Magical Melaka

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Magical Melaka

This 'travel-blog' describes our time in Melaka, Malaysia. When planning our sojourn to Thailand and Myanmar, we decided to also include a short 'side trip' to Melaka; not having been there for several years and always promising ourselves we'd return 'some day'.

As always, if you want to 'see' more detail in an accompanying picture, click it to enlarge.

Thursday 10 Feb.

We departed Coolangatta airport (Australia) early for an 8 hour flight. Knowing we'd arrive about 3pm local time, we (pre)organised a rent-a-car. We chose not to use public transport options here as we figured we'd have our 'fill' later when journeying through Myanmar.

Not long after arriving, and a short busride to KLIA to pick up the car, we were zooming along the freeway in the Skoda (an 'upgrade') towards Melaka. The Malaysians appear to leave local road investment to local authorities, and have invested heavily in long distance highways (all tolled, but not expensive). The Australian government could learn much from the Malaysian road investment style; investing heavily in expensive to construct urban freeways appears to give the wrong signals. As in Europe, people drive fast on the open road (rural) freeways, but are forced to crawl around cities (and thereby utilise more efficient local transport options - eg motorbike, tuk-tuk, bus).

Within a couple of hours, we were settled into Melaka and enjoying a wonderful local Nonya meal. As we understand it, the name Nonya is given to the Malay - Chinese families demonstrating both Malay & Chinese traditions. These Nonya have resulted from influx of Chinese traders over many centuries occupying coastal settlements on both sides of the Malaysian peninsula. In fact, Chinese traders have long settled into coastal communities all over SE Asia. In peninsula Malaysia, and especially in the largely Chinese populated areas of Melaka and Penang, the Nonya communities have long held their 'dual' traditions (perhaps more so than in other parts of Malaysia). The Nonya cuisine has taken the curry 'base' of traditional Malaysian dishes, but added the Chinese influences. For example, the Nonya 'version' of Rendang curry still carries the 'traditional' flavour base of infused spices (instead of tumeric & coriander seed) but is lighter in style - having lemongrass and galangal as dominant themes.



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Friday;.

...saw us choose to wander around the central part of Melaka.

A bit of an 'orientation' appears helpful here. Especially as the current tourist focus is toward the fascinating (European) history of Melaka. Portuguese spice traders arrived in the late 1400's and began settling around a 100m hill on the south side of the deep(ish) river. Then, the Sultan of Melaka had developed a lucrative spice trade centred on access via the Melaka River (with it's protection from trade winds). By installing a walled town, the Portuguese could resist intrusions by warring Achenise and also play 'politics' with the Sultan. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese about a century later and invested heavily in administrative buildings. Two centuries later, the British took control. All the while, the Chinese served whichever interests were in power. The 'citified' Melaka Nonya community appear to have occupied the north side of the Melaka River.

These days the historic European buildings have been pedestrianised for tourism, many holding museums and/or places of cultural interest. The city fathers have lined both sides of the meandering Melaka River with boardwalks, making for an enjoyalle wander. The Nonya (northside) area is also largely given over to tourism (and pedestrianised). One street - Harmony Street - has a place of worship for nearly every brand of religion {notably, a Christian church is absent}.

On top of the 100m hill is an old church building. It was originally erected by the Portuguese, and later rebuilt by the Dutch. At one time, St Francis Xavier stayed here, both before and after his journey to Kagoshima in Japan; in fact, we learnt he died here. As it was Catholic, sadly the British used it as a grain store and let it fall into ruin. Nowadays, it serves as an historical reminder and as well, provides a good view over Melaka and the straights.

After a breakfast of Roti Channai & teah / kopi terak (see below), we began our meanderings by venturing to the top of the hill. There we engaged with locals setting up stalls to sell trinkets to tourists, and discussed 'local' affairs. Before long we ventured downhill to the Dutch historical area and headed along the boardwalk beside the Melaka River upstream. Being Malaysia, the weather was hot, so every so often we 'cooled' down with a freshly squeezed iced lemon drink [do they like sugar!!!]. By the middle of the day we found an old barn of a shed with Chinese Nonya serving Laksa. Yuuu-uuuummmmmmm!!!!!

As the heat got to us, we ventured back to the central Melaka area and into a nearby big shopping mall. Phew!!!

Before dusk we enjoyed some liquid refreshments, and later headed for the Nonya 'northbank' area for dinner and a look-see. There, the coloured lights were aglare and half the world seemed to be having the same idea. Fun, but...

At about 7pm, we chuckled to ourselves as we wandered along Harmony Street. We better explain. Friday is Islam's major day for prayer. In Malaysia, the Islamic Mosque's have loudspeakers and the Imam chants through these 5 times every day to ensure the faithful know when to pray {as an aside, each Imam begins according to 'his' watch, and often one encounters several minutes difference between different Mosque's}. To 'address' the longish Islamic loudspeaker 'calls to prayer' on Friday's, each of the 'other' places of worship along Harmony Street schedules a 'noisy' service at this evening time. We enjoyed wandering into each denomination place of prayer/church and listening / watching their way of religious offering; from chanting, to loud banging of drums, to 'instructor - pupil' sermons, all held a different and interesting approach.

After a memorable meal, we happened across a (late) new year dragon dance. The crowds of tourists made for a lively affair.

On our way back to the hotel, as we crossed the Melaka River, we were enticed to be 'transported' by one of the many festively decorated bicycle 'rickshaws' (as the picture attests).







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Saturday;.

...had us back in the car for more forested climes.

