Where to go next ah?

Taman Buaya!

Yeah, we absolutely went all out to do all the touristy thing. Let’s check out what Malacca, the newly sanctioned Heritage City by UNESCO has to offer.

The Taman Buaya is located about 20 minutes away from the city centre. Well, we did take longer than that because we got lost we were exploring the roads of Malacca. You would probably not miss this park if you enter Malacca through the Ayer Keroh highway.

At the entrance of the park lies Johnny; a stuffed crocodile that used to be a resident of this park. Johnny was huge and he must have been the largest crocodile that ever lived here. Here I am resting my fingers in his opened jaw. Like so brave kan?

Johnny is so popular that tourists flocked to take pictures next to him. He must have been a a star!

Unfortunately, Johnny's stardom was shortlived. He died due to the park’s negligence. According to what we heard through the grapevine, the new ‘house’ that Johnny got was so badly designed that left him to lie on the cement pavement for 2 days without any water.

Tsk. Oh wait, it’s not something we heard through the grapevine. There was actually a sign next to Johnny to state why he died. OMG. What is the management trying to say?!

At RM 5 per pax, I rather pay an entrance fee of RM 10 just so to ensure that these crocs will be well taken off. Even the crocs I wear on my feet is properly treated and not trampled on. How utterly embarrassing to have visitors to pay to witness such sorry state the crocs and the park are in.

The crocs are skinny and lazy. 

Safety is not a criteria in this park. Some cages are left without any locks. Anybody could unlatch and enter, or let a croc escape (for their own good maybe). It's an accident waiting to happen.

On one side of the park, you have REALLY cheesy entertainment stuffs inherited from the 80s. You know those kinda rides and shows that you have in those freak circus? Things like Cermin Ajaib and Rumah Hantu with badly painted skulls and blood just don't make the cut anymore. IT DOESN'T!

At the end of the park was a mini water playground for kids. From afar, it looked like the only new feature of the park.

But about 5 feet away, you will understand why it still looks new. The plastic cover that wraps the décor and equipment is not removed completely, leaving the remnants floating in still water.

The water reeked and was littered with all kinds of rubbish. There were tadpoles swimming and sediments at the button of the pool indicating the length of time any maintenance or cleaning was done.

Question: What is the function of the mini playground?

Whatever it is, it must have made someone VERY rich. I am truly appalled. It was a white elephant just ready to crumble one of these days. I wouldn’t be surprised that the next 10 years I visit, you’ll still find this place as is. Shameful.

To be fair, there was another side of the park that was completely new with water, sand and palm trees. I can't even tell if the crocodiles are even healthier there but they don't look as pathetic as their friends on the other side of the hood. It was like Manhattan vs the Bronx.

What made us chuckle was that the park had a type of croc only - i.e. Saltwater Crocodile. But they tried to make it look as if they had a variety of crocodiles by including some retarded ones e.g. the tailless croc and the croc with a hump. Haha.

Our verdict:

Crocodile park / Taman Buaya Melaka (0/5)

To drive all the way to the park and drench ourselves with disappointment, the only satisfying moment was quenching our thirst at the neighbouring McDonald's. Ahh.. cold, icy Coke.

to be continued... The Malacca River Cruise 

---