A week of fun and celebrations

A week of fun and celebrations

The week-long traditional annual festivities of Festas San Juang and San Pedro is set to get underway at Malacca’s Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir tomorrow.

Besides the usual festivities, organisers of the event are looking at putting up a large TV screen to allow local football fans to catch the FIFA World Cup matches, in particular if Portugal makes it to the later stages of the competition.

Regedor (village headman) Peter Thomas Gomes said preparations were underway at the village which has 1,200 residents to welcome more than 50,000 visitors who are expected to flood the village during the festivities.

“Besides the usual traditional ceremonies and cultural performances by local dance troupes, we are planning to get sponsors to help set up large TV screens to allow visitors to catch the World Cup matches live,” he said at a press conference recently.

The annual celebrations were held at the village to mark the Feast of St. John the Baptist on June 23 and the Feast of St. Peter, the patron saint for fishermen, on June 29.

Besides the boat decoration contest, he said cultural performances, kebaya competitions, live performances by local bands and popular Portuguese-Eurasian singers from Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Singapore would liven up the festivities.

Apart from the customary Eucharistic Celebration conducted at the village’s community hall tomorrow at 5.30pm to mark the Feast of St. John the Baptist, there will also be the bonfire lighting ceremony with blessed candles adorning homes of residents.

Another Eucharistic Celebration will be conducted at the hall on June 29 (5.30pm) to mark the Feast of St. Peter, followed by the traditional blessing of the decorated fishing boats.

The festivities will be officially declared open by the Malacca Governor Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob at 9pm on June 26 at the village’s Portuguese Square.

Gomes lamented on the lack of funding from the state and authorities concerned with tourism and heritage, despite the festivities being listed as a state and national level tourist calendar event.

He noted funding for the festivities from the authorities had stopped in 2003 with the organisers having to rely on sponsorships and donations.

Gomes later accepted a RM40,000.00 mock cheque from Calvin Siow, the area sales manager of Guinness Anchor Marketing Sdn. Bhd, the main sponsor.

-News courtesy of The Star-

Solo Art Exhibition

Solo art exhibition

Local-born artist Allen Tan is holding a solo art exhibition at Malacca Art Gallery (near Christ Church) until June 20. The gallery opens from 9am to 5.30pm. For details, call Malacca Museum Corporation at 06-282 6526.

Get around by bus

By bus

* Malacca Town Bus No 17 (green bus): Melaka Sentral Terminal to the historic core, Mahkota Parade, Melaka Raya and the Portuguese Settlement. The fare from Mahkota Parade to Melaka Sentral is RM 1.50. The last bus from Melaka Sentral leaves at 830 pm, after which you would have to take a taxi which costs 20 RM to Mahkota Parade. Bus 8 goes from Melaka Sentral to Town Square for RM 1.00.

* Malacca Town Bus No 18: Melaka Sentral Terminal to Tengkera and onwards to Pokok Mangga

* Malacca Town Bus No 19: Melaka Sentral Terminal to Ayer Keroh (Melaka Zoo and Taman Asean/Malaysia). The fare from Melaka Sentral to Ayer Keroh (Melaka Zoo and Taman Asean/Malaysia) is around RM 3

* Malacca Town Bus No. 50: Melaka Sentral Terminal to the Mahkota Parade shopping centre and nearby seafood restaurants

* Kenderaan Aziz (red and white): Buses from Melaka Sentral to Muar via Padang Temu also go past the historic core, Mahkota Parade and Melaka Raya

* Panorama Melaka (red and blue): This hop-on-hop-off bus brings tourists to the attractions in town for a flat fee of RM5/day (red bus) and RM2/day (blue bus). Among its fleet are 2 double-decker buses, one with an open top. The bus service runs at 10 minute intervals from 7AM - 12PM.

-Info courtesy of Wikitravel-

Get in by train

By train

Malacca Town is not served by any railway lines. The nearest railway station is at Pulau Sebang (Tampin), tel: +60-6-3411034, in the Alor Gajah district about 30 km (18 mi) away. The station is on the main Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru line and served by all trains.

To get there/away: Tai Lye No 26 (red, blue and white) goes from Melaka Sentral to Pulau Sebang/Tampin via Alor Gajah. Stop along the main road near the level crossing just before entering Pulau Sebang/Tampin town. The station is about 400 m (437 yd) from the main road. Salira (light blue and yellow) also goes from Melaka Sentral to Tampin via Ayer Keroh and Durian Tunggal. Get off bus at same spot as Tai Lye.

-Info courtesy of Wikitravel-

Get around by taxi

By taxi

There are also chartered taxi services available at end of Jalan Kee Ann. These chartered taxis travel within Melaka state and outside Melaka such as to KLIA International Airport, Kuala Lumpur and even Singapore. They carry up to 4 passengers at a time. See Tourism Melaka for the official fare chart. Malacca has a really lousy public transportation system, so be ready to get your money ripped off by taxi drivers, even for a 5 minute drive, they sometimes charge you RM15. Most of the taxis in Malacca don't have a metered system, and they often charge according to their likes.

-Info courtesy of Wikitravel-

Delima Express Bus Service

Malacca - Kuala Lumpur
Malacca - Johor Bahru
Malacca - Singapore

Online Bus Ticketing
http://www.delima.com.my/

Get in by bus

By bus

Many long-distance express buses connect Malacca with both Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Johor Bahru, Singapore and other parts of Peninsular Malaysia.

All long-distance and local buses now operate from the Melaka Sentral bus terminal, a good 4.5 km from the historic core of the city. Transportation between Malacca downtown and Melaka Sentral can be done by taxi or local buses.