ibis Melaka (Standard Room) near Jonker Street in Malaysia

I made a trip to Melaka in early October with my mom, elder sister, brother in law, Jovyn and Alex and this time round, I literally took a backseat in planning since my elder sister and brother in law visit the UNESCO city much more often than I do! 

For our accommodation, my sister opted for ibis Melaka since it's within walking distance from the ever so crowded Jonker street. Built in 2016, it has 249 rooms across six floors; I didn't feel that there were so many rooms though! 

Stepping into the hotel lobby and looking up to a cloudy sky patterned ceiling with a heart-shaped skylight. The skylight could have been expanded to allow more natural lighting and complement the artificial sky.

Always happy to see infused water! I would make it a point to drink one glass when I left the hotel and had another one when I am back, which could be a few times a day given how much I love to explore.

Keycards for our standard room - Room 424. Most importantly, the Wi-Fi username and password which have been extremely important for any overseas travel! I pay quite a bit for data roaming and having free Wi-Fi can cut down my expenses quite a bit.

Why was there a baby cot right at the lift lobby on level four?! Imagine hearing a baby crying at night... p.s. nothing happened throughout our two-night stay.

Corridor wasn't very dim but as our allocated accommodation was the first room on the right from the lift lobby; I couldn't really feel how dim it really was. Personally, I dislike having my room far from the lift lobby as the mind will start to wander. 

Room 424; our standard room with twin beds! Compact at just 22 square meters, it was a comfortable size for me. C'mon, if I can survive a 13-14 square-meter room at Sapporo (Hokkaido); this would be okay.

The first thing I loved about ibis Melaka was the provision of bolsters! This bedroom necessity for Singapore homes is so rare in hotels, and frankly; giving me another pillow just doesn't cut it! 

View outside the window that faced the huge open-air carpark. You can't see from the above photograph but the greenery at the background should be the location of Bukit China, a Chinese cemetery said to be the biggest outside of China. 

I have no idea the purpose for this. It would be more helpful to have it nearer the entrance, where we can sit down to wear our shoes. What could I do with this beside the bed? Sit here to watch television!? I might as well use the bed. 

Mini fridge with the complementary mineral water, electric kettle, and the sachets of tea and coffee. Since I am in Malaysia, where Nanyang coffee can be found easily, I didn't have to satisfy my caffeine fix in the room. 

Safe was in the the drawer! This should be made available in all hotels as it was much easier for us to put in our valuables. In ibis Melaka, I also noticed a prayer mat in the safe. Shouldn't this be placed outside? Maybe it's a magical carpet.

Now the washroom; equipped with rainfall shower, hair dryer and basic toiletries like sanitary pad, cotton buds and refillable shower gel / shampoo. If you need toothbrushes or bedroom slippers, you can request separately. Not an issue for me as I am all for sustainability. 

Loving the built-in mirror lights! 

Another thing I love about ibis Melaka; the flooring for the shower area which would be very suitable for the older generation as it was absolutely slip proof! I am impatient and can be clumsy; hence, such flooring is most appropriate for me too. 

Gymnasium - this was located on the ground floor of ibis Melaka, at the back. Opened from 7.00 am till 11.00 pm and access would be via your tap card.

Basic enough for us so long we have weights, and treadmills; latter of which I used on the first day whereas I decided to jog along the river on the mornings of day two and three. Nothing beats the great outdoors despite the risk of stepping onto dog shit! 

Gym rules for your reference.

Water dispenser with towels and sign in / sign out form. I am not sure about you but I don't have the habit of signing in and signing out. Back at Hotel Royal Bangkok, I noticed the last entry was a year ago! 

Swimming Pool - 1.2 meter deep adult pool and a 0.6 meter deep kid pool that came with a small water playground popular with families. No time for me to swim as I needed to cramp quite a bit since I was only there for two nights! 

House rules for the pool for your reference.

Miscellaneous - an outdoor playground in front of the swimming pool. Well, hardly exciting since such old school design can be found in my estates. 

Smoking corner right outside the gym. With logs made into the shape of reindeer, I wouldn't be surprised to find a Christmas tree right in the middle, now that we are going to Christmas season.

Seating area for guests at the lobby, plus desktop computer with internet. In time to come, such internet stations in hotels would be obsolete since a lot of things can now be performed over the phone, which has become an indispensable part of our life.

Cafe corner with options for nonya kueh, pastries and beverages. My reasoning is that you can get cheaper options outside, especially given the hotel's proximity to Jonker Street! 

Lastly, the restaurant serving buffet breakfast every morning! We opted for non-breakfast since it's cheaper and we figured we could easily find local breakfast around the hotel. p.s. you can consider the nearby Siang Chiang (香江茶室).

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Address

249, Jalan Bendahara, 

Kampung Bukit China, 

75100 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Website

https://all.accor.com/hotel/9101/index.en.shtml

Pricing

Standard Room - S$81.11

Purchased via Agoda.com.

