Freeport A'Famosa Outlet

First it was the JPO - Johor Premium Outlet. Then came the IT retail park near KLIA called the Mitsui. And now the retail outlet fever had properly hit Malaysia with the recent opening of another one near A'Famosa near the Negri Sembilan-Melaka border right along the PLUS highway heading south. Only about 90 minutes form KL, it certainly worth a look. And that was we did yesterday on our way home from our day trip to Melaka.

It was still brand spanking new - I was sure less than 3 months old. Some of the parts were still closed and the road leading to the outlet was still being built. Getting there was straight forward especially those who had visited the A'Famosa Resort before. It was right by the entrance to the resort. And parking was not a problem. The main issue here was exposure to the elements. The pace was hot!

Camel. Apt. Since the place was scorchingly hot!

Impressed with the architecture though ...Free hugs ....Is it better than the JPO? Unfortunately it was a resounding no. In fact, the JPO is in a different league all together. The absence of many brand names should alert you that retail experience won't be nearly as good. But the facilities was better. In fact, I must say that it was more family-orientated.

Can you get Sacoor? Yes. Can you get Samsonite? Yes. Nike? Yes. But that was about it.

No Tumi. No Burberry. No Armani. No Kate Spade. No Boss. The list goes on! A different place compared to JPO.

Cool watery surroundingNot sure how the windmill fits inYes, you can climb into the windmillMore water sproutsBut I managed to get some good Under Armour garments from one of the sports outlet. Limited choice but the price was OK. Oh! And better look closely at the items as some of them were not as it seemed. I was looking for a Citizen watch but it turned out it was a different brand in the cabinet. Even the drinks outlet could be copycat. They have "Juicee" here instead of "Boost" although the menu looked almost identical. Sneaky!

Keeping it under the shadesOne of Anita's favourite designer, Melinda Ooi also has an outlet hereTime to cool down ...Would I go there again? Maybe after another year or so when the place was more established. I would definitely rather go to JPO than here at the moment ....

The Morning After

An overnight stay could never be enough especially when the boys had their neighbors about with them. After an early night,all woke up at around 8, just in time for my sister to arrive from Kajang with breakfast. But since we had breakfast vouchers from the resort, my Dad and I decided to have a quick bite at the cafe as well.

It was a disappointment actually. The breakfast was just an excuse by the resort to market the stay to include morning breakfast, as it was just something pretty simple. Hardly tasty, but if you were traveling, I supposed that would be enough but I felt that the resort could've offered a lot more.

To make matters worst, the cafe was located right inside the Water Park. I was sure the reason was to entice those staying to fork out some extra cash when their children persuade them to go to the park. Rather sly. It took us a 10 minutes walk to get to the breakfast table, to taste the rather lame offering. suffice to say that I wasn't amused. Luckily my sister brought food from Kajang, because otherwise, I might end up having to go outside to buy breakfast.

So, the breakfast included in the stay was not much of a perk. I would rather stay in and have a lovely morning by the pool.

Arriving at A Famosa

We arrived at A Famosa an hour earlier then the usual check in time, but a call to the manager sorted it out as we left Nilai at around 2.30. We arrived at the resort just after 3, and proceeded to check in.

The last time we stayed here, Irfan was just about a year-old, learning to walk. We rented one of the bungalow, with swimming pool attached of course. This time around, the bungalow were no longer for rent. Instead, we decided to go for a three-bedroom villa. The unit is located right on the opposite end of the resort. It seemed that this part of A Famosa was rather new and appeared self-contained. It had its own check-in counter and management, as well as food service. There was a restaurant - a barbecue place - where we checked-in. The breakfast in the morning was also located at the Water Park, rather than the main hotel area where we had our buffet breakfast on our last stay.

The pool was nice and cosy. It was chest deep, too deep for Idlan I was afraid.There was this nice little feature at the middle of the villa, lightening up the whole house.Compared to the last bungalow, the current suite was much smaller. The space in-between the units were also smaller - we could hear the splashing from the pool next door. But the good thing was, the pool area was separated by a high wall, for privacy. I still much preferred the old bungalow though. Not to mention that the old place was located right next to the restaurants, the main entrance and other attractions.

