A year ago, I explored the stretch of Melaka River, not from its elevated concrete banks, but right from its midst. Boarding the popular Melaka River Cruise on the first evening we arrived in the city, I saw how vibrant the riverside was. And although the cruise was enchanting—passing glittering buildings from the comfort of our boat—I wished I could savor all its sights on a more leisurely pace; I wanted to explore it on foot, or on a bicycle perhaps, but we didn’t have the luxury of time back then.

RIVER CRUISE BOAT ALONG THE MELAKA RIVER

Coming back to Melaka, we promised ourselves that we would take the time to really explore the riverside of this UNESCO World Heritage City. And so it was that on our third day, we set off from The Pines Melaka, our hotel which was conveniently located right beside the waterways, and walked all the way to the Melaka Dutch Square.

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Dark gloomy clouds gather at the top of St. Paul’s Hill as we continued our way up through flights of stairs covered in maroon paint. We passed a complex of museums, went out to the open road, then a trellised path, and at last, a final series of stairway leading to the ruins of Melaka’s St. Paul Church atop the hill.

GOING UP TO MELAKA’S ST. PAUL CHURCH FROM THE DUTCH SQUARE

In theory, the climb is easy enough, but in reality, the intense suffocating heat of Melaka, even on overcast days, makes the climb double the effort. We decided to pass off this particular place during our first outing in the city almost exactly a year ago, but this time, with nowhere else to go, we prepped ourselves in braving the heat to finally see this famous ruin.

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I was under the impression that Penang holds the seat when it comes to Malaysian cuisine, but I was told otherwise by my friend from Melaka. She may be biased about it, since she comes from Melaka, but this was what she told us; people from Melaka goes to Penang for food trips, while people from Penang goes to Melaka for their own food trip.

During our short two-day Melaka adventure, we got to taste firsthand if this UNESCO city can indeed holds its own against its northern counterpart.

It was searing hot outside but we can’t just stay cooped up at our hotel. This being our second time in Melaka, we looked for other places to visit in the area other than the popular Dutch Square and Jonker Walk. Bukit Cina or China Hill perfectly fitted the bill; it was close enough to where we were staying and it sounded interesting.

THE OLDEST CHURCH IN MALAYSIA, ST. PETER’S CHURCH

From The Pines Melaka, we passed an old church right before turning the bend to the Chinatown area of the city. The Gereja St. Peter [GPS MAP: 2.202388, 102.253214], built in 1710, is said to be the oldest functioning Roman Catholic Church, not only in the city, but in all of Malaysia. Surprisingly, the structure isn’t located on the UNESCO historical core of the city.

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Warm lights glimmer across the Melaka River. We’ve just had our mee goreng and kopi ais fix a few minutes ago and decided to walk along the river to get back to The Pines Melaka, our hotel for a couple of nights in the city. The air was sultry with humidity and my shirt was plastered with sweat. Crossing one of the many bridges traversing the waterways, we took in the view of the lighted traditional Malay houses of Villa Sentosa, snaking just right across where we were staying. We couldn’t have asked for a better location in Melaka.

THE PINES MELAKA’S GRAND LOBBY

We arrived at Melaka just before midnight—a four-hour flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, a two-hour bus ride from KLIA2 to Melaka, then a quick two-kilometer ride from the Melaka Central Bus station to The Pines Melaka. We were exhausted but once we opened the door to our room, we felt that it was all worth it.

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We were exhausted.

Coming from three breakfast meals—first in our hotel, The Imperial Heritage Melaka, the second at the Chung Hwa’s Chicken Rice Ball, and the last at Hassan’s Mee Goreng—you’d think we’d have more energy for walking around Melaka’s narrow streets and ogling at all the well-preserved colonial houses in the area than an Energizer Bunny with a camera.

But no.

The heat in Melaka is quite unbearable during the summer, draining us of our morning meals faster than we can type Dutch Square on our Google Maps-enabled phones.

JALAN LAKSAMANA, OUR INTRODUCTION TO MELAKA’S SIGNATURE COLOR

Coming straight from the massive KLIA II airport by bus, the first thing that indicated we were finally at the UNESCO World Heritage City of Melaka was not a sign, but the light maroon-colored colonial buildings lining both sides of Jalan Laksamana. It leads directly towards Melaka’s Dutch Square, dubbed by some as the Red Square, not because it resembles anything from Moscow, but literally due to the buildings’ paint job.

It was searing hot as we made our way across the narrow streets of Melaka to its famous shopping street, Jonker Walk. We’ve just had a good dose of the city’s famous chicken rice ball and mee goreng (aside from our breakfast fare from the Imperial Heritage Melaka Hotel where we were staying).

And now that its time to burn all those calories, the weather seemed hell-bent in helping us with our task.

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JALAN HANG JEBAT OR JONKER STREET IN MELAKA

Jalan Hang Jebat, read a sign pointing to our destination. More popularly known as Jonker Street or Jonker Walk, this 500-meter stretch is arguably one of the most popular streets in Melaka.

F, our friend from the city, dropped us off near its arch and told us to simply walk. We’d see lots of things there, she said as she bade her farewell.

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Our boat leisurely cruised along the dark sparkling waters of the Melaka River. On the background, our guide spoke languidly in Malay. I turned to my companion and flashed a confused look, this was supposed to be a historical tour, but I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand a single word being uttered.

MELAKA RIVER CRUISE DOCKING STATION AT SPICE GARDEN

It was our first night in the city and after checking in at the Imperial Heritage Melaka, we immediately headed to the Spice Garden with F, our newfound friend from Malaysia. We were not there to eat though, what we were there for was a boat cruise.

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