View from Menara Taming Sari

This 80 meter tower, fashioned after the famed Keris of the Legend Hang Tuah, stands tall over downtown Melaka, overseeing the Melaka River, the Stadthuy’s, the St. Paul Church and the adjoining A Famosa Fort, and the route the Melaka Duck Tours takes through Jalan Merdeka. Much like Jerudong’s now defunct rotating tower, or the one in Sentosa, the tower spins lazily giving a 360 vista of Melaka City. A much recent attraction, only completed in the last 3 years, the tower is accompanied by a Tourist Information Centre, and also onsite souvenir shop and café, which we were rushed through, not unlike VIPs. We were greeted by smiling staff of the tower attraction, reinforcing our, ‘VIP’ status. Other attractions which we didn’t get to see were a reverse bungee installation, and a Taming Sari Folk Dance show.

Click through to see the Menara Taming Sari, in this photo, just behind the red pylon.

Dataran Pahlawan Megamall. Quite a good shopping place.
Did a bit of shopping here at the end of the day.

Holiday Inn to the right, and Mahkota Hotel to the left.

Pity that the Eye on Malaysia was taken down during our visit,
and in it’s place a much bigger one will take its place.

A bit of explaining here for this photo. There’s two bodies of water in this photo, the straight one with the curved end, and another straight one right next to it. The former is actually connected to the sea proper, with tides coming in and out affecting the level of water. Here ships, boats and ferries can access this body of water, and will be processed by the CIQ, Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex which is still under construction between the two bodies of water. The latter is the one feeding the Melaka River, but due to threats of flooding, the Melaka River Authority has in place a tidal barrage to control the level of water throughout the canal. As the main attractions are right next to the river, this system keeps the water level in control.

The wooden ship in the middle of the photo is actually a replica of a Portuguese ship “Flor De La Mar”. Something awesome about this museum is the fact that guests can actually stay overnight on the ship. Don’t worry, they provide a mattress, and the ship is air conditioned. Kinda disappointed about that, wanted to have an authentic experience. I jest, I jest.

Jalan Merdeka, in between Dataran Pahlawan and Mahkota Parade.

The CIQ Complex under construction.
With the Tidal Barrage in the middle of the photo.

Mahkota Hotel. The road to the right is the
access road to the Jetty, the entertainment venue.