Trip To Malacca - Part 1

Sometime in March, when life was somewhat less complex, my department went to Malacca on an informal company-organised trip. It was the first time we were to have an overnight outing together.

The trip started off in the early morning at Tampines, where transport was provided for East-staying employees. Not too bad, for a trip which cost $188.

And this was to be our ride for the next too days. A bit cramped but comfortable nonetheless... There were to be two of them, with another fetching other colleagues who felt more comfortable assembling at Kranji.




After an uneventful border crossing, we met up for breakfast somewhere in Johor Bahru. I don't really know where this place is...



But the food on offer there was some kind of fabulous, not only in terms of variety but also in price...










The big breakfast out of the way, the next thing we knew we were in Malacca about to visit a bee farm. ie. We had slept all the way.

Anyhow, this visit was unique in the sense that we got to go up close to the bee enclosures - really up close. Our guide simply told us that if a bee hit our face, just keep walking for they are only likely to sting if we try to brush them off. Err... ok...Thanks for the advice.

Here were the articificial hives created for the bees. I must say that without the bees, if I chanced upon such an enclosure at night my spine would tingle slightly for I thought they looked a little like miniature coffins...



It is from these 'hives', however, that honey is extracted.... And I must say it tasted really good - and fresh (duh!), though we later had to spit out the wax.







We also got to try some pollen, which the guide said was very nutritious and pure. According to him, the bees place the gathered pollen here for onwared processing into honey.




I found the pollen lumps a little too small to really experience any taste however. I think from this picture you can see why...



The guide then asked if anybody wanted to do something daring and there were no takers so I, trying to look cool, volunteered to take a picture next to him.



And that was his cue to ask me to help him hold a slat full of bees. Seeing that I remained unscathed for more than 30 seconds, the girls in the tour decided that it would be quite cool to have a picture taken next to, well, a person holding a slat full of bees and so formed up behind me.



This was another of the farms innovations, by putting the mesh inside these bottles, they could collect the honey straight in the container without having to transfer it.





Something else that fascinated the group were these cows which roamed about freely. One of my colleagues said that if the bees started swarming, "these poor beasts would have nowhere to hide". I replied that they wouldn't have to, as long as they "wear their hide". Hmm....




Of course, no farm tour is complete without a little bit of hard sell. This one was no different, as the hosts encouraged and cajoled us to buy these very natural products with immeasurable benefits to our health. I bought one obligatory bottle but most of my colleagues but a few as they deemed it to be a present the spouse would approve of. "Hey Honey, I got you some honey."



Of course, being Singaporean we also feasted ourselves on the free samples...



A good start to the trip therefore, which made us hungry for lunch...