The Once Booming Port Town of Melaka

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012 - Malaysia - Melaka

03/24/08 - 03/26/08

The Once Booming Port Town of Melaka

Melaka is a port town on the southwest coast of Malaysia that was once a sanctuary for international ships sailing between India and China. It's history is marked by foreign colonizations: first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, the Japanese (for a short period during WWII), and finally the British. For this reason, the city is filled with museums and landmarks from the various countries that once controlled it.

The word 'Melaka' is actually a common curse word in Greek. Hannah and I repeated it about 1,000 times a day and giggled each time we did. We also vowed not to use it again until we make it to Athens in September!

We stayed at a relaxed guesthouse in Chinatown called Sama-Sama. The owner is a Malay-Chinese that has a cool record collectioan of old reggae roots and dub music. This was a good place to hang out and talk about Malay politics and religion with the owner and guests.

We headed to the Maritime Museum on one of the days and checked out some replicas of old Malay, Portugese, Dutch, and British ships. It was interesting to see the progression of naval technologies with each colonization. We also headed to Stadhuys and neighboring musems for some over-dose of Melaka history.

Food was a highlight in Melaka and we tasted many of the regions delights at restaurants without any tourists; Indian banana leaf rice and curry, Chinese chicken with rice balls, Malay sting-ray soup with spices, satay chicken skewers wih peanut sauce, and fish paste wrapped in bamboo leaf. Delicious!

Next stop: Singapore.

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Photos

Show's the different colonizations of Melaka.
Malay, Portugese, Dutch, British, and Japanese

A friendly 'lady' we met at a bar.
Interestingly enough, she is active in the Hash House Harriers. This is a running club that Hannah and I have both tried in San Diego.

Our guesthouse: Sama-Sama
The host had a ton of old reggae roots and dub records... nice.

Stingray soup
As you may know, I've been unlucky enough to have been stung twice by stingrays while in San Diego. This was sweet redemption. And tasty!

Comments

[Marisa]

Hiiiiiiii
MELAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....heheheeh. Miss you waaaay to much. xoxoxoxo

[Laura]

Looks like you two are keeping the good times rollin! You'll have to meet up with my friend Emily in Singapore!!! Lots of love from SD :)

[Aubrey]

KISSES & Hugs!
I'm sending you both big kisses and hugs! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to see photos of where you are and what you are doing instead of worrying that you are lost in bangkok! ha! love you both. have a blast. :)

[Alanna]

Stingray Soup
How delicious was that stingray soup? I must admit, I've never had it but it looks and sounds super yummy!