if I am one day short, where would the people knowing Malaysia advise to cut it from, Cameron Highlands? KL? Melaka? E.g. is it worth removing Cameron Highlands to allow a second day stay in Melaka?
This is a short trip (12d).

I would suggest you take a day from Cameron Highlands...there is really nothing there but fruit orchards, strawberry farms and tea plantations..the weather is cool though..Melaka is more historic with lots of antique shops if that is your cuppa...if anything u will need an extra day in KL.

I totally disagree (sorry!). Cut it from KL. There's hardly anything to do there but shop anyway. Batu Caves, Chinatown... those are worth a look, but there's not much else (you can see the twin towers from anywhere, and going up is anti-climatic. KL Tower is better, so you can have a view OF the twin towers, not FROM half way up the twin towers).

Cameron Highlands is a bit of a trip to get to, so I would save that time because you won't want to repeat the journey any sooner than you have to... ie: don't plan on just stopping there only one night! This is just what I've heard - I haven't been.

However, I live in Melaka... everything to see is quite central so you needn't a LOT of time. A day trip from KL might even work, if you left KL very early, and took a late bus back... I'd rather stay overnight and not rush so much. There are some neat antiquey style hotels right in the middle of it all - try Hotel Puri in a search.

Have fun!

so this fits my schedule very well. tx,

Depends on where you're from and what interests you. I'm from KL originally and now living in Australia. I've been to all the places you're going. Although Melaka is known as a historical town, there's nothing much really, just rubbles, coz nobody looks after the tourist attractions. Plus all the poorly planned housing and industrial developments are making the tiny town polluted and infested with mosquitoes. My previous experience there was - "won't go there again". Cameron Highlands, well, I'm sure mother nature is done much better elsewhere.
My suggestion: One more day in KL and forget about Melaka or other places AND: either go to Taman Negara or Penang instead.

p/s FYI, all the places mentioned are north or north-east of KL, except Melaka, which is 2 hours drive south of KL.

I fully agree with xybermerc with Melaka and Cameron Highlands. These are day trips that you consider only when you have absolute extra time. You can cover all sightseeing or scenic spots in 2 hours max once you are there. You will be bored to death at night if you enjoy the cafe and club scene coz nothing stays open late.

Places to consider in KL at nights are :1. petaling street night market, try the iced longan drink at the entrance to the market which is really refreshing! 2. Bangsar or Sri Hartamas for their pubs,bars and cafes. Try Souled Out in Sri Hartamas, very good atmosphere with good food and music. Try and get a seat outside. Bangsar also has a Sunday market that is clean and bustling with people. After that, if you are all hot and sweaty and you want to enjoy hawker food in an air cond place, try Madame Kwan that is very near the market.
4. If you are adventurous and feeling peckish in the wee hours of the night, try out the "mamak stalls" along the roadsides selling teh tarik (milk tea)and nasi lemak(you should see how they pour tea between 2 jugs without spilling a drop and I am talking about at least a metre long between the jugs)
5. Or you could go to Jalan Alor (all cab drivers will know this open air hawker street) and order a variety of hawker food.

If you feel like authentic Italian food, try Scallini's in the city or Grappa in Bangsar. FYI, the chefs are Italian.

All the locations mentioned are in the city area except for Bangsar and Sri Hartamas which is about 20 minutes from the city.

I have also planned for a 11 day trip to Malaysia and initially I included Melaka (2 nights) and Cameron (1 night)
Penang (3 nights) KL (4 nights)
as I wanted to see as much of the country as possible. I changed my mind because some friends just got back from the mentioned places and they said it was a waste of time. They told me to try again in 5 years. One of them vomitted during the drive up to Cameron. She said there is a 50 metre stretch that is extremely winding and dangerous and children will most definitely be very sick.
The informative last two posts have further confirmed my decision to eliminate Melaka and Cameron. I will save those nights for Pulau Redang with beautiful white sandy beaches.

Thanks for the advice.

Cameron Highlands could not be a day trip, really, unless you want to spend at least six or seven hours of that day en route - and yes, the bus is supposed to be awful.

I agree that Melaka might do more to preserve its cultural heritage and stop investing in tourist tackiness - they are going about some things wrong. Though they are doing major work along the river, which is terrific. Old Chinatown is still really great, especially if you like to just walk around and enjoy whatever you see. There are some amazing temples (including Malaysia's oldest operating Chinese temple). If historical buildings and antiques are only "rubbles" to you, then okay, that's not for you. Maybe that's boring to some people. Depends what you're after. There's not much night-life, no, though the weekend nightmarket along Jonkers Street is neat.

KL has pollution problems - this is not a big issue here in Melaka (we go to KL for the day and our noses are filled with black soot - that doesn't happen here). And mosquitoes are not a problem in town.

very interesting exchqnge of ideas, thks.
can someone explain to me what hawker food is?
also, i was told that Cameron Highlands is worth the visit for the tea plantations. Is it wrong or is there a better place?

Hawker food refers to "fast food" kinds of things sold at stalls in food courts (don't picture a mall food court here, though). Say, you've got this big outdoor food court, usually covered, and there are all these little stalls... one guy's selling satay, one guy's selling wan tan mee, another is selling laksa, another fried rice, another dim sum.... You go around and choose what you want, and they will bring it around to you - you pay each vendor when they bring it. Someone else will come to your table for your drink order.

A lot of tourists steer clear of food courts for fear they will catch a tummy bug, but as long as you see the stalls are clean and you get your food piping hot, it is fine... in fact, some of my favorite meals I've had at food courts! And it's dirt cheap.

Can't comment on Cameron Highlands. There is also another highland destination called Frasers Hill that I hear is less touristy, and I think it is closer KL. Might be worth looking into, since you have limited time. Avoid Genting Highlands like the plague, though! Not the same thing!

The meaning and concept of hawker food have somehow changed a lot from the olden days. Back then you will see old men and women prowling the streets with their pushcarts or mobile stalls yelling out their specialties (usually only offering one or two local flavours of soup noodles or fried noodles or even sweet dessert broth. There was no need for a licence to operate and taxes were unheard of.

The government has since stepped in and clamped down on them so what you have now are fully legalised stationary hawkers operating in what you call hawker centres which are totally in open air or under cover but still open. They are basically small stalls, each selling their specialty - put them together and you have a great choice. There will be a cluster of tables and chairs so just find yourself a seat and someone from each stall will come over and tell you what they sell. Some of them will be very pushy but the whole experience is fun. Try and order a variety so you have a taste of everything. Don't be afraid to walk up to each stall and see what they have coz the staff will definitely try and sell you their most expensive. You have to pay when the food and drinks arrive and make sure you have plenty of loose notes and coins coz you will be paying individual people from their stalls.

Food courts are different. They are always located on the ground level or upper level of a shopping centre. The stalls are all stuck together in a semi circle. They usually don't specialise in a particular dish and each stall has a very big selection. For example, a stall can be selling up to 10 different types of noodles and rice dishes. There will always be a stall that sells "nasi campur" meaning mixed rice - you get to choose cooked up ready to serve dishes in a bainmarie and rice will be served on the side. You will also find a mixture of indian, chinese and malay stalls whereas in hawker centres it will either be all chinese or all malay. The reason is because to operate in a food court, everything has to be "halal" and no pork is served so that Muslims can eat there too. Food courts are very popular with office workers because it is cheap, quick and air conditioned so try to go just before or after lunch time.
You can check out what the hawker stalls look like at http://www.malaysiasite.nl/hawkereng.htm