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Tuesday June 17, 2008 - My new friend Andy got a ticket on the same bus to Malaka- it was mostly empty - and we headed off. I spent those two hours hoping all the sweat on both sides of my shirt was drying and he looked at the scenery as we chatted. We had to take a local bus for 10 min into town after we arrived, and then we set out to find one of two hostels we liked the sound of. We finally got ourselves to the first one and it was full already. Then we spent about 30 hot minutes wandering around trying to find the other. Turns out we had passed it at least once, and come close several times. But we got settled in with no problem. We got a room for two for nearly the same price as the 16 bed dorm - about $4 each. There seems to be only one sink, one shower and one toilet in the whole building. Yet somehow it wasn't an issue yet. We also have to take our shoes off before we can go up to our rooms - kind of nice.
Once we dropped our
bags off, we went walking. It's a small enough town for walking and I've seen an awful lot. We stopped in a few museums as well, that were all connected on one ticket. We lingered inside of the Malaysia Education Museum - it had A/C! It was fantastic. Could it be hotter here than in KL? How can they still be alive? How are we? At least there's never a need for a bathroom, as you are already dehydrated. We even hit up a shopping mall to look around and buy some cold drinks. We tried Aloe Vera iced tea. Yum! We also stopped at a travel agent to ask some questions for my trip and to find out about the boat ticket to Indonesia, which I regret to inform you increased severely in price on June 1 due to rising gas costs. I will think about what to do and do it tomorrow.
In the evening we stopped for a drink and then I used the internet while he went back for a nap. Once I got in and he was still asleep, I tried a little more planning, as I was reaching the freak out phase of
How-Can-I-See-It-All versus How-Can-I-Buy-An-Onward-Ticket-If-I-Have-No-Idea-Where-I'll-Be-July 23? I finally came up with a reasonable plan and then decided it was time to wake up Andy, who I was so jealous of for sleeping so soundly and easily, so we could get dinner. It was already 8:30. So we began our dinner hunt, and found nearly everything to be closed already. Huh. Did everyone eat already? So we headed back towards the hostel to a place we had seen a line for earlier. When the locals line up it must be good. So we got in line. It was a satay restaurant. Satay is usually bits of chicken cooked on sticks in peanut sauce and spices. It's amazing. This place was like a fondue version of that where you go choose your own sticks with various meats and then cook them in the little pot of ecstasy called satay sauce. It was yummy. We got talking to the owner and he gave us each a free drink before we left. So nice. We got home around 10:30 and then took turns showering and guarding money for the other who was in the shower. Oh - did I mention I was a sweaty sticky freak
and this place has no A/C? Once I got out of my pleasantly cold shower, I just hoped it would be cool enough to let the sweating rest for the evening. It was good outside the room, where the hostel is open - not in the room. Oh well.
Wednesday June 18 - I managed a full 4 hours of sleep again, and then sat around waiting to get ready around 8am for another day. Today Andy went to the zoo while I sat around trying to sort out my boat tickets to Indonesia and see about an onward ticket in case they ask for one. I spent some time on the internet trying to look for flight tickets from Bali to Singapore. I chatted with Miranda a bit and she was able to help me book something that I could print out and take with me in case I needed "proof" of onward journey, even though it hadn't been paid for yet. I walked around Melaka, took some more pictures, was proud of myself for finding my way around town. I hid in the mall for air conditioning once - it was great. I took some time to
watch the school kids walk by in their uniforms. The girls are all wearing the headscarves and cute little matching blue and white dresses.
In the evening I met Andy in the internet cafe. He was a bit early getting back for our meeting time and thought to kill some time in there - and found me instead. Once I finished up, we went for a walk and some food. We ate outside at a little stall - fried noodles. Then we cruised around town and found a ferris wheel in the distance, but couldn't quite figure out how to get there. There was a man blowing some sort of poisonous looking white gas out from a blower, so we headed in a slightly different direction and found a little boardwalk. By this time it was dusk and the boardwalk was lit up with beautiful blue Christmas lights. We followed it around and where did it lead but the Ferris Wheel! It actually went to a little park that also featured a few other rides, including a pirate ship, and that was about it. We rode the wheel and they sent us around 5 times - pretty cool. On
our walk there we also encountered a monitor lizard under the boardwalk. A very cool sighting - it was huge. We decided to follow the river back to the guesthouse and it was a nice walk back. Went to sleep after a nice cold shower to rinse off a surprising accumulation of sweat. I think I should have brought more clothes...Mine are all dirty already....
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