Mixed Up Melaka

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A Day trip to Melaka from Kuala Lumpur:

From KL I took a bus from Pudaraya bus station to Melaka city at 9am, for 21.20RM. Not bad for a 2 hour journey on a comfy bus. Once at Melaka Sentral I took the local bus into Chinatown and followed the Lonely Planet walking tour of Melaka city. The streets were narrow and unique - Melaka seems to hold its own sense of style/character which I liked. As a whole it has British, Portugese, Dutch, French, Chinese and Indian influences...and some more! It's a fascinating place; very varied and walkable.

Walking along the streets was enjoyable, taking in the mix or architecture, it was only a shame that there were touristy shops to detract from that, but then I guess that is how a place like Melaka survives. I saw a lovely little shop selling hand made shoes for Chinese bound feet. On the same street I would come across a Chinese temple, then a mosque next door, such is the mix of culture/people.

For lunch I went to a Nyonya cafe - Nyonya is the name for Chinese women who married Malaysians. I tried the local dish of top hats, and a pinapple tart. Out of interest, Baba-Nonya is Chinese and Malaysian mix, and Chitty is Indian and Malaysian mix.

St. Pauls ruins and Porta de Santiago was a nice historical part of town as well, and that led me on to the sultanate palace replica which was a fairly interesting museum, detailing all the traders that came to Melaka; Arabs, Gujarati, Siamese, Chinese, Europeans and Indians. The original structure was made entirely without nails.

I had a random family from North Malaysia want their photo taken with me so I smiled willingly! After a nice dinner I met a Singaporean family heading back to the bus station and they kindly gave me a lift in their taxi - and back to KL I went!

I recommend Melaka as a place to visit, it had real character and unique history. Everyone I met was friendly and it made a good impression on me. It has a lovely history and a lot of that is still evident. I saw a lot in one day and would have happily stayed another.

J x

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Photos

Eng Choon Asociation
A Chinese guildhall

Chee Mansion
A Chinese family shrine

St. Paul and his ruins
Originally built by the Portuguese in 1521.

Porta de Santiago
Portugese

Sultanate palace
The original was made entirely without nails.

Comments

[nkkhoo]

What is Nyonya ??
Nyonya is the name for Chinese women who married Malaysians. === Correction..Nyonya is female descendants of Chinese male (who came to Melaka at 400-500 years ago) who married local Malay female. Thx