Blogs from Melaka City, Melaka, Malaysia, Asia - page 4

HE SAID... I woke early to the rumble of the train outside our KL hotel window. We headed down to breakfast around 7am and went for the conventional option of juice, coffee, cornflakes and toast, as we had a two hour bus trip to Melaka ahead of us. We checked out of our KL hotel (Ancasa Express) and jumped on a public bus to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan on the outskirts of KL, where we boarded a bus for Melaka at 11am. We arrived around 1pm, jumped into a minibus and headed to the Hash House Hotel, where we’d stayed only a few weeks before. We checked in, dropped our bags and walked to Nancy’s Kitchen for lunch. We eventually sat down at 2.30pm and ordered popiah (carrots, turnip, bean sprouts, lettuce and shallots drizzled with a ... read more

We started our day with a visit to the Swift Discovery museum where we learnt how this magical combination of bird spit and feathers is made into soup, drinks, etc = yuk. To escape the heat for a while we headed to the Mega Mall. Did a little shopping. Aced the indoor carnival complete with ring-toss, poorly sited air rifles, chocolate wheels, darts etc. Ate lunch in the mega food court then split up. Nic and Jesse went to the cinema to watch the new hobbit movie with delicious caramel popcorn. Tash and I got manicures and pedicures back at the Baba House. Wayne continued his self-guided walking tour and lined up (along with people from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and even Korea) for the best Chicken Rice around. If you are interested in trying it for ... read more

On our first morning in Kuala Lumpur we ventured out of the Swiss Inn Hotel and into the mind-spinning kaleidoscope of Chinatown. One of the first things we came upon was several street vendors selling garlands of marigolds, which made us think "Hindu celebration" and then we spotted the extremely ornate Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu Temple, one of the very oldest in Kuala Lumpur. I felt I was channeling our friend Selvaraj as we approached it and were encouraged to go inside, first depositing our shoes at the shoe-holding booth. Amazing place! It was a Friday and a service was going on, so of course no photos inside, but later we went back and took some from the outside, as you can see. Kuala Lumpur is a sparkling city crowded with new high-rise buildings of all ... read more

Melaka, formerly known as Malacca was colonized by The Portuguese, Dutch and The British from 1400 until 1957. Melaka was the important trading port, strategically located in the South East Asia, all because of the Three "G"s. Gold, Glory and God. Today, Melaka is named UNESCO World Heritage. A busy city with two million pairs of legs. Traffic is bad on weekends. Jonker Street became Chinatown took over Bunga Raya Road (the original Chinatown, now a sleepy road during the nights). Gosh! How I missed the oldies played from the Jukebox and ice kacang (shaved ice dessert) It was in the sixties, when I was less than ten years old. Melaka has become wider and bigger due to numerous reclaiming the land. I always joke with my friends that this reclaiming land one day will join ... read more

Maybe it’s the heaviness of the wood, the solidness of the brass. Perhaps it’s the feel of the glass in your hand, the smoke of the mirror or the muffled corner conversations that you can only hear the good parts of. Perhaps it’s the smell of the liquor itself, faintly sweet, or the salty sea breeze that floats casually through the curtained window somewhere near the door. Perhaps it’s the way the bar stool fits you just right, shaped by some chair artist fifty years ago when they knew how to build them right. Perhaps it’s the light cast by the globed lamps, mounted correctly on the wall next to the mirror behind the bar so the light is reflected from the smoky glass and doesn’t hit you straight in the face or maybe it’s the ... read more