Melaka

My bus left Singapore at 2.30pm with an estimated arrival of 6.30pm in Melaka (also spelt Malacca) over the border in Malaysia. A Malaysian lady started talking to me while we were both waiting for the bus and then she decided she was my travel buddy for the rest of the journey. She give me some tips for Melaka, which was really nice of her, but she also talked to me as if it was my first time away from home.

We arrived at the border at 3.30pm and the lady told me it normally doesn't take long at all. Then I saw the crowd. There were hundreds of people in four queues, each one more chaotic than the last. We joined the shortest queue but soon realised that we weren't moving at all, while the queue next to us was being processed pretty fast. That meant people who arrived after us were through while we were still at the back. After an hour in line the system went down and we were redirected to another desk. Finally after an hour and a half we were allowed back on the bus so we could be taken to the Malaysian side of the border to be put in another queue. Fortunately that only took 20 minutes. I took the opportunity to legally have some chewing gum for the first time in 5 days.

The two hours at the border meant that we were massively behind schedule and I didn't arrive at my hotel until 9pm by which time my guesthouse had closed. Luckily a girl from the local bus from the main station happened to pass by and I borrowed her phone to contact the guesthouse owner to come and let me in.

After all of that, I really needed more Indian food! Luckily one of the most popular restaurants nearby is a tandoori place so I set off and found that even at nearly 10pm there were at least 200 customers. The naan wasn't the best but the tandoori chicken was seriously good and only cost 8 MYR (£1.40). It was so good being back in Malaysia!

I walked up and down Jonker Street, the busiest area of market stalls and nightlife. Instead of tuk tuks, this town has these themed bicycles with bright flashing lights and sound-systems. They're everywhere, especially in this area, and I'd say over half of them are themed with Frozen. Each one is different and looks hand-made. I saw one Hello Kitty bike pass me by pumping out hip hop music. I love them!