Blogs from Melaka City, Melaka, Malaysia, Asia - page 32

After flying from Hanoi to Singapore we moved on up to Melaka in Malaysia for a few days. This is a place with a 'multi-cultural' heritage it has in the past been occupied by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British before being handed back to the locals. Hence there are many interesting buildings in Melaka. For us it was nice to get back to somewhere with some proper sun. We wandered around the old town and had a good look at the crafts in Chinatown. Jason finally got a bongo drum that he had kept going on about. We then went to see the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for a pound each!! Bargain! We went back to Singapore after Melaka and did some of the stuff we never got the time to ... read more

Oh Melaka! Wish I had some beautiful landscape and buildings to show you, but unfortunately it was party, party, party!... read more

This is the 2nd leg of our Singapore-Malacca-Singapore trip from October 30, 2005 to November 4, 2005. Please check Singapore (part 2) for the days preceding this trip and Singapore (part 3) for the return to Singapore. MALACCA, MALAYSIA Wednesday After checking-out and having our luggages stored, we took the MRT to Lavender station for our trip to Malacca. This time we walked and saved the $5 very short cab ride hehe. Directions going to the Lavender / Kallang Bahru bus station: 1. From the station, exit to Lavender street. 2. From the top of the escalators, walk to your right going to the intersection (Landmark: to your left you will see a blue building, that’s the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority building - do not walk going in that direction). You are now at the intersection ... read more

Melaka is considered the historical hub of Malaysia, a thriving port, conquered sequentially by the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese. Now trying to reclaim it's history, and it's future, and some additional land. At the centre of it all is the sea, and it's strategic location on the straits of Malaysia. Melaka's timeline: 1396 - founding of Melaka by Parameswara, Prince of Palembang 1403 - Chinese envoy, Yin Ching arrives. 1407 - Admiral Cheng Ho and the Chinese fleet visits 1411 - Parameswara visits the Ming Emperor in China 1447 - The Siamese attack, but the Melakan fleet repel it. 1509 - Portuguese traders arrive, led by Dieo Lopez de Sequiera, with a fleet of ships. They set out from the Portuguese colony in Goa. 1511 - Follow a 10 day seige, Melaka falls to the ... read more

This was our last leg of the Malaysia tour. Malacca, or Melaka depending on how you wanna spell it, is Malaysia's oldest city. I don't remember much of its history, though our tour guide spent about three hours explaining it. I had a cold and had energy sucked outta me. Anyway, it involves the Dutch and St. Francis and battles and other interesting stuff. ... read more