Melaka

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August 3rd 2009

Published: September 25th 2009

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chrisandsarah09

River View Guesthouse

Malaka, our first stop in Malaysia only a short bus trip from Sinapore, is a town with a lot of charm. We stayed in Chinatown, an area quite cental that is oozing with character. We arrived on a Friday evening just in time to see Chinatown's weekend night market spring into life. The whole of Chinatown is overtakien by street vendors selling tasty treats and clothes - some of which we recalled seeing in Urban Outfitters back home.

Each night over the weekend we headed back to the market to gorge on the local delights and witness the audably challanging karakoee fest. A huge ornate stage - sponsored by an instant noodle brand - in the centre of the market played host to this senoir citizen event that was clearly a big deal to the locals. Particularly one dapper gent who, each night, wore a different sequin covered illuminous waistcoat and matching bow tie for his performance; which unfortunately we didn't get to see. Another crowd pleaser was the Malaysia and Guiness Book of World Record holder for putting his fore finger through a coconut. It was fair to see that his fore finger - beant 45 degrees from the

Martial Arts Display I

3rd nuckle - had seen better days as he waived it around for all to see. We nearly fell over when the realisation hit that this all round entertainer was elaborately pitching a brand of ointment said to helped relieve said self inflicted abnormality.

Malayis is internationally renowned for it's great cuisine. Melaka is no exception. On our arrival at the, husband and wife, Raymond and Mani, operated, River View Guesthouse, Mani sat us down and detailed to us all the 'must must' dining spots. It would've taken a week of three square meals to get through them all so we opted for the number one 'must must' Capitol Satay. After a day of site seeing around Red Dutch Square, taking in the aucoustic sounds of two buskers in St Francis Xaviers hilltop church, a Malaysian paintballing tournament and finally some sort of martial arts dance fighting competition we returned to the guesthouse to find that Raymond had planned to take a group from the guesthouse to Capitol Satay. Our decision to join them proved to be a great one. We queued up along the front of the, footpathless, street outside waiting for a table. It was more that

Martial Arts Display II

worth the wait. As we stood inline we could see what was enstore. Each table had a huge boiling vat of Satay at its centre (complete with 'secret recipe') and we could see that it was going to be a messy dining experience. It was a good thing Chris took this as an opportunity to wear his new and only clean pair of shorts. The food was all sevved on sticks priced at only 0.7 ringit per stick (approx 10 pence per stick). Everything from veg and greens to pigs ears and monster shrimps was all equally priced. We piled our trays high and took advice from Mr RiverView on cooking times within the boiling mass of secret satay sauce for each stick. The end result was too very full and extremely satisfied bellies and one pair of very messy shorts.

The guesthouse backed onto the, montitor lizzard lined, river. The balcony that overlooked the river was a great location to enjoy, Carefour bought, red wine with Dawn and Alli, two fellow residants from England. After a few glaces of wine and waiting for night to fall, the four of us headed on the river boat cruise. The river