A nice little table at the dining area, overlooking the poolThere was also a nice little kitchenette, but no stove or microwave though. The boys enjoying breakfast the next morningThe pool was really nice and well-maintained though. It could do with a bit less chlorine. Our eyes were red by the time we were done with the pool. Although one should expect a bit of sore eyes if you spent a couple of hours in such pool. But a couple of hours of fun it was. We even ordered from room service for an afternoon tea in the pool. Yes, I did say in the pool. The tea in the pool was nice. But the tea was not so. The food was not great.

So, after we were done with the pool and shower, everyone decided to stay in rather than go out for dinner. Even the attraction of the "Cowboy Town" did not convince the children from going. So, Puan Anita and I ended up going out to take-away some dinner, and we dined in. My Dad was asleep well before 9, but the boys and their cousins were still up awake even at this hour ......

Abang Beca

Menara Taming SariAfter the wedding was done, it was time to go out with the boys. So what’s the plan? Beca time! A short drive to Menara Taming Sari - a new tower built last year with a ride. People enter a platform, forming a doughnut around the main tall column. The platform was then lifted up from ground level, right up to the top. The platform then do a couple of slow spin to offer the visitors panoramic view of Bandar Melaka. It charges a reasonable fee for what it offered and I was sure the view will be stunning on a day such as today when the weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately with Idlan afraid of heights and all, I didn’t think it was a good idea. P/s - I have no problem what so ever with heights.

We then did the most touristy thing we could think off - getting a beca - trishaw - ride across town, stopping at the main tourist spots. For RM40 an hour, it was money well spent especially when the boys being so excited with the ride. The trishaw were also very colourful, blaring out with music, and decorated with flowers. Quite a spectacle. There were plenty of them and most of them were very professional and organised. They offer routes according to what interested us, and we picked the one going through A Famosa, the Christ Church etc. Unfortunately being quite late in the afternoon during weekend, some of the route were blocked for the evening festivities, the famous Jonker Street being one of them.

Where we picked up our becaPassing by Dataran PahlawanThat handsome fella must we wondering why we were so excitedOur first stop on the beca ride was an old Melaka tree. Legend has it, the founder of the great land, Parameswara was on the run from Temasik - now Singapore - and while resting under a tree, he saw a reindeer kicked away a tiger - well, I am not much of a historian, so I might got this fact wrong big time - which he thought was awesome. Awestruck, he asked one of his minions the name of the tree, and he was told, “Melaka”. He decided to stay and form a new colony. Melaka was born. At the spot that we stopped, there were also an old locomotive - bearing in mind that there was no railway line in the whole of Melaka - and a old airplane. That very airplane was the one which carried the late Tunku Abdul Rahman from London with the declaration of Malaya Independence from British rule.

Few snaps, and we were ready to go. Next stop - A Famosa. It was a famous Portuguese fort built after their invasion of Melaka in 1511. The fort was later destroyed when the Dutch came to town some 100 years later. What’s left were ruins of what was the church on top of a hill. The were steep steps to get up there, and before we asked, Idlan has already started running up! Poor Puan Anita had to follow along with us. Reaching on top of the hill, there were already a group of students taking pictures and vendors selling souvenirs. There were also street performers there, eager to sing and play songs for change. The one which caught everyones’ attention was a Portuguese guitar duo singing traditional songs. It was great fun.

Idlan and Irfan at the top of the hill at A FamosaAfter 10 minutes looking around, it was time to get back down. We stopped for a couple of minutes to see a set of ruins discovered a couple of years back when surveyor were digging around to built Menara Taming Sari. They found old Portuguese ruins and skeletons, believed to be part of the original A Famosa. It was still being studied and the state government planned to rebuild the site once fully explored. The Menara Taming Sari was then built on the current site away from the original plan due to this findings.

