similiar situation when I ate an innocent looking sandwich, which later developed into red rashes around my whole face....

So I just gulped own a bottle of water and 'detox' with some mangoes and fried bah kua....seems to help! Lucky ah, else cannot imagine the consequences when they knew I report sick because...I ate a scorpion!

Who wants? I can pack a few from here to Singapore...

A typical biker's outing goes like this....

• Forum/SMS/whatever info is passed: Meet at GP (Geylang Patah) Esso, which is basically the first Esso petrol kiosk you'll see northbound from Singapore on NSHW, at xx:xx time.
• xx:xx time plus 30 minutes, all except one is present.
• Contacted the lost sheep - KNN first time in 2nd link and lost the way!
• xx:xx time plus 50 mins, finally everyone here.
• Travelled in convoy (bikes in zig zag formation, around 100 km/h). Because most of the bikes are below 200 CC, we took the leisurely pace. Else it will be 'clear carbon' session, whereby all bikes will hit top speed in around 15-25 seconds (and that's around 180 km/h - 300 km/h depending on what bike)...
• Reach the place, secure a good parking slot (with the help of the restaurant owner preferably.)
• Take 20 minutes to order food...and irrespective of where or what restaurant, they will ask for their favorite Malaysian food. Like Yue Guang He Fen, Ma Lai Feng Guang etc.
• Food arrives! What was a supper session turns out to be a feast...as shown:

Cereal prawns, sweet/sour pork, fried fritters with fishcake.

Chili crabs - it was a promotion period, at RM$26 per kg! Cheap!

Mee goreng and sambal fried rice
 

Crab fried with salted eggs. First time eating this, nice! Did I mention crabs were at promotion rate?

Last but not least, frog legs with chicken essence. Yes they poured one bottle of chicken essence into the boiling frog legs. Suppose to match tongkak ali...

And after everything is gobbled up and paid (about RM$27 per person), photo time just before we suit up and head home.

Yes it rained while we were taking the bloody photo. But reached SIngapore uneventfully. This blog is late because the person who took the photos were unable to post it up on time. And for some reason the fantastically taken photos (Nikon D50, no less!) was posted with a measly 320 x 213 resolution...hence the small size.

So who wanna join me in the next Biker's makan trip?