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The journey to Malacca itself was, to use a phrase I used at that time, "wonderfully crazy". My partner and I left Clementi MRT at around 3:45 pm, and passed through Johor immigration around 4:45 pm while our bus to Malacca left Larkin (a bus terminal some distance from the checkpoint) at 5 pm. We were able to find a taxi driver who was willing to take us there for a flat unmetered fare of 15 ringgit (about $6.45) and got there just in time to catch the bus.
The trip itself was largely uneventful and we arrived in Malacca around 8 pm. We looked around for a place to buy our return tickets from while waiting to be picked up, and bought them for RM 14.50 per person (compared to the RM 16 we paid for our tickets from Larkin to Malacca). In hindsight, that was probably a very good idea, although it didn't really seem so at the time. We were originally put up in a hostel in which ten people would sleep per room, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to work out especially in the mornings and with only one shower and one toilet for the whole guys' area. Additionally, the idea of room parties really didn't appeal to me in that context. :P So we ended up staying in a hotel down the street that charged RM 50 per night for a 2-person room with an attached bathroom. It worked out to about RM 25 per person, and was actually slightly cheaper than the hostel as well.
The debates themselves were rather interesting, although not always in a good way.
( First round : This House would ban online gambling )
( Second round : This House would send NATO troops to southern Lebanon )
( Third round : This House would make aid conditional on democratization )
( Fourth round : This House would require gay literature to be taught in schools to promote gay rights )
I don't remember much about the semi-finals, and we had to rush to Melaka Sentral (the bus terminal) to catch our bus, so we missed most of the finals.
The ride back to Larkin wasn't too bad (although we got onto our bus about 5 minutes before it left), but there was a massive jam on the way to the checkpoint, and it got so bad that I ended up walking from the stalled bus to the checkpoint. I got home around 12 am and was rather tired from running and walking so much.
Overall, it was a somewhat enjoyable experience, although I wished I'd been able to stay in Malacca longer so I could do some sight-seeing. And I would have planned for a less rushed journey there and back. :P
The trip itself was largely uneventful and we arrived in Malacca around 8 pm. We looked around for a place to buy our return tickets from while waiting to be picked up, and bought them for RM 14.50 per person (compared to the RM 16 we paid for our tickets from Larkin to Malacca). In hindsight, that was probably a very good idea, although it didn't really seem so at the time. We were originally put up in a hostel in which ten people would sleep per room, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to work out especially in the mornings and with only one shower and one toilet for the whole guys' area. Additionally, the idea of room parties really didn't appeal to me in that context. :P So we ended up staying in a hotel down the street that charged RM 50 per night for a 2-person room with an attached bathroom. It worked out to about RM 25 per person, and was actually slightly cheaper than the hostel as well.
The debates themselves were rather interesting, although not always in a good way.
( First round : This House would ban online gambling )
( Second round : This House would send NATO troops to southern Lebanon )
( Third round : This House would make aid conditional on democratization )
( Fourth round : This House would require gay literature to be taught in schools to promote gay rights )
I don't remember much about the semi-finals, and we had to rush to Melaka Sentral (the bus terminal) to catch our bus, so we missed most of the finals.
The ride back to Larkin wasn't too bad (although we got onto our bus about 5 minutes before it left), but there was a massive jam on the way to the checkpoint, and it got so bad that I ended up walking from the stalled bus to the checkpoint. I got home around 12 am and was rather tired from running and walking so much.
Overall, it was a somewhat enjoyable experience, although I wished I'd been able to stay in Malacca longer so I could do some sight-seeing. And I would have planned for a less rushed journey there and back. :P