Restoran Tong Sheng - The Amazing Fresh Milk Crab @ Melaka in Malaysia

I love crabs in all cooking styles although our Singapore chilli version had always been my favorite! My elder sister begged to differ and every time we had crabs in Singapore, she would comment, dismissively, that nothing beats the one in Melaka.

That's frustrating for someone who loves his crabs and I decided to make a trip down to the UNESCO Malaysian city, with the primary objective of checking out this particular restaurant that my sister, and brother in law, had been raving about; Restoran Tong Sheng! 

It was said to be so popular nowadays, especially after the pandemic, that reservation was strongly recommended. My sister did, but there wasn't a line when we arrived at 5.34 pm! 

A different scene within the air-conditioned restaurant; it was almost full house and I understand from my elder sister there was a second floor with more tables and chairs, which I didn't manage to take photos of as access was via tap card from a staff. 

Wall of fame - photographs of celebrities patronizing the restaurant, which started operations only in 2008 but have gained much fame in less than 15 years. 

Restoran Tong Sheng had also won an award by World Gourmet; I run a check and it appeared to be for dining establishments within Malaysia. There's also an equivalent for Singapore that had the same name. 

Whatever the case, I need to remain focus; award or not, my purpose was to see if Restoran Tong Sheng was as amazing as my sister claimed it to be. p.s. above condom looking pack contained a pair of plastic gloves.

Tea - required nowadays for my family as the de facto drink although I am okay with any so long there is no sugar. Hence, I am also acceptable to beverages like plain water, oolong canned tea, teh o kosong limau iced etc.

Fried Fresh Squid with Garlic - with a signature logo next to its picture on the menu, I am surprised that this cost just RM 11.00 (about S$3.20) as fresh seafood in Singapore would usually have a price premium. I realized I was wrong when we paid; it was RM 11.00 per 100 grams! 

However, it's worthy of its signature tag. Batter was thin, crisp and the fragrance of fried garlic was irresistible! Add the fresh crunchiness of the squid and the yummy chilli mayo; this shall be your perfect fried squid! 

Four Kings - literally the vegetable dish to make us feel less guilty from this over the top sinful meal. Frankly, I didn't understand the four kings tag. The vegetables, brinjal, french beans, ladyfingers, holland beans, were just lightly fried. You know what's worse? The pork lards tasted stale! 

Crispy Honey Sauce Pork - another "signature" dish; I drew familiarity with char siew and bak kwa! These were literally deep fried, thinly sliced char siew with a touch of spiciness! Given my love for char siew, and texture, this was a clear winner. 

Cheesy Prawn Meehun -  said to be the original signature dish for Restoran Tong Sheng said to be a better version of the one in Hong Kong. I had something quite similar at Nic & Tom Eatery back when they operated from Serangoon Garden. Let's see if this was better.

To be frank, the flavor was more milky than cheesy and this was unexpected as I was so looking forward to a cheesier experience. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the appetizing taste of the milky sauce and love the addition of cabbage that provided texture in every bite. It also helped that the prawns were fresh! 

Fresh Milk Crab - now coming to the star of our meal! Visually, this appeared more like the creamy butter style than the milk style, which I had once in Bangkok, and utterly hated it. 

Differing from the creamy butter style in Singapore were the green stuff dotted all over the gravy. Turned out they were cut, green chilli! That's novel and I must admit, this style was better than the chilli style in Singapore; the flavor was uniquely interesting and was a palatable mish mash of being buttery, sweet, sour and spicy! The restaurant should have called it signature sauce crab, instead of fresh milk crab.

Crab was also fresh and meaty although I still couldn't get away from the fact that the gravy made a huge difference. The green chilli strangely lost its spiciness when you eat it with the gravy. What's the logic for that?! 

Gravy was so addictive that we literally cleaned it up! I kid you not, we were drinking it by the spoonful and I was totally stuffed! But, but, but, it was so, so good! 

Golden Buns - a bit small but like many others in the market, these were soft and pillowy on the inside and featured a thin crisp skin. Nonetheless, it was delightful eating them after soaking them in the green chilli gravy from the fresh milk crabs. 

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Was I impressed? Damn I was, and to the extent I would really just visit Melaka, a 3-hour journey by car, just to have this fresh milk crab from Restoran Tong Sheng again! p.s blurring my sister's face so that I don't get killed.

Long queue when we left at 7.30 pm. 

Address

377 & 378, Jalan Melaka Raya 6, 

Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Directions

As above.

Operating Hours

11.30 am to 2.00 pm

5.30 pm to 10.00 pm

(Closed on Mondays)

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Fried Fresh Squid with Garlic - RM 49.50

Four Kings - RM 18.00

Crispy Honey Sauce Pork - RM 20.00

Cheesy Prawn Meehun -  RM 98.00

Fresh Milk Crab - RM 180.50

Golden Buns - RM 8.00

(Subject to Service Charge and Tax)