Last Backpacking Trip: Melacca

I might've lied when I called Cambodia as the end of my backpacking series. I actually headed to Melacca, Malaysia which is 4 hour bus ride away from Singapore with some friends last weekend. Leaving around 9 am in the morning, we got there around lunch time and to our surprise, everyone was taking lunch break *sighs*. Despite of the lunch break, we managed to find a cab driver who was still working over the lunch break and drove to the guesthouse in the Jonker Walk area. To our surprise (again), the guesthouse owner who also happened to live there was taking a lunch/nap break as well. We knocked and he welcomed us, giving a spare backdoor key aside from our room key in case he locks the front door (which also happens to be his t-shirt store and his office) when we get back.

Feeling hungry ourselves, we took a lunch break just like the locals did. We decided to have the legendary Famosa chicken rice balls. It was way better than regular Hainanese chicken rice.





All the interesting attractions are within walking distance from one another. So much Dutch and Portugese influences shown in their landmarks, which are remains from the European conquest of East Indies beginning in the 15th century. The overall highlight to me was definitely Jonker Walk and Baba Nyonya House. Jonker Walk turns to a night market after 6 PM where they sell a lot of souvenirs, antiques, and local delicacies. Baba Nyonya House, on the other hand, used to be a real house where a family of Peranakan merchants lived. Thanks to the Singaporean drama I've been watching titled "The Little Nyonya", I became really interested in the Peranakan cultures and stories.

Another highlight was definitely the food. Thanks to the same drama, I was so wanting to try the pongteh and ayam buah keluak. And of course, authentic nyonya laksa was a must-try.

The local snacks at Jonker Walk was unquestionably good as well. From the Nyonya kuihs to twisted potatoes, from Taiwanese omelettes to satay celup; everything was so delish!

Exchange Life Starts to Get Busy

General warning: please forgive me if this post and future posts are lacking in quality compared to the first ones. My life just got so much busier. Out of the 4 classes I'm taking here, 3 of them are group project oriented. I also caught a flu somehow somewhere. I went to the school clinic and was given some medications. Feeling much better now, thank God!

Since people were mostly away (general majority went to KL, Melaka, Vietnam), it was quite  a quiet weekend for me. I took the chance to catch up with some homeworks, readings, and projects mostly on Friday. Then on Saturday, I went to LEGOLAND! It was the grand opening day in Johor Baru, and I managed to secure a pretty nice Groupon deal that includes 2-way coach and admission. It was really nice to spend the day in a land full of my favorite toy ever as a kid. I got to play with majority of the rides since it was quite small. I was about to enter the driving range, but the guard said "Sorry, this is only for 6 to 13 year olds". Wkwkwkwk :D

Also, coming home from LEGOLAND, I was able to watch the special show celebrating Merlion's 40th birthday. It was pretty awesome and of course, ended with a bang from the fireworks.

A Kuala Lumpur Weekend

As promised on my last post, I would share with you about my weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur. It was amazing!

Waking up Friday morning to catch the 9 AM "luxury coach" there was a drag at first. But I was so thrilled to find out the "luxury coach" features massaging reclining seats which made the five-hour bus ride not bad at all. The city mass transport in Kuala Lumpur is very unreliable, so we walked to our first choice of hostel, Reggae, for about 45 minutes or so in the Chinatown area (it's a really great hostel, btw!). Recuperating from the ride, we spent the evening strolling around for bargain items in the Chinatown night market and chilling at the rooftop.


The only landmark we were dying to visit in KL city itself were the Petronas twin towers which are best viewed at night. Waiting for the dusk and our grand visit to the towers, we decided to go to Batu Cave which is about 20 minute train ride away. Climbing up its 272 steps was totally worthwhile since the view from up top was beautiful and we got to see some violent monkey fights at the main shrine. Our visit to Batu Cave was followed by a pursuit of Little India for a pursuit of some good Indian food. Apparently there were 2 Little Indias in the KL city, and we mistook the smaller one for the real one and the smaller one doesn't really have Indian restaurant. For the crave of Indian food, five of us hopped on a small taxi to the bigger Little India where we just went into whatever we found first. Aside from the way better quality of Indian food compared to University City's "Big 3" (Tandoor, New Delhi, Sitar), I grew to enjoy Indian snacks and desserts I have never seen in Philly.

The highlight of the trip was the guided hiking trip by Open Sky Unlimited on Sunday to Bukit Tabur, an hour drive away from the city. It was a sweaty hike under cloudy morning skies, but it was definitely worthwhile for the even more amazing view from the peak. After the hike, our guides Amos and Kevin took us for a special brunch to a local mamak restaurant as they educated us about their local food. All in all, they definitely gave us a really professional service.

The weekend had  to end, somehow. We finally packed and hit the bus station to come back to Singapore where another great week was just starting :)

Solo Adventure Followed by Another Great Week

Last Monday was a public holiday here in Singapore for Hari Raya observance. Since everyone else decided to sleep in, I took that opportunity to just explore on my own  some interesting faucets of Singapore that others most likely won't be interested in visiting. My adventure that day began at Chinese Garden, which is just a few MRT stops away. It's a really refreshing place to run, bike, and picnic. I almost forgot all the dynamics of industrious Singapore as I climbed the main pagoda and saw so many green :)

From Chinese Garden, I hopped on the MRT to Haw Par Villa or Tiger Balm Garden, which happened to be a tourist trap. Other than the not-so-aesthetically-painted Chinese folklore statues, there's really nothing else to it. However, after entering one of their attractions called "10 Courts of Hell", my heart was just amazed once again as I was reminded of how deep my Father's love is for me. He could've just poured all His wrath on me because as a filthy rugged sinner, I deserve punishment. As vivid as they were, the kinds of wrath I saw through statutes at that place would not probably compare to what I deserve. But the good news is He chose not to. Instead, He poured it our on His perfect son Jesus Christ so that I can be one again with Him and experience His grace and mercy.

As I continued to think of His love, I moved on to my next stop: Singapore Botanic Garden. For the interest of time and mom's love of orchids, I purposefully zoomed into just the Orchid Garden. I was really glad I went there since there were so many colorful and rare collections from around the world that I haven't seen before.


As far as campus life goes, this past week has been very dynamic and fun, thanks to Campus Clubs and Activities Fair. Beyond the freebies and free food, I think I've became interested in joining Deli Aprecio. Class activities have also picked up and I made more non-Business friends through my Engineering classes.

That's about it for now. Stay tuned for more updates on my Malaysia adventure this weekend :)