JustGo
Well-known Member
...apart from cooming options. There is no cooming activity in evidence on the street on Saturday night, despite Malacca being Malaysia's New Orleans. I have seen a few foreigners with Malaysian wives, however.
This city is one of the few tourist destinations I've been where the locals really love visitors. Value for cost is pretty great as well. Bar beers are far cheaper than Kuala Lumpur, and arguably even cheaper than Thailand. Had some happy hour beers at a bar tonight for only 8 RM apiece, under $2. A third the price of Bukit Bintang, and on par with Mexican cantina prices. The numerous riverfront bars charge 12-14 RM for a beer, under $3 at the current exchange rate, and the setting is very appealing. It beats San Antonio's Riverwalk, IMO. My room has a spacious balcony with glass sliding door and rattan privacy shades, located in a quiet neighborhood nestled in a bend of the river. At 11 PM, music and conversation carries across the city from all the bars and night markets, with traffic noise limited to the thoroughfares.
The non-motorized spaces throughout Malacca's city center are amazingly extensive, on par with a world-class European city and far beyond any other city I've visited in Southeast Asia. On Saturday night, virtually the entire historic district is closed to motorized traffic and opened to pedestrians. Even Mexico's famous plazas and paseos hardly measure up to the extensiveness of Malacca's walkable spaces. No FUCKING MOTORBIKES cutting down sidewalks and walkways either, only pedaled tricycles with bright lights, goofy decorations and blaring music that you can hire to cruise around the old town.
Malacca is a very musical city, especially on a Saturday night. Bars, restaurants, buskers, bicycles with loudspeakers, everyone's got some tunes going. Night markets are plentiful; Malacca has many more food stalls and small eateries than Kuala Lumpur, with many unique offerings. White foreigners are surprisingly rare here; Singaporeans, Chinese, and Southeast Asians make up about 97% of the downtown crowd. Because of this, being white means you often get special attention at local joints.
This city is one of the few tourist destinations I've been where the locals really love visitors. Value for cost is pretty great as well. Bar beers are far cheaper than Kuala Lumpur, and arguably even cheaper than Thailand. Had some happy hour beers at a bar tonight for only 8 RM apiece, under $2. A third the price of Bukit Bintang, and on par with Mexican cantina prices. The numerous riverfront bars charge 12-14 RM for a beer, under $3 at the current exchange rate, and the setting is very appealing. It beats San Antonio's Riverwalk, IMO. My room has a spacious balcony with glass sliding door and rattan privacy shades, located in a quiet neighborhood nestled in a bend of the river. At 11 PM, music and conversation carries across the city from all the bars and night markets, with traffic noise limited to the thoroughfares.
The non-motorized spaces throughout Malacca's city center are amazingly extensive, on par with a world-class European city and far beyond any other city I've visited in Southeast Asia. On Saturday night, virtually the entire historic district is closed to motorized traffic and opened to pedestrians. Even Mexico's famous plazas and paseos hardly measure up to the extensiveness of Malacca's walkable spaces. No FUCKING MOTORBIKES cutting down sidewalks and walkways either, only pedaled tricycles with bright lights, goofy decorations and blaring music that you can hire to cruise around the old town.
Malacca is a very musical city, especially on a Saturday night. Bars, restaurants, buskers, bicycles with loudspeakers, everyone's got some tunes going. Night markets are plentiful; Malacca has many more food stalls and small eateries than Kuala Lumpur, with many unique offerings. White foreigners are surprisingly rare here; Singaporeans, Chinese, and Southeast Asians make up about 97% of the downtown crowd. Because of this, being white means you often get special attention at local joints.
