Weekend at Rosa Malacca, Mamee Jonker House & Muar

DAY 1

We decided to join the Hubby's 2nd brother and family on a road trip to Malacca during the June school holidays. We headed to Malacca separately as they wanted a longer trip whereas we'd only wanted to stay for 2 nights.

We crossed customs at around 8am and had breakfast at one of our favourite restaurants, Restoran Tong.

The restaurant's first customers for the day!

Gotta have two pots of their famous bak kut teh!

We continued on our journey after breakfast and experienced slow traffic to Malacca. The journey was longer than expected and we only arrived at our accommodation after travelling for almost 3 hours! 😓

We expected that our room would not be ready so we left our luggage at the Front Desk. We also left our car at the carpark and took a Grab to Jonker Street as it was difficult to find parking at Jonker and Grab was convenient and affordable. 

We met up with the rest of the family at Peranakan Mansion for lunch.

Peranakan Mansion
(Address: 108, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia)

The restaurant was well-decorated

We experienced the feeling of dining in a rich Peranakan's home

Blue butterfly pea tea, spring rolls and fried sambal squid

Kueh Pie Tee

Chendol, otah and fried egg

You can't really travel to the 'Land of Peranakan' and without eating Peranakan food! 😆 It's a must to try their chendol! 

We walked to MAMEE Jonker House to check out their new MAMEE Factory where the kids personalised their own cup noodles. The exterior looked the same as the last time we had visited in 2016 but the interior had been completely revamped!

Due to space constraints, only participants with a purchased cup each can enter the Noodle Doodle area. We got the kids a cup at MYR 15 each so the Eldest had to take care of the Littlest (I decided to wait for them outside).

MAMEE cup noodle container

Colouring and designing their cups

They were fortunately able to sit together despite the packed room!

Watching their cup noodles being made!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madeline Heng (@madpsychmum)

It reminded me of a smaller version of the Nissin Instant Ramen Museum we'd visited in Osaka! It's worth a visit, though I would suggest to avoid peak periods (it's just too crowded)!

We explored the rest of Jonker Street, which looked the same but different than we had remembered! 😅

Jonker Street and Christ Church Melaka

Malacca River

We took a Grab back to our accommodation, Rosa Malacca, the same hotel as our last trip in 2022.

We enjoyed our previous experience with the Family Suite and booked it again this time at $268 per room per night (inclusive of breakfast for 6 adults).

More details of Rosa Malacca and our Family Suite in my previous post

We relaxed in the hotel until it was time for dinner. The family decided to return to Jonker Walk to explore the night markets.

At the other end of Jonker Walk

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madeline Heng (@madpsychmum)

We had dinner at Sumika, a Japanese restaurant in the area.

Noodles at Sumika

Various yakitori and small dishes

Family photo (missing one nephew)

I don't have a good experience with Japanese food in Malaysia in general and this restaurant was 

We got so much done on just the first day! 😆

DAY 2

We had our breakfast at the restaurant of our hotel. It was simple but good enough for our large family.

Small spread of breakfast food

Noodles and porridge station

We spent some time after breakfast relaxing in our room. After all, it is a vacation! 😄

At around 11am, we headed to Cottage Spices as the popular restaurant tends to get very crowded during lunchtime.

Cottage Spices Nyonya Restaurant
(Address: 171, Jln Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia)

We ordered a whole table of Peranakan food! 😋
We definitely may have over-ordered... 😅

More Peranakan food, especially the Chendol!

The food was good! We all enjoyed it a lot! 😄

After lunch, the family returned to Jonker Walk via Grab. While the rest of the family did whatever their hearts desired, I brought my girls to a nail salon so that we can get our pedicures. There were only two manicurists available so while they worked on my girls, I got a massage for my legs and back!

Getting our pedicures

Littlest likes getting pedicures but she couldn't sit still long enough for the nails to dry! The poor manicurist had to keep reapplying! She was so patient! 😬

When we were done, we took a Grab to Mahkota Parade to meet up with the family. Before we can do any shopping, the family decided to walk over to Restoran Tong Sheng early to start queuing for dinner. The restaurant was still as popular as the last time we visited! 

There was already a snaking queue by the time we arrived at around 6pm! We queued for more than an hour before we finally got a table at 7.15pm. We then waited for 40 minutes before we were finally served our food! ☹️😖 It was 8pm by then and we were all starving! 😮‍💨

Restoran Tong Sheng
(Address: 171, Jln Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia)

The restaurant's most famous dish: Crab beehoon! 😋

The fish was large and fresh! Very yummy!

Various other dishes we ordered

Honestly, the food was good but definitely not good enough for us to wait for almost 2 hours! Our time would have been much better spent elsewhere! 😕 It's unlikely that we'll return.

By the time we were done with dinner, it was about 8.40pm. The Eldest and I decided to make one last dash to Mahkota Parade to do some last minute shopping at Oh!Some.

This store reminded me of KKV in Batam! We bought loads of cute stuff!

The Eldest and I wanted to hit 10k steps so we decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking a Grab. It wasn't the distance so much as we were 2 females walking at night that concerned me a bit! But we did it! It was a good workout! 💪🏻 

DAY 3

After breakfast, we relaxed in our room until it was time to check out. On the way back to Singapore, we made a stop at Muar for our favourite Cheng Boi Otah! We would always get our otah from here whenever we get to stop by Muar! 

Visiting Muar just for our favourite Cheng Boi Otah! 😋😅

Just as we had done the last trip, we had lunch at Xin Yang Seafood Restaurant. Food was amazing!

