The Magic of Malacca – Johan Hotel’s Love Story

This is one of the older posts but its content is still as fresh as ever, considering the number of searches it still receives.

I thought it may be interesting for the readers of Confession of d Travelholics, especially those who may be visiting Malacca and in search of a decent accommodation.

Here is therefore a re-post. Hope you enjoy it.

This is dedicated to the Kai, the lady boss of the traveller's lodge on Melaka Raya 1.

Johan Hotel is a traveller's lodge run by a couple - Johan and Kai (transliteration).

[Source: Hotel Johan Website]

We met Kai by the counter when Miguel and I arrived on Sunday. Dressed in her flowery selengdang (or tudong, a head scarf worn by Malay women), she was having a conversation with a Chinese-looking middle-aged man, who seemed to be an old friend.

It was only later we realized that they were chatting in Japanese. As a Malay woman, Kai's Japanese was über fluent. I was so impressed that I had to tell her when the man left.

Turned out that Kai IS native Japanese! But she looks absolutely like a Malay, skin tone-wise and even shape of her face and features. I gasped with astonishment. Even my Korean buddy couldn't tell that she's Japanese (Silly Miguel tried to fool her that he's a one too).

We chatted longer than we should at the counter as Kai unfolded her story to us.

Kai was a young Japanese lady travelling in South East Asia 16 years ago. She was passing by the city of Melaka when she took shelter at Johan's guest lodge. This was supposed to be her last stop before moving on to India.

Using Kai's very words, "the angel's arrow shot". Kai and Johan ended up falling in love and so she postponed her trip to India. The rest was history. Kai never made it to India, and Johan became the dearest man of her life.

The trip to Melaka made a fateful twist to her life. She did went back to Japan but by intervention of fate Kai and Johan got married and Kai settled down in Melaka.

Today, this beautiful traveller's lodge in the middle of Melaka city is the fruit of their love. You can absolutely feel a touch of difference when you step into this lodge. It is clean, organized and tastefully decorated with both local and Japanese arts and ornaments.

I was crazy about the lizards on the glass panels. Look at their shimmers when my camera flashed on them!

This has to be from Kai, no others.

I give this place a 5-star rating for a clean, beautiful and affordable accommodation right in the centre, accessible to all the actions by feet. We paid RM95 for an evening, totally worthwhile. Oh by the way, coffee and drinks from the pantries are complimentary from the lodge.

The morning we were leaving, it was pouring like crazy. For an hour, Miguel and I were sitting at the lobby of Johan Hotel, listening to the pitter patter of the rain. Both sighing at the painfully romantic atmosphere, both lamenting that here we were with the wrong partner.


Originally posted on Heyzanie's World (4 Aug 09).