Day 3: Final day

Many woke up with mixed feelings on this day. Though many students were eager to go home to their families and their favourite toys, they were also sad that the trip to Melaka was coming to an end. Many were heard sharing their Day 2 stories with one another over breakfast and some were also seen exchanging pictures with their peers.

Everyone gathered after breakfast at the function room, which was already prepped for students to try their hands on making 2 local cakes, or kueh. Two Melakan chefs were invited to teach the students on how to make ondeh-ondeh and ang ku kueh, and after washing hands and putting on the gloves, the students quickly got right down to it.

After the kueh-making session, it was almost time for all of us to check out of the hotel. We did a final packing of our bags and then we bade goodbye to Mahkota Hotel, our accommodation for the past 2 nights.

Before making our way back to Singapore, we stopped at Orna Golf and Country Club to have our lunch at the restaurant there. During that time, students were also given their batik paintings, which were already dried and framed.

At 2.30pm, we began to make our move. But first, let’s take a final group picture!

Oh yes, of course we could not leave Melaka without any delicious souvenirs. We stopped at Tan Kim Hock local food shop and everyone was given about 20 minutes to shop for things to be brought home. Boy, did we shop!

And…that’s the end of our 3-day-2-night trip to Melaka. We had a smooth journey back to Singapore and reached school at around 7.45pm.

Thank you, parents, for allowing your children to be a part of this exciting journey out of the country. Kudos to the students, of course, for being willing to expose themselves to a new environment and putting up with changes along the way. They had shown resilience and had been a good sport during this trip.

Till the next overseas adventure!

Goodbye!

Day 2: Malay Village

Day 2 adventure continued and we headed to a Malay village at around 3.30pm. It was really an eye-opener for many of us — teachers and students alike — who had never been to a Malay kampung before. We were greeted by a local guide who then provided us with an itinerary of our Malay village visit. One of the things we had to do was batik painting. Though a few students were hesitant to do this at first, things started to change when they realised how easy it was to do it.

Other than batik painting, the students also tried rubber tapping, watching and learning some basic silat (Malay martial art), playing the traditional game of congkak and gasing (top spinning) and also trying out the sarung, a kind of traditional clothing worn by villagers. Time sure passed really quickly when we were having fun!

Everyone was famished by the time we went to a local Peranakan restaurant for dinner. After trying out the local dishes, we were also served a local favourite…cendol!

We were back at Mahkota Hotel at around 8pm and although the students were slightly worn out, they were still game for some activities. Everything wrapped up 2 hours later and we eventually called it a day. Sleep!

Day 2: What was in store?

It was going to be a really busy day today, not to mention sticky and sweaty, too. That aside, all of us were excited to see what the day had in store for us. Before we embarked on our Amazing Melaka Journey activity, there was, of course, the buffet breakfast.

At 9am, we gathered at the lobby and then made our way to the nearby Parameswara Jetty. There, a long line of colourful trishaws, complete with stereos blaring dance music, were waiting for us. We got on them orderly and made our way to the heart of the Melaka city, where the Stadthuys (also known as the City Hall) is.

It was quite an exciting 10-minute journey on the trishaws. Worrying, for the teachers but very exciting for the students definitely. Thankfully the morning traffic was not heavy and there were not many cars whizzing past us. Along the way, we saw many interesting sites, including the Menara Taming Sari, a revolving tower which allows visitors to see the panoramic beauty of Melaka from a height of 80 metres above ground.

We alighted at the Dutch Square and waited for everyone at the Stadthuys. Our Amazing Melaka Journey continued with us visiting the museum and finding the answers to a set of questions from our travel booklet. We had to look for information related to the times when Portuguese, Dutch and British empires came and took control of Melaka. Not only that, we had to seek out information on China’s famous voyager, Admiral Cheng Ho, who came to Melaka in the 15th century.

We also ‘hiked up the St Paul’s hill and visited the ruins of the St  Paul’s Church that was originally built in 1521, making it the oldest church building in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. It is today part of the Melaka Museum Complex comprising the A Famosa ruins, the Stadthuys and other historical buildings.

It was soon time for lunch and we made our way to a really hip café, Halia Inc, by the Melaka River. The menu for the day comprises cream of mushroom, chicken chop and the Italian dessert, panna cotta. Yummy!

The group split into 2 teams after lunch; one went to the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum at Lorong Hang Jebat while the other team headed to Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. Both had intricate exhibits which told us valuable information about the olden time and how people lived in those days.

