Your decision to visit Melaka can never turn out be the wrong one as there are several tourist attractions in Melaka. The city has a rich history with several historical building, architecture, heritage sites, and museums. Cheng Ho Cultural Museum is one of the prestigious places to visit in Melaka. All the artifacts in the museum are ancient and take you hundreds of years back.

Cheng Ho Cultural Museum

The Museum occupies various shop houses nearby the river in the city. History devotees and enthusiasts visit this fascinating place, fathoming the amazing career of a Chinese admiral Cheng Ho. Cheng Ho (Zheng He) was the Ming dynasty admiral who has a prominent place in Melaka history. It is said that the admiral visited this city-state for at least five of his seven visits to the Western Ocean from China from 1405 to 1433. He setup his own depot, warehouse in this area. The museum is assumed to be built on the original Guan Chang site built by Cheng Ho around 600 years ago. It is also said that the warehouse built by Cheng Ho was also located in the same area.

The museum stretches over three floors which can roughly be divided into various sections such as ship gallery, old Melaka village, treasure ship, antique gallery and garden courtyard. Various old shop houses that date back to the time of Cheng Ho are restored and linked together to establish this archetype museum. It covers a huge place that depicts Cheng Ho’s life and voyages.

The museum has mock-ups of his treasure ships, a life-sized statue of a giraffe that was supposedly bought by him from china. The teas hops and treasure ship living cabins will carry you the past while offering a glimpse of Cheng Ho’s routine. All these ancient objects display his birth into a Muslim family, his career as a eunuch in the palace and counselor to the Ming emperor. The social influence of his voyages in more than 200 treasure ships with more than 28,000 men can be sensed till today. The gallery also exhibits his death during his journey to the Persian Gulf.

Visiting Cheng Ho museum is indeed one of the amusing things to do in Melaka. The museum is strategically located at Jalan Hang Jebat and is also close to the Tan Kim Seng Bridge, making it easily accessible from wherever you are staying in Melaka. It is open daily from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm and the admission charges are RM 10.00 (2.33 USD).

The Cheng Ho Cultural Museum is a must-visit museum in Melaka, especially if you’re interested in a history. If you have visited the museum and would like to share your thoughts, please add comments below.

The Portuguese Village Melaka is similarly identified with the name of Portuguese Square, famous for being located in the capital city Melaka within Malaysian Peninsular. The Portuguese village in its native language is also known as Kampung Portugis or Portugal Village, that can be certainly traced at a distance of few kilometers approximately; slightly away from the Melaka city center i.e. within the vicinity of Ujong Pasir. The area is thus occupied and developed due to the presence of thousands of Portuguese immigrants came and here between the time periods of 1511 and 1641 as per historical facts.

Portuguese Village Melaka

Portuguese Village Melaka has become famous to the global network since the year 1931; at that time the British people after the request from French rulers introduced the construction of St. John’s village; also popular as a fishing village that was actually made of wooden huts built near the shore in a marshy like space. Therefore, the creation of such a village brought in myriad Portuguese people as immigrants then after dwelling for a certain time period Melaka itself became home to Portuguese culture as well. Hence, it was an innovative prelude with the city of Melaka by developing cordial relations with the Portuguese people at large and simultaneously adopting the cultural lifestyle by and large of such a specific culture as seen here at Portuguese Village Melaka.

Best time to visit Portuguese Village Melaka

The best time to visit the Portuguese Village should be chosen to explore after the sun sets. It is also recommended that you must not miss the opportunity to explore the tempting place during the evening times and also on weekends because on weekends we will be able to view its innumerable intricate beauties overly crowded by numbers of tourists. Here special stage shows are organized only on the weekends. For instance, during the month of June there was an ongoing festival indulged in dancing, public swaying with the musical background and banquets were also organized for the celebrations of the Feast of Saint Pedro.

Major attractions of Portuguese Village

The recent era of Portuguese Village is typically overwhelmed with plenty of seafood outlets, myriad tempting bars and a small museum as well. For instance, it is advisable to must visit and try the opportunities being found in the Portuguese village by enjoying scrumptious seafood in Melaka, available in the Portuguese restaurants located here after every few steps of walking.