With the large Chinese settlements throughout the Melaka province, most of the landscape is under some form of production; oil palm, rubber, crops, etc.. We noticed from the map there is a 'Forest Park' some distance way from Melaka town, in the state of Johor. Asking around, we heard it was good for a picnic. Rather than use the freeways, we ventured into Johor via the local roads. While good, these roads are not designed for fast travel and so local people just 'do' their thing anywhere. We decided it was a blessing as it kept our minds alert!!!!

The road led us to Jasin via Ayer Molek and it was - at times - quite pretty. Not so as we crossed in Johor State!!! We got ourselves to Tangkak (in Jahore State) and ventured eastwards towards Sagil as it is the closest town to our destination - the Guntung Ledang (Mount Ophir to the British) National Park.

After Sagil, we passed a sign indicating a turn-off to the National Park, but could only detect a dirt track type road entry. We travelled further, expecting a turn off, but alas, no. Oh, well! We turned back and gave it a go!!! Upon entering, we were confronted with a guard and a boom gate. He asked whether we wanted to go to the 'forrrest', with a yes, we were admitted to an oil palm plantation. After an indeterminable time driving through dirt roads under a canopy of large oil palms, we eventually emerged in front of a 'forest resort'. We discoverd a couple of large buses, and wondered how they entered (we discovered how later). Anyway, we wandered in and each enjoyed a teah / kopi terak at the restaurant - all that could be made available for us. Other than a few staff the place appeared deserted.

Taking a path up towards the rainforest, we eventually reached the cool, dense forest. After a while, we arrived at a great little waterfall. After all the previous days' cacophany of noise, the 'noise' of waterfall & cicada noise was both peaceful and delightful. A little roofed rest area allowed us to escape the hot sun, and enjoy some rest. Later, we wandered down the creek valley floor back to our car.

We sought to return back to Melaka via another route, and along the way 'found' the correct entry to the forest. A well paved road led to a large car park (with entry fee) and a grassed field with covered eating areas. Mmmm! we thought, glad we went where we did, this is far too contrived. We also noted the 'proper' entry to the resort.

Departing the area, we thought we'd taken the correct turn, but alas, we were heading away from Melaka. Eventually we 'found' the right route, and got ourselves back in the right direction. A wayside stop under an open hot corrugated iron roadside 'cafe' for Roti Channai & teah / kopi terak had us refreshed. The 'owner' felt the heat may be too much, so hosed water over the roof. He was right, it WAS hot.




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Sunday;.

...saw us venture northwards along the Melaka State coastline.

While the more tourist oriented beach places like Port Dickson attract attention, for us, it's the little beaches away from tourism that appeal. Close to Melaka (city) are some of the most under-rated beaches on the western side of Malaysia; eg. Pantai Puteri (pantai = beach). This beach is serviced by local buses from Melaka, and appears totally a 'local' attraction. With a foreshore of large shady Casuarina trees, and a quite clean area of beach sand, the laid-back 'relaxedness' contrasted greatly with the beaches frequented by foreigners ...of painted concrete high-rise 'resorts', grass and palm trees, fences and a lack of shade. As well, the street-food vendors parked on the Pantai beachside street offering various food 'options' made for a decidely Malay 'family' orientation.

After a while of 'enjoyment', and a morning 'tea' of jackfruit pieces sourced from a vendor, we eventually ventured further afield. Taking side roads from the main drag (throughroad #5), we discovered many similar 'local' beaches. Perhaps the only 'down' side was that much of the coastline has been allocated to the military &/or wharfage areas. It may be that these 'intrusions' to beachside continuity have also interrupted the 'potential' for a developer/built focussed tourism 'culture'. And, so the powers that be have left the area for local 'enjoyment. Whatever, we really appreciated the laid back 'local' focus.

Eventually, with the sun heading towards the skyline, we headed back to Melaka (city) for a Nonya 'recharge'.

Though we have written less for this day over those before, in many respects we had now sufficiently 'unwound' to really appreciate joining in with the local 'way of life'. After a delightful meal, we wondered why we were heading away the following day.

But, plans made, and all that...





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Monday;.

...has us departing Melaka and headed for the KL airport.

While we thought we'd given ourselves sufficient time to get to the airport, a road 'incident' along the way delayed us.

We've written above that the freeways of Malaysia ought be reviewed by the Australian government as the Malasian system appears better organised. But, a major road crash, wherein a single vehicle appeared to have caused a major pile up (including a tourist bus) suggests that enforced speed limits have their place. We'd been travelling at 120k when a (newish) ute sped past at over 150k. It was that same ute we saw mangled under the front of the bus, and there were several other cars littering the highway in various states of disrepair. Perhaps our appreciation of the European open speed policy depends much on 'educated' and able motorists. Though the 'incident' had happened only minutes before we arrived on the scene, the backlog of vehicles had really clogged the 4 lanes of highway. We were thankful we'd not delayed leaving Melaka.

After depositing the car, we prepared ourselves for a flight to Krabi (Thailand) and meeting up with some of our family. But, that's a story for another 'travelblog'.

In conclusion, we enjoyed a great time in the magical area of Melaka.

Till next time...

Cheers




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Roti Channai & teah / kopi terak

Roti is like a small portion of pizza dough 'flicked' until very, very thin. It is then rolled up, 'cooked' on an oil smothered hotplate, further 'scrunched'.

Teah = tea, but Bahasa style. It is quite pungent.

Kopi = coffee. Kopi was once a soluble style of roasted ground bean. Today it is Nescafe (or similar).

Terak is a process whereby the tea or coffee is mixed with condensed milk, and poured between containers till the condensed milk fully mixes with the hot water / tea/ coffee. The process takes away the syrupy texture of the condensed milk, and softens the harshness of the tea / coffee.

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