Malacca is a place I had only heard about because of the famous Straits of Malacca – but hell, when my friend described it as a UNESCO world heritage site with amazing food and quirky architecture, I said ‘let’s go’. And given it was just a couple of hours bus journey from Singapore, it sounded like a great weekend get-away.

Looking back at it, there’s not that much to say about Malacca. Yes, it’s a nice little town with some Portugese heritage that makes it look like old Mexican towns from Western movies. The streets are quaint and there’s a river crossing the whole town. There are hills with old church ruins on top providing nice views. And there’s a Hard Rock Cafe with an enchanting live band \,,/  Well…that makes it sound like any other town you’ll ever go to. But to be fair, Malacca has a lot of personality and charm and that’s not easy to reproduce in words.

Inside of the St. Paul Church Ruins on top of St. Paul Hill in Malacca

View of Malacca from St. Paul Hill

By FAR the best part of Malacca was the food though. I had the best sour plum juice ever in a little Caribbean Cafe. Some Carribbean plum juice you wonder? Speak to me again once you have tried it. Delicious is such an understatement. And definitely check out Geographer’s Cafe if you are there. It’s located in the very heart of the town.

Sourplum juice in Geographer’s Cafe

Geographer’s Cafe, Malacca

The best food we had was in a tiny little restaurant called Nancy’s Kitchen. We ordered 15 different Nyonya dishes (at least) and they were all spectacular. We did have to que for about 45 minutes in the hottest heat you can imagine, but I guess it was part of the experience. At night, the entire historic centre turns into a huge food market. Berno was the guy who organised the trip and he took some amazing photographs. Check them out HERE.

Johannes and I enjoying Nancy’s Kitchen

One thing that made me wonder about Malacca was the local obsession for Hello Kitty. Never seen quite as many pink kitten coloured tuk-tuks anywhere in Asia.

Hello Kitty Tuk-tuks downtown Malacca

There would be quite a lot more to write – such as our night out in the Hard Rock watching the women’s Roland Garros final in 2014 between Sharapova and Halep. Yet Malacca is one of those places that you may want to or may not want to see. There’s nothing spectacular enough to make it a ‘must see (other than the plum juice). But if you’re in the area  (Singapore or Kuala Lumpur) it sure is worth the trip. The food is delicious and the whole place is very pretty so you will certainly have a good time. Having said that, definitely check out Berno’s pictures. They do portray a very authentic image of the city.