The followings are its awesome major attractions that are emphasized as:

  • The scrumptious Portuguese eatables are considered to be one of the top most attractions of Melaka. For instance, its popular dishes are Ikan Bakar, Sambal ladies fingers, black pepper brinjals, scallops, clams as well as a variety of seafood eatables.
  • The famous stall here is known as Mango Juice stall where the people have found it very delicious because the maker blends the fresh mango pulp that can be purchased from two to four Ringgits approximately.
  • The shops here in Melaka are filled with plenty of home-made mango pickles renowned as Sharon’s Traditional Homemade Melaka Portuguese Pickles.

The Portuguese Museum is also a tourism spot where the presence of Portuguese history can be traced. The entry to the museum is free of cost and normally closed on Monday.

The Portuguese Village Melaka should be on your lists of places to visit in Melaka. You will not only enjoy the scrumptious seafood Portuguese food there, but you can also stroll around in the area or sit in one of the pubs. To share your experience of the Portuguese Village, please leave comments below.

Tourism News in Malaysia December 2015

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year 2016. As we round up the year, here is a compilation of travel and tourism news in Malaysia for the month of December 2015 taken from various sites. Once again, we at Malaysia Travel News would like to wish all our followers, friends and partners a wonderful and happy new year 2016.

AirAsia wins three awards at the World Travel Awards 2015

Morocco, 13 December 2015 – The AirAsia group, who recently celebrated its 14th anniversary received three prestigious recognitions at the World Travel Awards, winning the ‘World’s Leading Low Cost Airline’ title for the third consecutive year and clinched the ‘World’s Leading Low Cost Airline Website’ and ‘World’s Leading Low Cost Airline App’ titles for the first time.

Aireen Omar, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad represented the AirAsia Group to receive the awards at the World Travel Awards Gala 2015.

The World Travel Awards serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry; and is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality with over 650,000 votes casted by travel professionals and high-end tourism consumers. Full story here: http://www.airasia.com/id/en/press-releases-2015/december/airasia-wins-three-awards-at-the-world-travel-awards-2015.page

Lithium Battery-powered Transportation Devices Banned On AirAsia, Airasia X Flights

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 30 (Bernama) — All lithium battery-powered personal transportation devices are prohibited as check-in and hand baggage on all AirAsia and AirAsia X flights effective Wednesday. It includes hoverboards, Segways, mini-Segways, electronic scooters, solowheels, airwheels, balance wheels and similar equipment.

“Under certain circumstances, the carriage of battery operated wheelchairs or mobility devices might be accepted, subject to removal of the battery by guests. The maximum weight allowed for wheelchairs and mobility devices is 85kg,” said AirAsia in a statement.  Guests travelling with battery operated items are encouraged to refer to AirAsia’s guideline available on www.airasia.com/ask.

More cancel Sabah trip over insurance

Kota Kinabalu: There have been low occupancies even in budget accommodation, particularly backpacker lodges, in Sabah for the year ending this month. One top operator rated by Trip Advisor revealed that occupancy rate at his hostel was below 50 per cent – on average around 40 per cent. The blame went to the perception of the State’s security where news of repeated curfew renewals by the police, although only applied to the East Coast, cast a blanket over the whole State as if a state of security siege exists.

The most common reason received by operators here was that bookings by overseas clients had to be cancelled because there was an insurance coverage problem due to some travel advisories in the past where the destination was marked in the red zone. “Some cancelled their trip booked because they could not get any insurance coverage or that their insurance company would disclaim any liability should they travel to places like Sabah,” said Wong Su Kong, a hostel operator at Mosque Valley next to Bandaran Berjaya. Full Story: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=105515

LMNS To Study On Monument And Heritage Site In Negeri Sembilan

Seremban, Dec 27 (Bernama) — The Negeri Sembilan Museums Board (LMNS) constantly carries out studies on monuments and heritage sites in the state to ensure the historical interests could be preserved in the form of knowledge and artifact for future generations.

LMNS Museum Curator Aziz Mohd Gorop said the study involved traditional houses, colonial buildings, heritage mosques, historical sites, mausoleums and megalithic stones. “The study was done for inventory purposes and to be nominated as the state heritage. Negeri Sembilan is rich in history from the various eras,” he told Bernama here Sunday. Full Story: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/state_news/news.php?cat=ctid=1202375

Visual Art Museum Planned For Langkawi

Langkawi, Dec 29 (Bernama) — A visual art museum is being planned to be developed in Langkawi as a new tourist attraction, especially for art enthusiasts. State executive councillor in charge of Tourism, Datuk Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid said the site for the museum had been identified by the National Visual Arts Gallery board and when completed, it would feature a collection of paintings and other visual art pieces by leading artists.

