Blogs from Melaka, Malaysia, Asia - page 31

We left Tioman on the 7.45am ferry back to Mersing, where we were going to take bus to Melaka, on the west coast of the mainland. The journey was around 3 to 4 hours and was uneventful - well I can't remember any of it so it must have been! We arrived in Melaka early evening and checked into the Taveller's Inn Lodge. The plan was to spend three nights here before moving on. First day - we did the usual tour of museums - although I am not sure museum is the right word for these! Some only existed of posters and hardly had any artefacts, others had replicas and could not seem to put correct dates to these! Anyway, we gathered that Melaka was a historically important trading port, being positioned between India and ... read more

It's the end of Chinese New Year, and after 15 days of dragons, fireworks, chinese opera, and paper towers on fire, Suz and I are faced with a decision. What to eat? The choices here in the city of Malacca are endless. It's like having half the hemisphere's cultures available to you in one buffet. What will it be today? Let's look at some options.... For breakfast: Breakfast is kind of a rough choice as there doesn't seem to be any definitive breakfasty type foods here. The Chinese have rice soup, you can always get some Indian Roti stuffed with egg, or just go with the usual western style runny omelet. The Malays however have Nasi Lemak, which we have been enjoying the last few days. It is essentialy a pile of coconut rice, surrounded by ... read more

Eight am, checking out from a sweaty Singapore (). A couple of SG$ and 40 minutes later, on the bus, at the Singapore/Malaysia border. Now, where do we find the bus to Malacca (or Melaka in Malay)? 20 min by taxi across the border town, Johor Bahru (aka JB), and we then had 10 min to buy a ticket and jump on the bus. Perfect! After a 3.5-hour pleasant, air-conned, bus journey we finally arrived in Malacca, the capital of the Melaka province. "Wanna room?" A school of hostel agents surrounded us at Melaka Sentral, the main bus station. With some hostel leaflets in our hands we boarded bus 17 to the main hostel area, just south-west of the town centre. Travellers Lodge looked nice, with its roof terrace and A/C-equipped rooms. Installed there, we set ... read more

Melaka, if there was ever a city geared up for tourism with loads of attractions, beautiful architecture, fascinating stories to tell and welcoming people its melaka, but there was one problem - hardly any tourists. Melaka having been a trading port for a succession of euro colonial powers has developed a very unique culture. Throughout the old city colonial fortifications, churches and buildings show its europeanised past. Even today a large population of portuguese decendents still live in the city. The old city square is surrounded by Dutch and British buildings. The old town of melaka is beautiful to walk around, the old chinese shop fronts (which now house row upon row of antique shops) although a bit delapadated show masses of history. We walked around an old chinese mansion similar to the one we saw ... read more

...aber nur ganz kurz.... read more