Next stop, was along Lorong Muhibbah or Harmony Street. On that small stretch of road, there was an Indian temple, a Mosque - Masjid Kampung Keling, and a Chinese Tokong. Further along was a newer Buddhist temple but it was clearly not from the same era. We stopped at the Mosque, and it was pretty unique. It still have a chandelier going back 100 years and the stairs and ornaments looked antique. We pushed on later to Makam Hang Jebat. Legend has it that during the time of Melaka Sultanate, there were five great friends and great warriors, sworn to protect the state of Melaka from invasions and also uphold the rule of law. Due to jealousy, Tuah, one of the five were accused of having an affair with the Sultan’s maid and was sentenced to death. Knowing that it was not true, a Minister hid Tuah away, leaving both the Sultan and Jebat thinking that he was dead. Seeing it as an injustice, Jebat went on a rampage and savaged the town. The Sultan’s army cannot contain Jebat’s wrath until finally the Minister told about Tuah’s hiding and the Sultan summon him to subdue and kill Jebat. Ever obliging, Tuah had to choose between friend and the Sultan. He chose the Sultan - a rather unpopular decision accding to the youth of today hehehe! Anti-establishment that we are - and killed Jebat. Jebat died later in Tuah’s arm and forgave his friend but not the Sultan. He body was buried at the Makam - in a mausoleum 7 and a half foot long! Was he that tall then?

Makam Hang JebatMasjid Kampung Keling and its famous chandelierTake this!Flowers by the street in front of Christ ChurchThe boys were getting tired by then and we snaked around the streets towards Christ Church where the streets were lines with stalls and a photo-spot available all round. Idlan picked up a replica galleon from one of the shops there, while Irfan bought a stick with boxing padded boxing glove at the end. Good for releasing stress. There was a small garden with a water fountain, but the day was getting dark. Time to head back to base. Our Abang Beca gladly took us back initially to where we started, and then on to Dataran Pahlawan where we alighted to do some shopping. That was our final stop in the beca ride. I will blog about the beca riders later in another entry.

Our maids must be wondering what was going onBandar Melaka during Earth HourAfter getting some drinks and Puan Anita getting herself some bedspread, we headed back to our hotel. We went straight for the dinner buffet. Halfway during our meal, the light were suddenly switched off and the candles were lit. It was Earth Hour! Lights were off for an hour, and the hotel was really taking it seriously. The light on our corridors were also off, but the staffs were there with flashlights to make sure the don’t get sued if we injured ourselves. We got changed and before long, we were in fairyland after a long day. More adventures tomorrow I’m sure!

The slideshow for the trip can be found here.

Back from Melaka

Dataran Pahlawan - Melaka Megamall, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After attending two and a half day of workshop, I am finally back. The actually workshop was pretty good. It was basically about Clinical Epidemiology. It was designed to prepare us before we start teaching the medical students about the subject. The learning curve was steep and at the end of it all, I was pretty knackered.

Inside the MegamallAs I blogged earlier, I wished that the management invest more on the resort hotel since the potential is enormous. Maintenance was pretty lacking. A few of my coursemates actually had to change room because of the condition of the room. The last session today was basically for us to present a mock research we were doing since yesterday.

I left Alor Gajah after lunch and by 3 pm, I was already home. I took a nap right through the afternoon after that.

Last night, I drove to Bandar Melaka. It surprisingly took longer that I expected. Plus the traffic congestion and taking wrong turns, it took me a good hour to reach the parking lot at Dataran Pahlawan. The place was pretty good for a city this size. Most of the outlets were there, plus karaoke bar, multiplex cinemas and bowling alleys. There was also rows of stalls selling crafts. The actually mall was big as it stretched underground across a whole length of a field. Unfortunately, there were not many people during weekday nights. The famous Jonker Street was practically empty. There were hardly anybody at the Eye on Malacca. Surprisingly, there were more people out when I drove back than going in.

I have taken tomorrow and Friday off, so I will be taking my Mum out when I send Irfan off to school tomorrow morning.