“It will be another world-class destination in Langkawi soon,” he told reporters after the launching of a new product of the Langkawi Underwater World, here, today. Full Story: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1202882

George Town among top 16 ‘must-see’ destinations

The Unesco world heritage site here has been picked as one of the 16 “must-see” destinations by the Los Angeles Times. In its Boxing Day edition, the paper wrote that “George Town (population about 500,000), Penang’s main city, is a Unesco World Heritage site with a 500-year history of trading and a hotel boom in progress”. It stated that as many as 10 new hotels may open in 2016, and a bevy of cruise lines call at the port in inner George Town.

“With luck, this growth will leave intact the city’s most historic architecture and encourage its lively food scene. George Town was a British trading post from the early 19th century (hence its name) until Malaysian independence in 1957.  It gives you British echoes, Malay essence, Chinese and Indian commercial traditions, scattered rickshaws and a stew of religions,” the paper added. Full story: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/12/28/george-town-in-top-16-must-see-destinations/

New flight route will make HK gateway to Borneo

With the papers inked for the twice-weekly Hong Kong-Kuching-Hong Kong route starting April 2016, the local tourism has some work ahead in preparing to receive visitors from Hong Kong and Southern China. Planet Borneo Group of Companies’ director/principal consultant Gracie Geikei is happy to see that the Hong Kong-Kuching sector is back again. “This will open up markets, making Hong Kong the gateway to Borneo – if we align our tourism marketing efforts to support this,” she told The Borneo Post.

She added that the influx of tourists was very much dependent on the local tourism operators and stakeholders and how the tourism board could work with them to synergise their marketing efforts. “Engagement and execution are vital to ensure we do not miss this opportunity. There have been too many international flights coming in, only to pull out because of poor load.” Gracie opined there were tremendous opportunities for working expatriates in China to visit Sarawak. Full story: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/28/new-route-will-make-hk-gateway-to-borneo/

Putrajaya expects 30.5 million tourists to contribute RM103 billion next year

Malaysia are expecting 30.5 million tourists to contribute RM103 billion in revenue to the country next year, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. Nazri was confident that the target could be achieved through various programmes in the pipeline and the existing yearly events, including the festive season open house practised in Malaysia.

“The tourism industry and cultural activities is expanding at a tremendous pace with new approaches like health tourism, education and sports tourism initiatives to attract tourists to historic destinations. For the Tourism and Culture Ministry, the open house concept is not only a yearly event for Christmas and New Year but aimed at boosting the tourism industry, especially in a historical state like Malacca,” he said at a Christmas open house celebration in Bandar Hilir, Melaka. Full story: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-expects-30.5-million-tourists-to-contribute-rm103-billion-next-ye

Putrajaya’s indoor theme park receives five titles from Malaysia Book of Records

Putrajaya’s District 21 adventure theme park in IOI City Mall was awarded five Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) titles in the presence of finalists of Miss Tourism Queen International 2015. The ceremony saw five different rides in District 21 being awarded MBR titles – the First Indoor Pump Track in Malaysia, First Indoor Rope Course for Children in Malaysia, First Indoor High-Rope Course in Malaysia, First Indoor Roller Glider in Malaysia and First Indoor Maze in Malaysia.

IOI Properties Group Berhad’s Property Investments chief operating officer Cheah Wing Choong said shopping malls have to be innovative and District 21 has successfully managed to attract customers. Cheah also said the rides in the 70,000sq ft theme park were suitable for children, teenagers and adults alike. “We get some 400 to 500 visitors a day and we even had 1,000 visitors on a peak day once. The crowd is bigger during the school holidays,” he added. The theme park also caters to corporate companies looking to use the place for team-building activities as well. Full story: http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2015/12/24/sweeping-up-firsts-malls-indoor-theme-park-receives-five-titles-from-malaysia-book-of-records/

Etihad teams up with Tourism Malaysia

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has entered into a partnership agreement with Tourism Malaysia, presenting an opportunity for travellers from Kuwait to have the best travel experience in Malaysia.  The agreement was signed during the Expo Milano 2015 exhibition. It is aimed at boosting inbound tourism to Malaysia by leveraging the airline’s global passenger network, Etihad Airways and Tourism Malaysia will put into effect a range of joint marketing activities targeting Malaysia’s leading inbound visitor markets – the UK, US, Europe (Germany, France and Italy), and the Middle East region (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait).

