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Published: April 9th 2008
1st - 4th April - Back to Kuala Lumpur followed by a short stop in Melaka
Having said our sad goodbyes to the family after a great two weeks away we were on the bus from K.L airport heading back towards central to meet up with the guys. It was late evening by the time we finally arrived into Chinatown where the hostel was located. On arrival we met James who showed us to the room. We quickly threw our bags down and made our way out to meet Ross and Rick who were grabbing a bite to eat down the street.
Then just as we were strolling down the steps from the hostel we were approached by 3 English lads who told us to hand over our wallets! A little shocked we ignored them and carried on walking until one of them grabbed James and began to wrestle with him on the ground. At this point Jonathon and I were a little confused then from behind a street stall jumped Rick and Muc who shouted 'April fooooooools!' We'd been stitched up good and proper! After a slightly crazy first impression we were introduced to our 'muggers' - Bulby,
Museum of enduring beauty
This was a slightly strange exhibit!Luke and Dan who turned out to be a great laugh. Rick, James and Muc had met them the previous night and kindly asked to do them a favour by 'mugging' some friends returning from Borneo! A slightly odd request! The next two nights were spent in K.L where we had two great nights out and met some crazy characters - ' Boogey man' - an elderly Malay man who loved to dance.
Finally on the 3rd April we managed to prize ourselves away from the city which we had enjoyed so much, catching the 2 hour bus over to Melaka. After a brief stroll round in the evening it became apparent this town was very different to the hustle and bustle we had left behind in K.L.
The next day we had a busy schedule ahead, planning to make the most out of our 1 day in the town. Muc was feeling under the weather so James escorted him to the bus station to wait for the 2.30pm bus to Singapore while Rick, Jonathon and I began to explore. Wandering towards the Dutch Square we began to see the characteristic red buildings and the bricked roads. The
town fell to the Portugese in the 1500's and was further colonized by the Dutch, British and Chinese and all these cultures are on show. Our first stop was a quirky one...the Museum of Enduring Beauty. Deciding to pass on the Kite exhibit we made our way to the top floor where the Enduring Beauty exhibit displayed how different cultures alter their body for the sake of beauty. This encompassed methods such as scarification, foot binding, head deformation and much more...personally, I think I'l stick to just a haircut!
We then moved on to St Pauls Church which was built on top of St Pauls hill, overlooking the town, by the Portugese in 1521. It was later handed to the Jesuits and was visited by St Francis Xavier, who's statue stands to commemorate his death. The church walls have stood the test of time while a lighthouse was added as an additional feature by the British.
Making our way down from the church we passed many Trishaws (bikes with flowers) before visiting the Stadthuys, The Dutch Square, Christ Church and finally Chinatown. Now I could give you a history lesson on each of these, however, try typing any
Museum of enduring beauty
Scarification...I would prefer to stick to a haircut personally in on google and you'll get a much better result! But, in brief, The Stadthuys were buildings built by the Dutch after taking over from the Portugese during the 1650's serving their purpose as the Governor's residence. The Dutch Sqaure and Chinatown, I hope, are self explanatory.
After relaxing by the river following a pretty intense history lesson, we finished off by visiting The Maritime Museum and swinging from the crows nest of a replicated Battleship. Then it was off to catch our bus over to Singapore...
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anonymous
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kEEPING IN TOUCH
HELLO Boys. Lovely to heaqr that you are all enjoying your trip and seeing some wonderful places of interest, especially the Tiger trip which must have been a great experience - rather risky though.We are both well and off to see Joseph and His Techniclour Coat today 9/4/08 The trip across to Melaka and Singapore looks interesting together with the History lesson you sent in your blog and of course Jonathons too. Luv Nanna and Granpop God BLESS xxxxx