Day 2 was not over yet. Once we were done with the museums, we made our way out of the city centre and headed to a typical Malay village. Check out our next entry!

 

 

 

Day 1: Onwards to Melaka

After enduring hunger pangs for some time, we finally reached Lucky Garden Yong Peng restaurant for our lunch at 1.30pm. Thankfully, upon arrival, warm packed food was already waiting for everyone. Though it was just a simple combo of fried rice, egg and chicken, many relished the food and ate it heartily.

It was almost 4.30pm when we reached Melaka and sadly, there was not enough time to visit the Peranakan and Cheng Ho museums as planned. We headed to our hotel instead and carried on some activities there. The students had a little reflection session with their teachers and camp facilitators where they had to share their experiences at the immigration and their observations at Lucky Garden Yong Peng restaurant.

This session got everybody to think about the purposes of this trip. Everyone shared that they did notice the physical differences between Singapore and Melaka. They also talked about how Malay is widely spoken as compared to English back home in Singapore. The students also shared how they observed different cultural practices in Melaka. Still, they mentioned that despite all these differences, communication between us and the Malaysians could still go on smoothly if everyone just practice a little empathy, patience and kindness.

Dinner followed after around 6.30pm and everyone had the opportunity to eat to their hearts’ content at the hotel dinner buffet. There were chicken curry, Peranakan-styled mixed vegetables, savoury fish, cream of chicken soup and various types of desserts and fruits for everyone. The long journey to Melaka had made everyone hungry for most of the students went for second, and even third, helping!

*Oops! Not many pictures here because…well, you guessed it…everyone was so engrossed in their meal!

A little fun session organised by the camp facilitators took place after dinner. Students were divided into groups and each group had to complete a number of tasks given by the facilitators. These tasks included some activities which required students to think out of the box and communicate with one another to ensure good teamwork. Excitement was certainly in the air as everyone had their competitive mode on.

We ended the session with a little friendly competition between the teachers and students — who could make the tallest shoe tower. The teachers won of course :).

We wrapped up Day 1 with a little briefing on Day 2’s itinerary. If everything goes well tomorrow, we will check out the famous sites in Melaka, visit the museums which we did not get to go earlier and spend some time at a local Malay village. A traditional Peranakan dinner at a local restaurant is also in store for everyone tomorrow.

Stay tune for our updates!

 

 

 

The day has finally arrived!

After hours of planning and preparing, the day of our much-awaited trip to Melaka (no more ‘Malacca’ now) is finally here!

The school hall was already buzzing with excitement at 7.30am and at around 8am, students and teachers alike were all ushered to the auditorium for our final briefing before setting off. At 9am, we boarded the bus and finally began to make our way to the Tuas checkpoint.

When the teachers planned for this trip, they had expected obstacles and prepped themselves mentally to cope with last-minute changes. However, they did not expect the obstacle to happen so soon. The first obstacle appeared at the Tuas Checkpoint. Many of us were stuck at the immigration counters as there was a slight system malfunction at local immigration checkpoint. We were delayed for almost an hour and a few of us had to go to special counters to verify our identification. Though it did create a slight panic among teachers, credit must really be given to our Sec 2 students. Everyone kept calm and showed good waiting and understanding even though they had to wait a long time to settle their passport issues with the immigration officers. Seeing the students behave so calmly must be a sign that it’s going to be a good day 🙂

It was smooth sailing over at the Malaysian customs and we were off on our way to Melaka. It was 11.30am by then and some could already feel the hunger pangs. It was heartwarming to see students sharing snacks and telling one another to be patient for lunch was waiting for all at Yong Peng.

Wonder what lunch could be…

 

Kyle

Have fun, keep safe and don’t forget your meds! Praying for everyone’s safety. 

Love you lots, Dad Mom & Keara

Sec 2 Trip to Malacca

What: A 3-day, 2-night trip to Malacca, Malaysia
When: 17-19 May 2017
Where: Malacca City, Malacca
Who: Sec 2 students from Pathlight School
Why: To encourage cultural immersion and to allow students to practise daily living skills

We’re going to Malacca…soon.

Hi there!

We are in the midst of planning an epic trip to Malacca this May. Not only do we want this trip to be educational, we also want to make it fun and memorable for both students and teachers. Do check on us again and see our planning progress.

– Admin