Blogs from Melaka City, Melaka, Malaysia, Asia - page 7

W koncu sie wyspalismy! Nasze organizmy zaczynaja sie powoli przestawaiac do nowego czasu. Co prawda pokoik 3mx2m do ktorego wchodzi tylko lozko pietrowe i mala szafeczka ale czyste i mile. Dodatkowa zaleta hostelu jest fakt ze lezy nad samym kanalem w chinskiej dzielnicy. Wieczorem mozna usiasc i ochlanac dzieki orzezwiajacej bryzie. Okolica zupelnie nie przypomina Malezji. Przywodzi na mysl raczej poludnie Europy. Jedyna roznica sa ponowe szyldy z chinskimi znakami. Malaka od wiekow byla waznym arabskim portem laczacym wschod z „dalekim wschodem”. Juz w XVI wieku przybyli tu Portugalczycy. Potem kolejno Holendrzy i Anglicy. Kazdy narod odcisnal swoje pietno na architekturze, zwyczajach i kuchni tego rejonu. W miescie mozna zobaczyc plakaty przedstawiajace ciemnych skosnookich Malajow w tradycyjnych portugalskich strojach ludowych. W centrum mozna podziwiac kociol katolicki – cho... read more

Our second day in Melaka was just as wonderful as the first. The staff at the Malacca Majestic are simply wonderful. It is a funky, wonderful little hotel and so far has been the highlight of our trip. We went on walking tour today and saw amazing back alley sights with a local (Miss Cho) who explained the ins and outs of both old world Malaysia and lots of current political commentary. Apparently, there is lots of political corruption and public funds are often misspent. (not much different than home) The current political party has been in power for 55 years and apparently basically a monarchy of sorts. We met a Kiwi guy on the tour and had lunch at a Nynoya Baba resturant called Jonkers 88. Check out Nyonya cuisine. Tasty stuff. We had dinner ... read more

When I was planning the trip, I decided that I'd like to visit this town with two names soon after we left Singapore. Logan determined it was somewhere between 3-10 hours by bus, but it didn't look too far on the map. I read good reviews and quickly added it to must visit list determining we would figure out the details of how we would get there a little later. I booked the hotel based on reviews and few url=http://www.google.com.my/search?q=images+malacca+malaysia&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=kyVMT9r0FY6rrAf54422Dw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBEQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=717google images and hoped for the best. Since I determined I would like to come to Melaka, I've been trying to figure out how to say it. Actually, it's a bit less intimidating than most of the other cities in Malaysia, but for some reason I was having a har... read more

Nach den drei Großstädten und vor der nächsten ziehen wir uns für einen kurzen Erholungsurlaub in das kleine beschauliche Städtchen Melaka zurück. Auf dem Weg dorthin treffen wir die britische Opernsängerin Camille, welche zwar in Berlin wohnt, aber nur auswärts Arbeit findet und gerade in Singapur ein Konzert gegeben hat. Nach einem Abend beim Essen beim Inder in Chinatown trennen sich unsere Wege wieder. In Chinatown hängen überall rote Lampions und chinesische Girlanden herum und hier und da mal ein Drache. Nett anzuschauen sind auch die kleinen bunten chinesischen Tempel, wenn zwischendurch dann der Muezzin ruft, passt das aber so gar nicht ins Bild. In den vielen Geschäften in den teilweise schönen und stuckverzierten kleinen Reihenhäusern gibt es nur „Kunsthandwerk“, also Touristenkitsch, zu kaufen. Dieser ehemals bedeutende Handelsknotenpunkt der vorherigen Jahrhunderte droht ... read more

Driving half the length of peninsula Malaysia is always going to take a long time. Luckily on Chinese New Year's Day the vast majority of people were already visiting relatives so we had a fairly clear run all the way - until we got South of Kuala Lumpur. Then the heavens opened, visibility was reduced to a minimum, the traffic started to crawl but still several drivers thought they could drive like idiots. Thankfully we avoided any trouble and never witnessed any accidents. After about 5 hours we reached Melaka, or the outskirts at least. Then the traffic ground to a halt! Eventually we parked up at a posh hotel to enquire about their rates (way beyond our budget!), left the car there and walked towards town to find some accommodation. We looked at several options ... read more