Hariz & Sara 1st Melaka Trip

I know today is Wednesday and I used to do Wordless Wednesday on this very day. But since it's been ages this blog has not been updated, I owe you readers some words :)

We went to Melaka for this year's holiday. Why Melaka? Well my husband used to studied here for 4 years and he thought of paying a visit to his old place. Like walking down the memory lane. It doesn't really matter to me where we are going. I just like road trip! This will be the 2nd longest trip we have ever done with both kids. 1st was Terengganu (did I blogged about it?) which was 7 hours drive - no highway and now Melaka, 5 hours drive. The most challenging part for any mothers before going on a trip will be packing! Don't you all agree?? Especially when you have a toddler and a baby that just started on solid to bring along. I brought along all Sara's frozen food (homemade) and a steamer to heat the food. She's on 3 meals a day so times 3 days. I will blog about it in my next post. (soon i hope!)

Anyway, we took off from Penang at almost 1030am (initial plan was 9am), make a few stops at the R&R, and safely arrived at Ayer Keroh, Melaka at 3pm. I've already drafted our itinerary for the trip.

Yes you can say that I'm ambitious or well planned. Tapi orang kata kita hanya merancang, Allah yang menentukan. Betol tak? 

We decided to go to Melaka Botanical Garden since most of the parks close at 5.30pm. We rent a buggy - that we have to drive ourselves for 45mins. I think it was ok. So Wan drove the buggy halfway and we made a stop at this dinosaurs park. We didn't get to walk all around the park because of the time limit for the buggy. Kalau lambat 1 minit, we have to pay RM5/minute! So we snapped some photos and moved on. This time, I took the wheel (I've never drove a buggy before :P).

Once we are done with Botanica Garden, it was almost 6pm. We headed to our hotel (or should I say Inn) located at Melaka Raya. We booked a room at Fenix Inn and took Family suite that has 1 queensize bed and 1 single bed that cost us for only RM239 for 2 nights! I did some research on hotels and Fenix Inn has the highest rating in Agoda.com for the best budget hotel in Melaka. Well, they were right!

It was a shophouses converted into 3 storey hotel/inn. Our room located on the 1st floor and facing the main road. There's no lift so you have to take the stairs. I love the void area/airwell they have on the 1st floor walking towards our room.

The floor was made of laminated timber (easy to clean). The room is clean, new bedsheet and clean toilet. What I love about this hotel is although it is a budget hotel, it has been well thought of. They have a free valet parking for the guests, babycot upon request, drinking water dispenser at the hall for hot and cold water, in room kettle and coffee & tea. Sampai je bilik terus bagi Sara makan, bathe them and ready to go out for dinner. Oh did I mention the hotel is just next to Mahkota Parade, Dataran Pahlawan and this new building called Hatten? They are all just walking distance! So that night we went out to Dataran Pahlawan for dinner. Sadly, they don't offer a lot of variety there. Nak pegi Mahkota Parade dah macam malas sebab kena cross main road. So we settled for A&W je.

The next day, our planned kinda went into the drain because it's been raining cats and dogs since morning! We only managed to get out of the hotel at almost 12 noon!

(hotel lobby)

Changed of plans. We went to Mahkota Parade for brunch. I can't remember the last time I was here. Probably 8 years ago. There's nothing much to do there so we just jalan-jalan cuci mata. Hubs as usual dengan senQ dia. 

I found this Mother's Room and decided to take a peek. No men allowed in the room and there's a person waiting in the room probably to guard the place. Takot orang tido ke ape sebab comfortable sangat! I nak snap photo pon mintak approval dia. There's this play area with few toys. Saje bagi the kids main kejap. As I reckon, bila nak balik Hariz refuse to keluar. I have this vision that I have to drag him out of the room. Surprisingly, I managed to talk him out. Walaupun dia macam berat nak angkat kaki keluar. and we need to sign a guestbook before we leave the room.

It was almost 4pm and we headed straight to Butterfly Farm in ayer Keroh. Luckily for me Sara slept all the way from the moment we enter the farm until we were out of the farm. Hariz seems to enjoy his visit to the farm. Bought a few fridge magnets (1 dah pecah and 1 dah terkeluar magnet) and Hariz dapat 1 kipas Angry bird.

It was almost 6pm when we were done with the Butterfly farm, so we headed to Menara Taming Sari as our last visit. We didn't get to go to Jonker Street, A'famosa or took on the River Cruise. Probably on our next trip.

I am actually horrified of heights. I get dizzy and things started to spin when I look down from a higher level. Glad it was only for a few minutes.

Well, that's all for my Melaka trip. It was a fun and tiring. We stayed overnight in Selangor before returning to Penang. No photos though because Sara buat perangai and I was totally not in the mood for photos. Boohoo!

I hope the next trip will be better as Sara will be a little bigger and wiser. I hope! Till next time!