Malaysia

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Somebody should have warned me about the bus to Malaysia! I caught the bus from Singapore to Melaka last night and as we were about to cross the border the bus driver stopped the bus and shouted, 'Ok, go', and everyone ran off the bus to join a stampede of people rushing towards the immigration station. So, I grabbed my passport and followed them but I hadn't been given an immigration card and didn't realise I would need one so I was escorted into an office to fill one in. I was worried I would be late back onto the bus and would hold up the queue but I made it back before some of the others and before the bus. I was a bit flustered after all the running about and just as I started to relax the bus stopped again and we all had to run off again and this time the driver told me I had to take my big rucksack with me (I've no idea why). When we got there I was told I needed another part of the white form that I still hadn't been given so I had to stand at a desk with my rucksack on and fill in the rest of the form. This time I was the last back on the bus and I couldn't relax for the rest of the journey. I arrived at the hostel I'd booked at around midnight and was sent to one down the road where they had reserved me a bed. The hostel is ok but there are sixteen of us in a room and there's no air-conditioning, just a few ceiling fans.

The main hub of Melaka is a small enough area to walk around in one day so, this morning, I set off and went to see some of the main attractions. In the town square there's a group of red buildings from when the Dutch were in power here. There's the Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower, the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Fountain, the old post office, which is now the Youth Museum, and Stadthuys and round the corner there's the Proclamation of Independence Museum and a replica of their Sultanate Palace. There are hawker stalls selling cheap food and souvenirs around the square and there are lots of local men riding around with colourful trishaws trying to get you to pay for a ride around the town.

It's very hot and humid here and very busy, so I was extremely pleased and a little disappointed when, in the afternoon, I stumbled upon an air-conditioned Megamall! It turns out there's actually a few Megamalls in Melaka! It was like stepping into another world. Outside, the preservation of local tradition and history is everywhere, in the shops, restaurants and hawker stalls and the way the locals go about their daily business, and once you step into the modern, air-conditioned mall you could be anywhere.

Later yesterday afternoon, I visited the Baba-Nonya Museum and learnt a bit about the traditions of the generations descended from Chinese-Malay parentage that began with the first Chinese settlements in Malaysia. Then, I went to see a couple of the temples and had a browse along Jonker Walk, which is closed to cars at night on weekends and hawker stalls take over the street. Then, I had a wander along the river to a restaurant called Ole Sayang, where I ate a delicious traditional Nonya meal .

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Photos

Jonker Walk
At night-time