-I didnt change any money thinking that we could change once we reach Melaka. But I didnt think everybody else in the group would have thought the same thing. Very big mistake! cos our “touch and go” card didnt have enough value for the tolls and we ended paying in exact sing dollars eg SGD24.90 for RM24.90. They did say we can collect the sing dollars in exchange for ringgit when returning. But I didnt trust the fella. He looked greedy to me..
-My husband was the driver for the going up journey. And becos the road was clear, he accelerated to 200km/hr and remained at that speed. And everytime his fren, Nasir, asked about the petrol, my smart hubby replied ”plenty.” Why smart? cos he was looking at the temperature gauge and not the petrol level. He finally realised his mistake when only one bar was left. We frantically prayed and looked for a petrol kiosk and finally found one that accepted credit cards (remember none of us had ringgits!). Luckily Nasir had brought his whole stack of cards and his Citibank Mastercard saved our day.
-So we reached Melaka and parked our car at the biggest shopping centre there erm.. i cant really remember the name but I know its opposite Mahkota Parade. It was 9am. We were hungry and the money changer was not opened yet. **pulls hair** Again we were lucky cos I saw an OCBC branch. OCBC allows you to draw cash in malaysian currency using your atm card for a surcharge of SGD2. And I had an OCBC account!!! so I drew money and we had breakfast at their local fast food restaurant.
Rest of the day relatively went ok. It was very very hot and wearing a black blouse made it feel like I was in a oven.
hot!! very hot!!
We went up the skytower which was freaking 110meters high and to Melaka’s landmark church.
Taufiq enjoying the view..
Melaka's Landmark
ok ok lah.. Like I said, the highlights were wat went wrong and not wat went right!
-We left Melaka about 6pm. The road was jammed and we had to drive very slowly. We reached the first toll station and wanted to collect our SGD and repay in RM. That took us nearly 1/2hr becos the guy who took our money thought we will not return and pocketed the sum (see! I knew he couldnt be trusted).. anyway we got our money and left the toll station at 7.05pm. shortly after driving into the expressway we heard very weird noises from the back of the car and I could see Nasir trying very hard to control the car and bringing it to a stop at the side. FK jumped out and said ”Guys! we are not going anytime soon so you can come out of the car to rest.” huh?? Becos the rear left tyre was torn/burst and we were stuck in the middle of the expressway that had no lamp posts and was very well known for robbers. We must have been quite a sight! All the groceries lay at the side of the road, Taufiq in his pram and two ladies - helpless and unable to help, and three guys who didnt know how to change a tyre. They say He always helps when you ask Him. and truely a patrol car came by and helped to change the tyre. Done in ten minutes flat. And we were safely buckled, locked in the car and resumed our drive. Nasir asked if we wanted toilet break and all of us vigorously shook our head. We just wanted to go home!
End of story? not really! add a e-brake that would have sent Taufiq flying if not for his car seat and a blady malaysian fellow who was waving a big spanner at us. I cant be bothered to elaborate more on those two incidents so if you want to know more, call me.
Tips
1.always change money before you go Malaysia
2. have a baby seat if you are travelling with a baby
3.Travel with someone who knows how to change a tyre
4.Ignore and keep a distance from anybody waving a spanner or hammer
4.Learn to enjoy the trip even with the misadventures..just like we did!!!