A special dish of prawn dips and crispy shells

Yummy food we ate! 😋 

With our stomachs full, we headed back to Singapore via Johor Bahru. There was a slight delay due to heavy traffic so by the time we arrived at Restoran Uncle Pou Wok, it was 6.40pm and we were just in time for dinner! 😅 We usually visit the outlet at Bukit Indah so it's our first time at the Taman Pelangi outlet.

Restoran Uncle Pou Wok Taman Pelangi 
(Address: 26, Jalan Abiad, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim)

Their famous charcoal boiled steamboat and fried noodles 😋

It was a great way to end our short road trip! 😃 

~~~~~~

P.S: Here're our experiences with accommodations in Malacca:

• 2014: Hatten Hotel
• 2015: Hallmark Crown Hotel
• 2017: Estadia Hotel
• 2018: Imperial Heritage Hotel
• 2022: Rosa Malacca

~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Malacca, Malaysia 

as well as other travel itineraries!

Do also check out my recommendations on kid-friendly activities in Malaysia!

Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!

HCMC II Day 3-4: Saigon City Tour, Cafe Apartments & Flight Home

DAY 3

It was bright and sunny this morning as we walked to Pho Viet Nam in search of breakfast. The restaurant was well known for their, you guessed it, pho!

Condiments and sauces

Watch the chefs work at the open kitchen

Menu

The price is higher than other restaurants but you get much better quality meat. The soup was fantastic!

Drinks (left) and tendon soup (right)

Yummy beef pho

After a satisfying breakfast, we explored the nearby Ben Thanh metro station. The Vietnamese finally welcomed the opening of their first metro line in December 2024 after waiting for many years! 🎊 The metro was very new and modern, though the ticket machines were strangely not yet operational.

One of Ben Thanh Station's Exits

The area surrounding the metro station

View of our hotel, Silverland Ben Thanh, from the park across the road 

The sun was too scorching hot to stay out in the open for long so we headed to the hotel to take a Grab to the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon, which was located just 10 minutes away. I was actually surprised to see that the cathedral was under construction when we arrived!

Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon

Surrounding areas of the famous cathedral

Just opposite of the cathedral was the famous Saigon Central Post Office, which I mistook for a train station at first glance because it looked a lot like the train stations I had seen in London! 😅

Saigon Central Post Office

My favourite photo of the trip!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madeline Heng (@madpsychmum)

The famous Ho Chi Minh City Book Street was also conveniently located opposite the cathedral.

Ho Chi Minh City Book Street

Lots of shops

We walked for about 15 minutes to the nearby Diamond Plaza, hoping to find a supermarket to load up on groceries. Unfortunately the mall only had a small K-Market.

Diamond Plaza

K-Market

We bought some snacks for the kids and took a Grab to The Cafe Apartments.

The building became famous for its many cafes and shops!

Financial buildings in the area, including a large high-definition screen

The statue of Ho Chi Minh and The People's Committee Hall just down the street

As we scanned all the restaurants at the Cafe Apartment, Chocovine caught my eye and we decided on it because the younger kids and I love chocolate! 🍫 We forgot to count to determine which floor the restaurant was on and I'd decided to press the lift button based on my gut feeling (yes, I'm an ENTJ!). 

And what do you know, I was right! 😜 

You'd need to pay an Elevator Fee to ride the elevator but it's really cheap

We got a nice big table for my big family (left) and enjoyed the view from the balcony (right)

View from the balcony

Chocovine menu

Sausages and drinks

Grilled chicken

Chocolate Signature Blended (left) and Chocolate Fondue (right)

Exploring the shops in the building after our lunch

After an enjoyable lunch, we boarded a Saigon Electric Buggy for sightseeing in the city!

Spacious seating for 6 people with a table

Map of the attractions

Just nice for our family

Enjoying the drive

Saigon River

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens and various museums

Independence Palace

Saigon Opera House

Statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of The People's Committee Hall building

We asked the Buggy driver to drop us at Ben Thanh Market for our convenience (saved on transport back). It was time for afternoon tea at our hotel!

Various snacks; I especially love the mangoes!

Live performance!

The Mum-in-law, Eldest and I did our final shopping at Saigon Centre and Ben Thanh Market before dinner while the younger kids and Hubby napped in the hotel room.

Street near Saigon Centre

We loved our dinner at Ancua so much on the first day that we decided to have it again on the last night of our trip!

Fresh seafood again! 😋

Yummy lobsters! 😋

Giant prawns and fried noodles (yes again!) 😋

Cheese-baked crabs (if I didn't remember wrongly 😅)

Fried baby squid 

It was our most expensive meal in Saigon but it was well-worth the price! My foodie seafood-loving family enjoyed it. What a great way to end our day! 😀 

DAY 4

The Hubby and I awoke very early to sneak out on our own for breakfast at Pho Viet Nam since we loved it so much the previous morning. I ordered their signature hot stone pho and loved it! It was so good! 👍🏻 

Chefs preparing the bowls of hot stone noodles

Piping hot soup!

We returned to Bahn Mi The One to buy breakfast for the family since we liked it so much.

We also bought pork rice from the store down the street (right side of picture)

Bahn mi and pork rice

By the time we returned to the hotel, the family was up and ready for their food! After a satisfying breakfast in our room, we checked out of the hotel and took a Grab to Tan Son Nhat Airport at 10am.

Arrival at the airport

Waiting to board the plane;
Littlest and I were in matching outfits!

Our plane departed Saigon at around 12.20pm.

Simple meals onboard the short flight

After flying for 2 hours, we landed in Singapore at 3.30pm (Singapore is 1 hour ahead of Vietnam).

It was a fantastic trip but it is good to be home! 😊 

<< Back to Ho Chi Minh City II Day 2: Saigon Center & Ben Thanh Market

~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Saigon Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as well as other travel itineraries!

Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!