Research by Tourism Malaysia revealed in 2014 there were more than 1.2 million visits from these key markets, a 10 per cent increase compared to 2013. Malaysia is one of the top destinations of Etihad Airways. Since 2007, the airline has carried more than one million passengers to and from the country, offering travellers from all around the world the chance to enjoy the many attractions of the country. Full story: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/TTN_297297.html

Exploring Penang the easy way with ELT Passbook

Getting around Penang will now be easier with the newly launched Eat, Look, Tanoshii (ELT) discovery passbook. The 40-page passbook will act as a guide for tourists visiting the state. Its marketing executive Michelle Ng said the book featured all the popular attractions in Penang. “It also has the listing of all the exciting events that should not be missed in 2016.

“The history of cultural and heritage sites are explained,” she said after the launch of the passbook at Straits Quay Retail Marina in Tanjung Tokong recently. She said a tourist who owned this book could enjoy discounts at shops that displayed the ELT logo by showing the passbook. Full story: http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2015/12/25/exploring-penang-the-easy-way-new-passbook-to-help-guide-tourists-around-the-state/

12 New Enclosures At Taiping Zoo To Be Completed in 2016

Taiping, Dec 22 – The Taiping Municipal Council (MPT) is confident that the building of 12 new exhibition enclosures at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari can attract more tourists here in the coming years. MPT’s Tourism Education and Outreach Division chief, Hanim Ramly said the construction of the enclosures worth RM3 million was part of MPT’s programme to to upgrade the facilities at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari.

“The project does not affect the number of visitors as it has an impact on developing the tourism sector here,” she told Bernama, here, today. Full story: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/state_news/news.php?cat=ntid=1201597

Rayani Air Will Spur Tourism Sector, Economy In Kelantan

KOota Baharu, Dec 21 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s first Shariah-compliant airline, Rayani Air, which started its maiden flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baharu yesterday, will spur development in the tourism sector and economy in Kelantan.

State Culture, Tourism and Heritage Committee Chairman Datuk Mohd Anizam Abdul Rahman said the flight services offered by the company would also further stimulate the flight services at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa here, which currently provides 44 times daily flights. “We hope the existence of the Shariah-compliant airline would benefit the community in Kelantan and spur the growth of the tourism sector and economy in the state,” he said to reporters here.

Rayani Air’s Boeing 737-400 aircraft landed at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport on Sunday with 150 passengers including 18 orphans from the Taufik Islami Institute, Klang, Selangor. Mohd Anizam said flight service facilities was very important as a transport of choice for tourists to visit Kelantan. Full story: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=1201216

More Sabah districts attracted to homestay

Sabah’s homestay businesses, which generated RM4.3 million in 2013, have grown exponentially over the last decade, generating around 30 to 40 per cent more business year-on-year. The share of the pie is enjoyed by 18 operators at present, with their businesses riding on the back of steady growth since 2000.

And things may soon change for the better as the tourism industry is now getting back on the rails following the effects of the disappearance of MH370 last year and the Lahad Datu incursion in 2013. According to Sabah Homestay Association President Djuanis Mogirong, business is looking up with already two more homestays in the process of registering with the Tourism and Culture Ministry. “They are the Napunsak Homestay and the Marudu Bay in Kota Marudu,” he said.

“Three or more districts are likely to join the fray, like Kampung Bariawa in Keningau and also Beluran and Pitas, whose village representatives I have met throughout the ministry’s pre-requisite seminars,” he said. Full story: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=105440

The news articles above have been compiled from various websites and news portals for the round up of travel and tourism news in Malaysia for December 2015. Happy New Year 2016!

Excellent examples of Chinese-Palladian style, these townhouses, built
in 1896, were transformed into a traditional Peranakan museum in later years,
connected by a common covered footway, the museum features hand-painted tiles,
elaborately carved teakwood outer swing doors and a sturdier internal door
which provides extra security. Framed by Greco-Roman columns, two red lanterns,
one bearing a household name and the other messages of good luck, hang on
either side of the entrance.

The Agriculture Museum is located at the heart of Jasin
town, next to the Jasin District Police Station. A long time ago, Jasin
district was the earliest producers of tin and agriculture products in Melaka.
The museum was established to showcase the historical activities and the
economy of the local people, especially in the fields of agriculture.